‘A crucial day in a young athlete’s life’ was how Ian O’Riordan’s preview of the All Ireland schools Track and Field finals was fittingly titled as the mini Olympics in a day returned to Tullamore for the first time since 2019 on Saturday.

From a local perspective three All Ireland champions and another Irish team title for St Michael’s made for an excellent day in windy and changeable conditions with glorious sunshine giving way to cool dampness in a monster ten hour program of over 170 events.

To qualify for these championships is itself a massive achievement for a young athlete, with district and provincial qualifiers and only two or three athletes qualifying for the Irish finals in each event

Jack O’Connor has made an immediate impact since first pulling on spikes just seven weeks ago and stormed to victory in the minor 100m.

Cool and composed O’Connor executed his race like an experienced veteran crossing the line in a new personal best and school record of 11.75 to take his first Irish title.

If Jack was winning his first national medal St Michael’s second gold medalist on Saturday was collecting his 14th, 13 of those coming in the last six months, and this 800m win was his second individual Irish title to add to his cross country gold won just 12 weeks ago.

Like Jack, Sean Corry ran a composed and mature race, hanging off the fast early pace and with 300m remaining he was back in fifth position about 40m off the lead.

Making his attack with 250m to go he moved smoothly through the gears and hit the front with just 15 metres remaining to cross the line in 2.02.07, a huge personal best and school record, a record he has improved by seven seconds over the last two weeks.

The third local champion came in the field as discus thrower Oliver Polak of Devenish College did what every coach would wish, and got his first throw out to a big personal best of 39.52, a distance no other athlete could get within three metres of, to add an All Ireland gold to his Ulster title from a few weeks ago.

Fourth is often the cruellest place to finish in a major championship and for the St Michael’s Minor Boys relay team of Luchra McBrien, Ryan Hegarty, Oisin McGuinness and Jack O’Connor and for O’Connor in his Long Jump, this was the position they found themselves but they had the considerable consolation of helping St Michael’s to the overall Minor team title, a sixth Irish schools’ team win in athletics and cross country for the blue vests and their first in track and field since 2009.

St Michael’s have now won Irish titles in different age groups in both athletics and cross country an have established a strong tradition of success across both winter and summer disciplines.

Fourth was also the position Harry McKenzie crossed the line in a high quality minor 800m but in a good personal best of 2.11.28 while there was also a big personal best for his fellow Enniskillen Royal and Enniskillen Running Club athlete Annabelle Morrison in the intermediate 3000m as she ran 10.17.91 before later finishing fifth again in the 1500m to complete a busy but very successful day. Enniskillen Royal’s senior 4 x 400 relay team also performed very creditably in finishing sixth and this will have been a great experience for all four young men involved.

As mentioned earlier, qualifying for the All Ireland finals is a huge achievement and for the five local middle distance athletes who made it this far, while there were no medals on this particular day, they all acquitted themselves admirably.

Frank Buchanan 10th in the intermediate 3000m, Ben Warnock seventh in the intermediate 800m, Charlie Reihill seventh in the U16 mile and Tiarnan McManus eighth and Daithi Mohan 10th in the junior 1500m have all had an excellent year since the cross country season started back last September and can look back with pride on their schools’ season.

All the young Fermanagh athletes who reached this stage of the schools competition are operating at a very high level and are a credit to their schools and coaches and many of them will be looking forward to further success at the provincial Age Group Championships which take place at Mary Peters Track over both Saturday and Sunday.