CILLÍN Greene of Galway City Harriers is heading for September’s World Athletics Championships after helping the Irish Mixed Relay team qualify at the World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou, China over the weekend.

Teaming up with Rhasidat Adeleke (Tallaght AC), Sharlene Mawdsley (Newport AC) and Conor Kelly (Finn Valley AC), Greene produced a fine run as Ireland came in second in their heat to secure automatic qualification for the World Finals in Japan.

Galway Track & Field

Two days of Track and Field competition were held in glorious weather at Dangan last Saturday and Sunday, as the Galway County Juvenile Championships took centre stage. Saturday featured the U-13 to U-19 age groups, with Sunday’s event showcasing a huge entry of U-9 to U-12 competitors

Among the highlights on day one was Craughwell’s huge haul of medals – one of their stars was Matiss Ozolins who won no less than four gold medals, racing to a PB of 11.26 to take the Galway title in the U-13 80m sprint and repeating that feat with 4.65m in the long jump and 1.45m in the high jump, before helping the U-14 relay team to the 4x100m title in an excellent time of 53.79.

Clubmate Conor Penney raced to a blistering gold in the U-18 110m hurdles, while Lauren Kilduff had an impressive run in the 100m hurdles, taking gold in 14.59. Declan O’Connell was first home in the U-18 800m in 2:00.17.

In the high jump, two of the day’s top athletes Conor Penney and Darragh Kelly both entertained the large crowd with some spectacular jumps in the U-18 and U-19 events Kelly leaped a series of fine first-time clearances over 1.75m, 1.80m and 1.85m before nailing a new PB on his third attempt at 1.88m.

Penney opened his jumps with a first-time clearance of 1.87m and followed it up with majestic clearances over 1.92m and 1.97m – the latter effort breaking the Galway championship best for victory.

Athenry AC secured four gold medals. Rian Collins won the U-18 1500m in a PB equaling time of 4.17, while Eva Carroll showed her speed in winning the 60m hurdles in a time of 10.58.

In the U-14 75m hurdles, Harry Melia secured the gold medal, with Matthew Broderick of Athenry AC emerging tops in the U-15 shot putt.

Clare River Harriers travelled in numbers and again topped the podium in many events. Elise Day set the tone from the off by claiming gold in the 1500m. She later went on to claim silver in the 800m when just pipped at the line by clubmate Aoibhe Daly.

Pictured: The Ireland mixed 4x400m relay team, from left, Conor Kelly, Rhasidat Adeleke, Cillín Greene and Sharlene Mawdsley after finishing second in their heat to qualify for the 2025 Tokyo World Athletics Championships during day one of the World Athletics Relays at Guangdong Olympic Stadium in Guangzhou, China. Photo by Nikola Krstic/Sportsfile