National Indoor Track and Field Championships
Bronze for Matthew at National Seniors
Athletes from St Abban’s AC delivered strong performances at the National Senior Indoor
Track & Field Championships over the weekend, highlighted by a podium finish for Matthew
Rossiter. The Championships were a very popular event with tickets sold out for Sunday
highlighting this.
Matthew Rossiter secured his first National Senior medal with a bronze in the men’s pole
vault, clearing 4.00 m. He was unlucky at 4.20 not to make a clearance but will be delighted
with this performance and his first National medal.
Maisy O’Sullivan impressed in the women’s 800 m, qualifying from her heat in 2:08.52
before placing fifth in the final with a time of 2:10.32. Katie Baldwin finished tenth in the
women’s triple jump with a best effort of 10.14 m.
Eoghan Buggy ran well in the men’s 400 m heats, placing second in his race in 51.21 s. In the
men’s 800 m, John Delaney placed third in his heat in 1:54.42, which was just outside the
fastest qualifiers spot.
Ger Kelly recorded a sixth-place finish in the men’s 56 lb weight for distance with 5.82 m.
Cheryl Nolan narrowly missed the podium in the women’s 3000 m, finishing fourth in
9:25.85.This race went right down to the last 200m, with 5 ladies in contention at the bell.
Aoibhín McDonald placed fifth in the women’s pole vault with a clearance of 2.80 m.
Overall, the championships marked a successful outing for the club, with Rossiter’s
breakthrough national medal and several strong finals and top-six finishes across the athletes
in action for the club. Well done to everybody involved and we look forward to seeing them
transition into the outdoor season in the coming weeks.

St Abban’s Schools Quiz Final
Twenty-five teams took part in the final of the St Abban’s Schools Quiz this week. Scoil
Phadraig, Athy claimed first place with an impressive 57 points out of 60, with their
schoolmates finishing second on 55 points.
Ballinabranna secured third place after 10 tie-break questions against Arles NS.
Organisers thanked the students, teachers and parents for their support, and paid special
tribute to Pauline and her team, who hosted approximately 75 teams over three nights of
competition.

Leinster Schools Cross Country
Club athletes delivered strong performances while representing their schools at the
rescheduled Leinster Schools Cross Country in Navan.
Ella Murray (St Leo’s College, Carlow), Sinead Fitzpatrick (Heywood CS, Laois), Laura
Ayres (St Leo’s College, Carlow) and John Conway (Knockbeg College, Carlow) all secured

qualification for the All-Ireland Schools Championships, which take place on 7 March in
Newtownabbey. Fitzpatrick claimed an impressive silver medal in the Junior Girls race.
There were also notable team performances from St Leo’s College, Carlow and Knockbeg
College, both of whom recorded top-10 finishes in the Junior Girls and Intermediate Boys categories.