D.S.D's Double Delight at National League Final!

Liz McDonagh
Jul 28
8 min read

Updated: Jul 30

More photos!!

We had a fantastic turnout yesterday in Tullamore for the final of the National Track & Field League. Well done to our club captains for their great work in organising these teams, with all our athletes stepping up to the mark to win both Women’s & Men’s Trophies. This is a great achievement by all concerned, with our younger athletes blending in with our more experienced athletes to gain maximum points.

Following reports by Rachel Dunne & Ciarán Carthy.

“All I can ever ask for as captain is that everyone who pulls on the grey, blue and red singlet gives their all for the club and leaves everything on the track; this was shown in abundance by our Senior Women’s team on what was a warm and showery Sunday in Tullamore. Determined to bounce back from the 2024 National Premier League Final which saw the team miss out on a third title in a row by just 4 points, our women’s team came out with a point to prove. And prove it they did – with team members from the juvenile ranks all the way through to juniors, seniors and masters, our women’s team dominated the National Premier League Final competition from start to finish, winning a record 11 events out of a possible 21. With a massive winning margin of 24 points over defending champions Leevale, it’s safe to say that the title of National Premier League Champions is well deserved!

The day started off with two of our youngest team members stepping up to the senior stage to represent their club. Lauryn Healy, fresh off the back of her fourth place finish at the School’s International Athletic Board competition in England, showed nerves of steel to claim second place in the High Jump. At the same time, Rachel Lynch battled to a gallant fourth place finish in the 100m Hurdles. Next up it was the turn of the ever-reliable Ciara Wilson Bowen who blew the field away in the 1500m Walk, winning by over 2 minutes in a new PB. While Ciara was putting on a showcase in race walking, women’s captain Rachel Dunne stepped into the Hammer Throw cage to pick up a third place finish and 6 points for the team in the absence of club stalwart Lucy Moore, who was officiating at the European Youth Weightlifting Championships in Madrid!

Next up it was the turn of Cara Murphy, who has had a breakthrough season over both the 400m flat and 400m Hurdles. Battling with the conditions, Cara stormed to victory in the 400m Hurdles, making one of the toughest events in track and field look effortless. Spurred on by Cara’s performance, the 4x100m team of Rachel Lynch, Aobh Forde, Jennifer Hanrahan and Kate Doherty took to the track with confidence. After three smooth baton changes, Kate was neck-in-neck with the final leg runner from Leevale,and came out on top by 0.02 of a second in what was a titanic battle to the line.

After winning DSD’s first medal at a European U23 Champions since 2003, you would be forgiven for thinking that Eimear Maher would take a well-earned break before the National Senior Championships at the end of the month. However, this was never going to be an option for Eimear who has shown time and time again how much of a team player she truly is. In what might be a first for the National League, two recent European U23 medallists – Eimear and Leevale athlete Anika Thompson – toed the line for the 1500m. In what has come to be her signature style, Anika took the race out hard from the gun, with Eimear being the only one able to stick with her. The two matched each other stride for stride until the 1km mark, when Eimear made her decisive move past Anika and never looked back. Not content with one victory, Eimear re-emerged on the start line of the 800m just over two hours later, where she had a comfortable victory to finish the day with a maximum points contribution of 18.

In between Eimear’s two victories, we had some more fantastic results. Louise King showed her multi event prowess by finishing fourth in the shot putt before heading straight over to take a comprehensive win in the long jump. The evergreen Alison Beck dug deep in the pole vault to finish joint second, even when injury forced her to jump off her weaker leg. Back on the track, having spent much of this season focusing on the 800m, Charlotte Bourke stepped down in distance to tackle the one lap event. Her strength and stamina shone through as she burst out of the blocks and took a gun-to-tape victory, adding another 9 points to the team’s total. Next up on the track was a woman whose dedication to DSD knows no bounds, even forgoing the chance of tickets to the All-Ireland Football Final in order to do her bit for the team! Maria McCambridge, Athens 2004 Olympian, got stuck in from the start of the 3000m, going with the strong early pace set by the Leevale athlete. Battling all the way to the line, Maria finished in fourth place, picking up valuable points for the team.

Showing that she has more strings to her bow, National Javelin record holder Anita White stepped up for the club in what was her first ever Discus Throw competition. Anita showed her strength to finish in fifth position, commenting afterwards that she found the event relaxing! Not satisfied with just one event, Anita returned for the final field event of the day, her beloved Javelin. Anita faced stiff competition from some very talented up-and-coming throwers but showed her competitive nature in launching the javelin out to second place.

Back on track after helping the 4x100m relay team to victory, Kate Doherty ran what can only be described as a blistering bend in the 200m, coming into the home straight with an insurmountable lead over the rest of the field, adding another 9 points to the team’s tally. Showing true grit, determination, and team spirit, Lena Muzellec strapped up a recent injury to take her place in the Triple Jump, making sure that we were well represented in all 21 events across the day. It was touch and go as to whether Lena would be able to jump, but adrenaline kicked in and Lena got more valuable points on the board for DSD.

Fresh from her pursuits at the European Youth Orienteering Championships in Czechia, Sadhbh Hassett took on the gruelling 2000m steeplechase with apparent ease, taking each barrier in her stride to finish in third place. At the same time, Rachel Dunne returned for her second event of the day, the 28-pound Weight for Distance. Having been side-lined from running with an ankle injury, Rachel was determined to do her bit for the team and used this as motivation to win the event in a new PB. In the penultimate track event of the day, Jennifer Hanrahan flew out of the blocks to take yet another gun-to-tape victory for the club, this time in the 100m. Jennifer’s win meant that DSD’s women won every track event from 100m-1500m!

Not even a heavy downpour could dampen the spirits of this phenomenal team. As our 4x400m relay team stepped out onto the track for the final event of the day, we knew that the National League title was ours. However, this did not stop the team of Kate Doherty, Charlotte Bourke, Alannah Giles and Aobh Forde from delivering a mouth watering performance. Locked in battle with Ratoath from the very start, all four athletes ran out of their skin to cross the line in first place, further cementing DSD’s place on the top of the podium.

With blue and red ribbons flying high, and well-earned gold medals around our necks, we returned to Dublin as National Senior League champions for the 13^th time in the club’s history. Whoever said 13 was an unlucky number?”

“Our men’s team delivered a commanding performance to secure their first-ever National Premier League title, with standout contributions across track and field events.The day began with a statement of intent from Dan Conway, who stormed to victory in the 110m hurdles. He later returned to dominate the 400m hurdles, securing maximum points from both events. In between Conway’s triumphs, Gary Crossan earned a top-three finish in the 1500m walk, adding valuable points to the team’s tally.Momentum continued in the field events. Mark Tierney placed sixth in the hammer and third in the discus, while Willem Geuskens threw a season’s best of 13.50m in the shot put to claim second place. He followed this with a third-place finish in the javelin, surpassing the 45m mark.In the jumps, Kevin Byrne and Darragh McConville placed fourth in the pole vault and long jump respectively. McConville later returned to win the triple jump in only his second attempt at the event. National decathlon champion Lorcan Murphy added a second-place finish in the high jump to the team’s growing points haul.On the track, the men’s 4x100m relay team secured third place behind strong squads from Leevale and Clonliffe. Jamie Byrne ran a tactically astute 1500m to finish third, while Andrew Hayes broke the 49-second barrier for the first time in the 400m, clocking 48.86 to take second. Hayes was recently selected for the European U20 Championships in the 4x400m relay.Aaron Donnelly delivered a dominant performance in the 3,000m steeplechase, winning by nearly 20 seconds. Club captain Ciaran Carthy followed with a commanding win in the 200m, and Sean Healy added a fifth-place finish in the 800m. Paul O’Donnell cruised to victory in the 5,000m, while Lorcan Murphy returned to win the 100m in challenging conditions.With the title on the line, the 4x400m relay proved decisive. Darragh McConville set the tone with a strong opening leg, followed by Andrew Hayes, who expertly navigated the break to maintain the lead. Lorcan Murphy, fresh from his 100m win, powered through the third leg, widening the gap. Ciaran Carthy anchored the team to a comfortable victory cheered on by the incredible DSD supporters, sealing a historic Men's National Premier League title for the club.”

Women:

100m 1^st Jennifer Hanrahan 12.39

200m 1^st Kate Doherty 24.66

100mH 4^th Rachel Lynch 15.80

400m 1^st Charlotte Bourke 57.37

400mH 1^st Cara Murphy 61.23

800m 1^st Eimear Maher 2.11.28

1500m 1^st Eimear Maher 4.24.06

3000m 4^th Maria McCambridge 10.14.45

1500mW 1^st Ciara Wilson Bowen 6.42.67

3000m S/C 3^rd Sadhbh Hassett 7.56.55

High Jump 2^nd Lauryn Healy 1.63