Speedy Lorcan Forde Dunne poised to represent Ace AC in Europe

Lorcan was crowned National Indoor U17 1500m champion a month ago and since then he has pulled off the performance of his life in the Irish Milers 1500m event in Santry with a new personal best of 3:52.

What makes this result more special is that it’s four seconds inside the European U18 qualification time of 3:56 and the fastest time achieved by an U17 or U18 athlete in Ireland so far this year, so barring some massive results elsewhere around the country over the coming weeks Lorcan will be heading for Bratislava in Slovakia with the Irish team for the European U18 Championships in July.

Ace AC were represented at the Europeans a few years ago when 800m runner Neil Culhane qualified to compete.

An interesting twist to this huge news is that Lorcan’s Ace AC teammate Shea O’Donnell ran in the same Irish Milers race and also achieved a big PB of 3:58.

That’s only two seconds outside of the qualification time and he has a few more opportunities in the coming weeks to meet that standard required.

It would indeed be a remarkable story if Ace AC could see two of their athletes qualify to compete at the Europeans!

Meanwhile, the annual Louth Championships were held in Bush over the weekend and Ace AC had many medal winners.

Day 1 took place in the heat on Saturday and hurdles coach Colin McHugh oversaw some very good performances.

U11 Dylan Garcia gave it everything in his 60m hurdles, just missing out on a medal, while in the Girls U15 age group Naiya Semple and Aoife O’Connor won silver and bronze respectively.

Chloe Hanley won gold in the U17 hurdles, all-rounder Naiya also secured a silver in the long jump and Aoife O’Connor picked up her second medal of the weekend – gold in the javelin.

U16 Jaheim Humphrey, who only joined Ace AC a few weeks ago, won gold in the shot put, at his very first attempt.

In the 1500m Taylor Gregory and Killian Sheridan won their first individual medals for the club, bronze and silver.

Niall Murray had a great weekend, winning the Boys U18 1500m before doubling up in the 800m on Sunday.

Isabella Garcia also collected 800m gold, with Sholah Lawrence winning both the U17 800m and 1500m, with clubmate Ciara O’Connor in second place.

In the 200m there was U17 gold for Ciara O’Connor, with Chloe Hanley winning bronze.

Daniella Adebolla continued her good form with gold in the U18 race, along with a second gold in the 100m ahead of Sofia Drakoulaki in second.

U16 athlete Shruthi Prasad picked up a 200m silver and Naiya Semple won U15 bronze.

U18 athlete Stevie Wong competed a notable 100 and 200m double and Kate Culhane, relatively new to sprints, won the U17 400m in style.

U12 athlete Caoimhe Carolan won a silver medal in the sprint and also secured bronze and a PB in the 600m, while at U14 level Chloe Brennan won her sprint, with Niamh Faulkner just missing out on a medal in fourth.

Daniel Hanley secured his first-ever victory for Ace AC when he won the U16 800m title and he was joined on the podium by his training partner Tadgh Forde Dunne in third, while Ruairi Cooney impressed when finishing third in the Boys U12 600m.

Fergus Nolan and Rhys Clarke battled it out again in the U17 800m, with Clarke securing silver just ahead of Fergus in third.

U17 Jamie O’Reilly is one of the Ace AC’s most improved athletes and he again secured an 800m PB.

Seamie Sheridan and Tayo Lawrence battled it out to the finish line, placing fourth and fifth in the Boys U14 600m, with Adam Cumming showing lots of potential in the same race.

Sisters Sophie and Hannah Black also claimed new PBs and Alfie Marron showed great signs of improvement with a three-second 800m PB.

Smirthi Prasad and Niamh Finnerty both ran well in the sprints.

U9 athlete Aidan O’Connor showed great promise with a brilliant sprint and javelin performance and Farrah Smith picked up a new PB in the long jump.