Tag: Athletics

World Record for Noelle

Congratulations to Hazelwood College student Noelle Lenihan on winning a Silver Medal for Ireland at the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha. On her way to securing the medal Noelle set a new personal best on her first throw and a new World Record with her second throw.

Also congratulations to her father, Jim, who is also Noelle’s coach and all at North Cork Athletics Club.

Here is a video of the Victory Cermony from Doha:

Here is a video of the final itself:

Here is the story of Noelle’s success as reported on RTE Sport

Teenager Noelle Lenihan takes silver in Doha

Updated: Monday, 26 Oct 2015 16:30

Fifteen-year-old Noelle Lenihan from Charleville in Co Cork has sensationally won discus silver at the IPC Paralympic Athletics World Championships in Doha today.

The teenager, who was making her major championship debut, showed a complete absence of anticipated nerves in recording a lifetime best throw of 30.68metres with her very first attempt.

Impressively she followed this up with another lifetime best and new F38 world record of 31.64m with her second throw.

This mark was the best of her six attempts and secured her the much coveted silver medal behind F37 reigning Paralympic champion Na Mi of China with a winning mark of 33.59m. Renee-Danielle Foessel took bronze with 30.39m.

Smashing pic of Noelle with her world silver,proud dad & coach Jim & national coach @ThrowsIreland #irishroadtorio pic.twitter.com/vyz1j9CP4R
— Paralympics Ireland (@ParalympicsIRE) October 26, 2015
Reacting to her medal win Lenihan said: “I got a PB, world record and silver medal in my first major championship. I turn 16 in a few days’ time so naturally I’m going to gain more experience and improve my explosive power which can only results in further improvement.

“But for today I’m delighted. My dad, who’s my coach, and my older siblings are all here in the crowd supporting me which is very special.”

Speaking about Noelle’s performance, Irish national Paralympic throws coach Dave Sweeney said: “I can’t believe how well Noelle handled the pressure of competing at this level. She was like a seasoned pro.

“Even after breaking the world record she remained focused on the small details that we agreed would make her throw well. At 15 years old she has an incredible future in this sport. Hopefully they’ll have some great celebrations in North Cork Athletics club.”

Tomorrow is set to be the busiest day for the Irish team in Doha: four Irish athletes are in action.

Throwers Orla Barry and Deirdre Mongan are out first in the morning session in their respective finals; F57 discus and F53 dhot put.

In the evening session three time Paralympian wheelchair racer John McCarthy will line up in the heats of the T51m 100m hoping to advance to the final.

Another major championship debutant, Waterford’s Hayley Fitzsimons goes in the final of the F40 shot put keen to gain valuable experience at this level.

Finally Noelle’s success as reported in the Irish Independent on Tuesday 27th October

Noelle Doha

Athletics News Roundup

Hazelwood College Athletic First Term Round Up

The first term was a very busy and what turned out to be a very successful one for the Hazelwood athletes. The season kicked off with the Munster Schools Indoor Combined Events. This event requires the athletes to compete over five events, after which their points would be tallied. Hazelwood had four athletes compete at the competition, Kevin O Leary, Laoise Bennis, Gerard O’Donnell and Alison Healy, all four athletes competed very well, all four had personal best performances; Alison got a personal best in the Hurdles in a time of 11.55 and the shot, where she threw 7.06m. This was Gerard O Donnell’s first time doing this competition, but he performed admirable, achieving personal best in the 60m hurdles (12.14 seconds) , the 800m (2:41.5) and the 200m (28.30 seconds). Kevin O’Leary was competing his first year U17 so had a stiff competition to qualify. He ran close to his personal best in the hurdles (9.25 seconds) and ran a new personal best in the 200m (27.20 seconds), the hurdles bagging him close to a massive 700points. Laoise Bennis was on form on the day and despite suffering with shin splints she got 4 personal bests out of the five events: Hurdles (10.09 seconds), shot (7.15m), high jump (1.55m) and the 800m (2:43.7 min). This fantastic performance was enough to secure her first place as Munster Champion and secured her qualification for the Irish School Combined Events Finals in Athlone IT. Despite their fantastic performances Kevin, Alison and Gerard all narrowly missed out on qualification.

Laoise went on to compete in the Irish School Combined Events Finals in Atlone IT International Arena on Saturday the 15th of November. With a place on the national team for the top four places at stake, Laoise opened the completion well, reducing her personal best over the hurdles to 9.93 seconds. Next up was the shot putt where she had a solid throw of 7m. However, issues with her run-up on the long jump meant she only got 4.39m with 2 foul jumps close to 5m. A consistent jump in the high jump of 1.54m meant that she was going into the 800m in fifth place and a real chance of getting onto the national team. But some fantastic runs from her competitors meant that she finished in eighth place. Despite her narrow miss, it was a fantastic achievement.

Among the most impressive results of the first term were those of Noelle Lenihan, who competed in the Cork and Waterford para game. Noelle competed in the shot putt, discus and javelin, winning gold in all events. The most impressive aspect about her in that the games are open to all ages and, as 15 year old, she had to compete against adults to secure her medals. Noelle is now waiting for classification to be able to compete in further para games, with the possibility of making the national team and representing Ireland in international competition.

On the 21st of October, a group of 38 Hazelwood athletes travelled to Fota Wildlife Park to compete in the Munster Schools Orienteering League. This was the first time that Hazelwood had competed at the competition, so much was learned by many of those competing. Hazelwood’s best finishers, on what turned out to be an extremely wet and windy day, were Amy O Sullivan and Rosin Normoyle who did fantastically to finish in seventh and eighth places respectively in the First Year Girls’ Competition. Cory Knipe and Douglas Woolam came in fourteenth and fifteenth place in the Second Year Boys’ Competition. Hazelwood’s athletes faced crowded fields, manned by more experienced athletes, so this was an excellent result for compete beginners and bodes well for future orienteering events.

With an action packed first term packed with some fantastic performances, the second term look promising. This term we have the cross country, outdoor schools and more orienteering action.

Watch this space.



Picture 1: Laoise Bennis with the gold medal for first place in the Munster Schools’ Indoor Combined Events.

Picture 2: The Hazelwood College team who participated in the Munster Schools’ Indoor Combined Events. Pictured are (left to right) Alison Healy, Laoise Bennis, Kevin O’Leary and Gerard O’Donnell.

Picture 3: Hazelwood College’s Noelle Lenihan with the three gold medals she won in the Paralympic Games Cork Regional Final and the three medals she won in the Paralympic Munster Finals, which she won for Discus, Shot Putt and Javelin.

Picture 4: Hazelwood College’s Athletics team which travelled to Fota Wildlife Park to compete in the Munster Schools’ Orienteering League. Hazelwood College students Amy O’Sullivan and Rosin Normoyle came seventh and eighth respectively in the First Year Girls’ Competition while Corey Knipe and Douglas Woolam came fourteenth and fifteenth respectively in the Second Year Boys’ Competition