Joe Ryan 

Lead Endurance Coach

ryanjoe30@gmail.com

Joe is a high performance junior coach from Mullingar Harriers working with some of Ireland’s leading Junior and U23 endurance athletes.

He is a National Junior Team Coach and has worked closely with the National Junior XC panel the past three years in preparation for the European XC Championships. He brings a wealth of experience coaching for almost 15 years now and has an in-depth knowledge and understanding of junior athletics. Joe’s education includes a Bachelor of Business Studies from Dublin City University and a Higher Diploma in Primary Education. He is an Athletics Ireland Level 2 coach who competed at the World Junior T&F in the 10km race walk in 1996.

Daniel Kilgallon

Lead Sprints, Hurdles & Relays Coach

Daniel is a former National Sprints Coordinator with Athletics Ireland. He is a coach with Tallaght Athletics Club and has coached athletes ranging from 60m – 400m including hurdles and relays there since 2010. Daniel has served as a National 4x100m relay coach since 2014, guiding the U20 Men to national records in 2016 and 2018 and the Youth Women to a bronze medal at EYOF in 2017. He has also previously worked with the Senior/U23 Men’s teams and as Women’s lead 4x100m relay coach. In the past, Daniel also worked as a Regional Development Officer with Athletics Ireland in the East Region. Daniel has coached athletes to national titles at juvenile, schools, U20, U23, intervarsity and senior levels. He has also guided athletes to international championships in sprint events at all levels from youth to senior, and international medals at Youth and U20 level. He is a regular team coach with Irish teams travelling to major championships across the globe. 

Barry Pender

Jumps Coach (High Jump)

barryjpender@gmail.com

Barry is a former Irish High Jumper and Alumnus of DCU, graduating with a Degree in Sport Science in 2012. While competing he was coached by some of the world’s best Jumps coaches and trained with several elite jumpers. Barry is third on the all-time Irish standings with a PB of 2.26m and has competed and World Youth, World Juniors, European Juniors, several European Cups, and a European Seniors Champs. Barry now uses his experience and knowledge in coaching some of Ireland top jumpers as part of the DCU Athletics team.

Michael Lane

Walks Coach

oaklane111@gmail.com

Michael is an international walks judge and coach with vast experience has been developing the Walks area in Ireland for a number of years. He has been a coach in DCU for the last number of years building a strong group of International and National level walkers.

David Sweeney 

Throws Coach (Shot Put, Discus, Javelin)

field@athleticsireland.ie

David has represented Northern Ireland & Ireland in Javelin, Discus and Shot Put. He has a long association with the throwing events, where he has been National Throws Coordinator since 2013 and is currently National Field Event Coordinator. Having coached Throws since 1999, he brings significant experience to the role where he has had coaching roles in multiple international events including Olympic Games, European Team Championship, Australian Championships, European U18, U20 & U23 Championships, European Throwing Cup and European Combined Events Team Championships.

From 2012 to 2019, he was also National Throws Coach for Paralympics Ireland. During that period the Para throwers amassed 21 medals at European or Global level.

Sean Egan

Throws Coach (Hammer)

seanegan1980@gmail.com 

Sean is an Olympian and competed in the Hammer at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. He has offered his experience to countless hammer throwers across the country. His PB in the Hammer is 71.10m which is =6th on the Irish All Time List.  Sean won the 'Services to Coaching' award at the Atletics Ireland National Awards in 2019 which is a testament to the hard work and dedication he puts into his athletes and group. He coaches a number of current DCU students as well as an extended group including some DCU alumni.

2019 IUAA Road Relays

The IUAA Road Relays were held in November on the NUI Maynooth campus and DCU Athletics travelled with strong teams on both the men's and women's sides. 

The DCU ladies had three teams toeing the line this year. The ladies A team were led off by Aoibhinn McGoldrick who had a stormer of a run, leading from the gun. Aoibhinn managed the pressure extremely well around the half way point of the 1-mile loop where athletes from Trinity College Dublin and UCD tried to over-take her. She handed over a 3 second lead to Jodie McCann. Jodie who is a superb athlete on both track and cross-country continued her fine form of late, putting distance into the rest of the athletes right from the off as she began her 2-mile leg. Jodie showed her class throughout and entered the change-over zone where Lauren Tinkler set off over another 2-mile leg. Lauren ran a strong 2-mile leg where she faced stiff opposition from two of the best distance athletes in Ireland representing TUD and UCD. Despite being overtaken by the TUD athlete around the half-way mark of her leg, Lauren battled hard to the line and managed to hold
second place ahead of UCD in third who were trying desperately to close the gap. Lauren handed over to Nadia Power who stormed around the last 1-mile loop of the day. Nadia, a European U23 Bronze Medalist over 800m this summer, ran the fastest 1-mile leg of the day recording a swift 5.14. However, the gap to Trinity College Dublin was just too big to close on this occasion and our Ladies team finished in a credible second place. This was a great performance from our Ladies A-team which had many last minute changes due to some of our athletes picking up injuries and illness. Behind all the excitement of the battle to reach the top of the podium, there were plenty of battles going on across the course in Maynooth. All members of our ladies B and C teams (Named below) battled hard throughout their legs. Our B team finished a credible 6 th while our C team
finished 17 th . This was the first outing of the season for many of our ladies distance squad and perhaps the first time many of these ladies represented the DCU Athletics Academy where they wore and performed for the blue vest with great pride. The win for the TUD ladies team, was the first in their history and well deserved.

With the Ladies narrowly missing out on retaining their IUAA Road Relays title for 2019, all focus was now turned to our three Men’s teams (again A,B & C) who were surely feeling the pressure. The men’s race consisted of again, 2×1-mile legs, 2×2-mile legs with an extra 3-miler in the middle. The first leg of the day was cagey and tactical with the pace not really picking up until the half-way point of the 1-mile loop. All three DCU teams were placed inside the top ten after the first changeover after fine legs from Conor Duncan, Cian McBride and Ruarcan O’Gibne. Conor handed over to Cathal Doyle who set-off for two laps at a fast pace. By the half-way point, Cathal had over-taken the five teams in front of him and put the DCU Men’s team into first place for the first time on the day. Cathal managed the heat applied by the UCD athlete and continued his fine form which he
has showed throughout the current cross-country season, handing responsibility over to Cormac
Dalton for the long, dreaded three miler. This is the leg every year where the Men’s race is won and lost and with two athletes chasing Cormac who represent Ireland on a regular basis, the Mullingar AC athlete was going to need a calm and composed head to keep the DCU men’s A-team in contention. Despite extreme pressure being piled on by athletes from NUI Galway and UCD, Cormac held it together and ran a rapid 3-mile to hold a narrow but crucial lead. Nexct up was Brian Fay had been having a great year where he has pulled out some stand-out performances. Last Saturday in Maynooth was no different, Brian held off early pressure from the UCD athlete over the first half of his 2-mile leg before putting in a rapid last 800 metres, opening up a commanding 12-second gap back to UCD who were holding second place. On the anchor leg for the Men’s A-team was a second-year athlete, Colin Smith. Colin moved rapidly over the first 800 metres and extended our lead to 20 seconds. He didn’t stop there, keeping the pressure on to cross the line and record the fastest 1-miler of the day in the Men’s race. This was a huge victory for our Men’s team as the calibre of athletes representing both UCD and NUI Galway, who made up the podium places, has very high. Once again as in the Ladies race, DCU athletes from the B&C teams were fighting hard to finish high up the field. The Men’s B team finished just outside the medals in 4 th position while our C team finished a credible 9 th. Overall it was a great day for the DCU Athletics who headed back to North Dublin with a set of gold and silver team medals. It was also great to observe a sea of blue DCU Athletics tracksuits swarm around the course throughout both races with many athletes who compete in sprints, jumps and throws for the university out to support. The next outing for the DCU Athletics 
athletes will be at the IUAA Indoor Athletics Championships in Athlone in February.

Teams who represented DCU Athletics in Maynooth:
Ladies A-Team: Aoibhinn McGoldrick, Jodie McCann, Lauren Tinkler, Nadia Power
Ladies B: Sarah Clarke, Aine Burke, Aoife O’Cuill, Alannah Cooley
Ladies C: Susie O’Flynn, Maeve Maher, Jesseka Gallagher, Molly Brown

Mens A: Conor Duncan, Cathal Doyle, Cormac Dalton, Brian Fay, Colin Smith
Men’s B: Cian McBride, Jamie Battle, Jack Boylan, Keelan Kilrehill, Jonny Whan
Men’s C: Ruarcan O’Gibne, Euan Lagan, Patrick MacGabhann, Ben Guiden, Andrew McKenna.

2020 IUAA Indoor Championships

The IUAA Indoors is always an early chance to showcase form for the indoor season and this year was no different for DCU Athletics Athletes with some fine performances across the disiplines. Throughout the day, both teams proved why we are the most successful varsity team in the country, dominating many of the events on both the track and field.

This impressive string of performances resulting in a total of 25 medals being won across both teams, two if which were IUAA Records (Mens Men’s 4 × 200m and Saragh Buggy in the Triple Jump), 3 DCU Records (Men’s 4 × 200m, Saragh Buggy in the Triple Jump & 1st year Mark Smyth in the 200m). These brilliant records were backed up with plenty of PB’s and SB’s by the rest of the squad.

Womens Team 
In the 60m, Aoife Lynch and Alanna Ryan reached the final coming in 6th place and 8th place in 7.72 and 7.82 picking up points for the team. Eva McPartlan was narrowly out of the medals in the final of the 60mH. In her more preferred event, Aoife Lynch picked up a bronze medal in the 200m final running 24.84 with Sarah McCarthy on her heels in 4th. Sophie Becker eased her way to another IUAA title over 400m in 55.01 with Kelly mc Grory also picking up a bronze medal in 56.17. More medals came from the 800m where Zoe Carruthers picked up a bronze in 2:27 and Lauren Tinkler in 6th. Alannah Cooley placed 10th in the 1500m final in 5.07. 1-2 for DCU in the 1500m walk with Sarah Glennon taking the win over Orlaith Delahunt in 2nd. More gold in the 3000m for Claire Fagan in 9.58 with Christine Russell backing her up in 7th. Silver for our 4×200m relay (Aoife Lynch, Alanna Ryan, Kelly McGrory and Sophie Becker). Sarah McCarthy picked up a silver in the long jump in 5.58 with Fodla McFadden just outside the medals in 4th. IUAA Record for Sarah Buggy in the triple jump in 13.18 with Kim O’Hare close behind in 4th place. More gold in high jump with Daena Kealy retaining her title clearing 1.70, Emily Corcoran clearing 1.50. Ailbhe Healy was 6th in the pole vault. In the Shot Putt, Michaela Walsh took the win throwing 14.22 and Zoe Mohan coming in 7th. In her preferred event Zoe Mohan came back to win the gold in the 8k WfD in 8.25 with Michaela getting the bronze.

Men’s Team 
In the Final of the 60m, Sean O’Driscoll bagged a bronze medal running 6.91 with Simon Essuman in 7th. Fresher Mark Smyth ran a new DCU record, taking the win in 21.44 leading DCU to a 1-2 as Paul McDermott followed close behind in 21.67. In the 400m, Jack Manning placed 4th and Jamie Pender 54.39. Carnage in the 800m as both Cian McBride and Colin Smith dived to the line for the last medal, Mcbride getting the node for bronze. In the 1500m, Garry Campbell placed 5th with Keelan Kilrehill close behind in 9th. Silver for Adam McInerney in the 2000m walk in 9.05. Matthew Molloy was 8th in the 3000m. IUAA Record for the mens 4×200m (Simon Essuman, Cillin Grene, Paul McDermott, Mark Smyth). Gold again in the long jump where Keith Marks jumped 6.97 with James Fortune in 12th in 5.42. James in action again in the jump, jumping 1.65 for 10th. Silver and Bronze for DCU with Matthew Callinan Keenan and Shane Power. James O Neill picked up a bronze in the shot putt with Brendan O Donnell in 13th. James again in action in the 16WfD in 10th.
Once again both teams topped the tables at the end of day, this will be used as a great confidence booster for the Cross Country Championships on the 7th March held by UCC.

Fionnuala McCormack

Beijing 2008 - 3000m SC

London 2012 - 5000m & 10000m

Rio 2016 - Marathon

Tokyo 2020 - Marathon

Laura Reynolds

London 2012 - 20km Walk

Linda Byrne

London 2012 - Marathon

Claire Bergin 

London 2012 - 4 x 400m Relay

Martina McCarthy 

Sydney 2000 - 4 x 400m Relay

Greta Streimikyte

Rio 2016 - T13 1500m

Tokyo 2020 - T13 1500m

Deirdre Ryan 

London 2012 - High Jump