Foroughi sets new high jump record

STAR of the Sea athlete Kourosh Foroughi reinforced his reputation as one of the top Irish high jumpers at the moment with a highly impressive performance at the All-Ireland Schools Track & Field Championships in glorious sunshine at Tullamore on Saturday. Blue skies and warm sunshine provided the best schools" athletes in Ireland with perfect conditions at the Tullamore Harriers Stadium. It lifted the spirits and performances of over 500 qualifiers from the four provinces who assembled for the championships. Great credit is due to the ISAA which put the whole event together under great pressure after the withdrawal of the main sponsor Nestle who reluctantly withdrew from the sport due to the economic downturn. Stars of the past and present were on hand to help out with presentations including Eamonn Coghlan and Derval O"Rourke both of whom took part in schools events before going on to the big stage. Foroughi made the most of the ideal weather conditions to jump 2.14 metres and break the 26-year-old Irish record of 2.13m set by Richard Robinson (Ballyclare High School) in 1983. Going into the championships on Saturday Foroughi was the high jumper in form with four best outdoor performances this season on the circuit. All his previous best displays had been completed in less than ideal conditions for high jumping with cold, wet and windy conditions making life difficult for the competitors. At Tullamore Foroughi opened at 1.80m by merely stepping over the bar. At this stage of the competition there was only two competitors left in the running. After clearing 1.85m the Gormanston College student had the competition won. Under the watchful eye of his coach, Dessie Gough he then cleared 1.95m and 2.05m all on his first attempt. With the bar raised to 2.14m Foroughi attempted to go for a new Irish Schools record. In spite of the slight breeze he sailed over the bar on his first attempt and broke Robinson"s 26-year-old record. Foroughi asked for the bar to be raised to 2.18m. He fouled his first two attempts and on his final jump he had the bar cleared only to tip it with his heels. He lay on the mat he watched the bar wobble on the uprights and the slight breeze helped it to fall. There is no doubt now that 2.20m is in Foroughi"s legs for the summer. President of the Leinster Schools Athletic Union president Fr Ailbe O"Murchu from the Franciscan College, Gormanston was delighted to present his own student with the Brendan O"Reilly Perpetual Cup as the senior boys high jump winner. The O"Reilly family presented the cup to the Irish Schools Athletic Association in memory of Brendan O"Reilly, Irish high jumper, Olympian and RTE Sport"s broadcaster. Emily Rogers, also coached by Gough in Cushinstown, and a student in Our Lady"s College, Greenhills won the junior girls high jump with a new personal best of 1.62m in a very tense jump off with A Croke (Cresent Community College). Rogers is a member of St Peter"s AC. Another athlete coached by Gough and who took part in the high jump was Shane Crawley (Dunshaughlin CC). He cleared 1.65m in the intermediate boys high jump to finish in fifth place in the final. Conal Campion (St Andrews), representing Belvedere College threw 56.55m to take second place in the senior boys hammer. Barry Kirwin (St Patrick"s CS, Navan) put in a great series of throws in the javelin and captured his first ever All-Ireland schools medal with a 46.94 effort earning him the bronze. David Tobin (Boyne CS, Trim) finished fourth in the senior long jump with a best effort of 6.68m. This jump was a 23cm improvement on his previous best. In the intermediate boys long jump Robert Whelan (St Patrick"s CS) made it through to the final six and was happy to improve on his previous best with a jump of 5.98m in the second round. Orla O"Donnell (Scoil Mhuire, Trim) was sixth in the junior girls javelin after a tight contest which ended with the leading qualifiers separated by only six metres. The intermediate girls 800m included Elaine Plunkett (St Oliver"s, Oldcastle) who ran an impressive 2.30 minutes to finish in sixth place. Dunboyne AC achieved two silver medals at Tullamore. Keith Doherty pole-vaulted 50cm over his personal best to clear four metres. The 17-year-old"s sights are set on improving on this achievement. James McCabe also won silver in the hammer with a throw of 51.24m. Dunboyne AC athlete Donal O Mahuna achieved a silver medal in the European Masters 3x4km relay in Denmark. O Mahuna"s Irish team mates were Mick Fennell (Dublin) and Dominick Bonner (Donegal). Caroline Reid continued her winning form at the IMRA Prince William Seat 8km event on Wednesday of last week. She now tops the league in her category. Dunboyne athletes competed in the Adamstown 8km last Sunday. Rory McDonnell finished fifth in a high class field. On Tuesday of last week in the Bob Heffernan 5km Morgan McDonagh put in a strong to finish fifth in a field of 200 with a new PB closely followed by Sean Kinnane with Paul Gorey, John Holian, Aidan Keegan and Noel Duffy in hot pursuit. Well done to all. Twelve relay teams participated in competition in Navan on Wednesday evening of last week. This constituted an impressive turn out considering the weather and the fact that the Champions League final was on. The Dunboyne boys u-12, u-14 and u-15 teams all won while the girls u-9 and u-15 sides were both second. Well done to all who participated.