Laois athletes all set for World Under-18 Youth Cup in Slovakia

FIVE Laois athletes are among the eight competitors set to represent Ireland at the World Under-18 Youth Cup Mountain Running Championships in Donovaly, Slovakia this coming Saturday.

Four of this contingent - Riley Connelly, Sean McAuliffe along with sisters Siobhán and Áine O’Loughlin - will represent St Michael’s Athletic Club while Katlyn Reddin flies the flag for Portlaoise AC.

The athletes secured the opportunity to represent their country in this year’s competition following their impressive performances at last month’s national trials in Tipperary, and they will be hoping to serve up more strong displays at this weekend’s Youth Cup.

All five of the athletes are no strangers to international competition having contested the British and Irish Mountain Running Championships, while also carding some solid results in domestic competition.

Indeed, Connolly has enjoyed a very encouraging first half to 2025, finishing fourth in the Leinster Schools Intermediate Cross Country Championships and sixth at All-Ireland degree, while also competing at the SIAB Cross Country Championships in Scotland before finishing runner-up to Finn Yore of West Muskerry AC in last month’s World Under 18 Youth Cup trials.

Looking ahead to his latest challenge in Slovakia, he told the Laois Nationalist, “My form has been good. I’ve been doing a lot of track as well, so I’ve been mixing the two. Also, this is not my first time running internationally, so I feel that should help me too,” he added.

Siobhán O’Loughlin may have had to endure a more difficult start to the year with an ankle tendon injury she sustained in February sidelining her for a number of weeks, but she did make it back in time for the national trials in which she secured her place on the squad.

While frustrated at missing out on a significant spell of training and competition, she will have the benefit of competing in the last year’s World Under-18 Youth Cup in Spain when she lines out in Slovakia.

“Obviously my fitness is not where I'd like it to be, but I’m just so glad that I managed to make the team,” O’Loughlin told the Laois Nationalist

“I went to it (the World-U18 Youth Cup) last year and I really enjoyed it. The standard is very high and we got to meet so many athletes from other countries and we made loads of new friends. It was just a really good experience.

“This year’s race is in a different country, on a different course, but I guess I have my taste of what it's like,” she added.

Her younger sister, Áine, meanwhile, certainly turned a few heads with her Under-18 World Cup-qualifying performance in the national trials.

Ninth in this season’s National ‘B’ Cross Country Championship, she also competed in last year’s British and Irish Mountain Running Championships in Wicklow.

That experience helped battle-harden her for the tough national trials race which was run in more than 22-degree heat on a tough 6.7km course, with 600m of a climb to the summit of Slievenamon in Tipperary and a fast 500m descent to the finish.

And Áine certainly turned in a gutsy performance to secure her place on the Ireland team for the trip to Slovakia, despite suffering bad cramp in her calf 500m from the summit that forced her to hold on for third over the closing kilometre.

“It was definitely the hardest race I've done, but I really enjoyed it anyway,” recalled the young St. Michael’s athlete.

“I did cross country at the start of the year and I did some school competitions and I’m feeling good coming into this competition,” said the Junior Cert student, who together with Connolly, will fly out to Slovakia on Friday - a day after the rest of the team due to school exams.

Among those she will link up with in Slovakia is Katlyn Reddin, who was the leading qualifier among the four Irish girls for the Youth Cup, finishing ahead of the O’Loughlin sisters and Faye O’Riordan from Cork at last month’s trials.

And the Portlaoise AC athlete is hopeful that performance will serve her well, telling the Laois Nationalist “It was a very tough race and it was fair warm as well. It’s meant to be the same in Slovakia, so it was a good way to get ready for the Youth Cup.” Another of the St Michael’s contingent, Sean McAuliffe took third place in last month’s trials ahead of Fionn Buckley from Cork to complete the boys’ team for the World Championships.

A third-place finisher in the 2024 Under 17 National ‘B’ Cross Country, McAuliffe is another athlete with British and Irish Mountain Running Championship experience, something he hopes will stand to him this week.

“I have more experience now coming into the mountains because that was my first Irish team” he recalled.

“Myself and the lads would know each other fairly well and that always helps because you’re not as nervous heading over. I’m looking forward to it,” he said.