David Cussen of Old Abbey AC sets new PB in the high jump

Just catching up on a piece of news from last week. On Sunday the 18th of August, the Athletics Ireland Track & Field League final was held in Tullamore, Co.Offaly. David Cussen who was competing as a guest for Bandon AC won the mens competition with a jump of 2.13 metres.

High Jump - Men Division One
Place Name Club Hgt(m)
1 David Cussen Bandon A.C. 2.13
2 Mark Rogers Louth Athletics 1.75
3 Ian Crowley Riocht A.C. 1.70

This was a new record height for the Cork athlete, beating his previous best of 2.10 metres  which he set at the Cork City Sports in June. This now moves him from joint 15th to joint 11th on the Irish mens all time list and he is still only 17 years old.

Photo...Athletics Ireland

Young Cork athletes win titles at the 2013 Celtic Games in Wales...

At the 2013 Celtic Games in Wales on Saturday the 3rd of August 2013, a number of athletes from Cork won their respective competitions. They were part of a large Irish team that took part in the event.

High Jump...U18...David Cussen from Old Abbey AC in Cork was the clear winner with a jump of 2.10 metres matching his personal best.

Long Jump...U18...Sam Healy of Leevale AC finished first with a jump of 6.81 metres.

800m...U18...Louise Shanahan of Leevale AC finished first in 2m 13.34s.

100m hurdles...U16...Jack Murphy of Leevale AC finished second in a time of 13.77 seconds.

Team events...U18 Women 4x100m Relay...The Irish team finished first in a time of 47.99 seconds...Sarah-Kate LACEY Shannen DAWKINS Annie STAFFORD Niamh MCNICHOLL

The full results can be seen HERE

David Cussen of Old Abbey AC finishes 9th in the High Jump at the World Youth Championships

The IAAF World Youth Championships are currently taking place in Donetsk, Ukraine with the events spread out over five days. The high jump final concluded on Saturday the 13th of July and David Cussen from Old Abbey AC in Cork finished a very credible 9th out of 12 competitors.

David who is just 17 years old cleared 2.07 metres, just 3 cms short of his personal best of 2:10 which he set at the recent Cork City Sports. David's previous PB had been 2.06.

Athletics Ireland Juvenile Star Award...Feb 2012

The Athletics Ireland Tipperary Crystal Juvenile Star Awards 2012 were held recently at the Tullamore Court Hotel...

L to R...John Sheehan who received the Drifter Cup on behalf of Leevale AC for Best Track & Field Club..........Robert and Marian Heffernan, special guests and Olympians...........Mary Maher, who received McAuliffe Trophy on behalf of Cork for Best Track & Field County..........and David Cussen, who received the Tipperary Crystal Star Award for Cork and the Eamonn Gilbert Award for Best Juvenile High Jumper in 2012. Pic......Dan McGrath/Editorial Images.

David Cussen was also the winner of the Cork City Sports Athletic Person of the Month for January...

From Cork City Sports...David Cussen (Old Abbey AC) is the January winner of the Cork City Sports Athletic Person of the Month. In January David won the Munster Junior high jump championship at Nenagh with a superb jump of 2.02m to once again clear the magical 2 metre barrier. Last July just before his 17th birthday David took part in the Cork City Sports at CIT clearing a height of 1.95m. A few days before the City Sports David won both the long jump and high jump at the Under 17 Irish Championships in Tullamore. David subsequently won the high jump at the Home Countries Schools International in England and was second in the Celtic International in Scotland to round off a successful 2012. To show that David’s high jumping is really on the way up he won the the Irish Junior indoor title last weekend in Athlone with a new personal best of 2.06m. The bar is set high for the for the career of this talented young athlete.