Ciara Neville (Emerald Athletics Club, Limerick).
When the Monaleen sprinter ran 11.52 seconds for 100m in the All-Ireland Schools final last summer, it was the joint seventh fastest time ever by an Irishwoman and she was still only 17.
Neville went on to finish seventh in the European Junior final and debuted at the World (senior) Indoors this year. She hopes to race in the World Junior Championships (U20) in Tampere, Finland this July, a month after she sits her Leaving Cert. “It’s hard to mix school and training but I keep to the same routine which helps. I go to after-school study every day for two hours, then it’s home, get my dinner, go straight to training and then back, shower and into bed by 11pm. I’m actually very lucky because my house, school and training (at UL track) are all within five minutes of each other.”
