Leaving cert student Savanagh O’Callaghan will attempt to create history at the world-famous Penn Relays in Philadelphia this weekend.

The winner of the High School girls 5000m Race Walk over the past two years, Savanagh will try to win a 3rd consecutive title on Saturday and in so doing would become the first athlete in 130 years to achieve this feat.

The Penn Relays attract over 100,000 fans over the 3-day festival, including schools and universities from over 50 countries, and it is a great honour for the school to have its name up in lights in the programme alongside the bigger American schools.

Savanagh has just finished her Leaving Cert Irish and French orals and has her school books with her in America to study, and is a great example of a balanced student athlete combining her studies with high-level sport.

On Tuesday this week, she was interviewed by the University of Limerick for a sports scholarship after being shortlisted down to the final 20 from an original application list of over 800 students.

Her post Leaving Cert goal is to study commerce at the University of Limerick after receiving a number of sports scholarships from American Universities.

On behalf of the school, we wish her well on Saturday