American Dream on the cards for Caolan McFadden in 2026

Caolan McFadden’s athletics journey will take him to America in the Autumn, but the Cranford AC runner is hopeful he can represent Ireland at the Under-20 World Championships in Oregon before that.

The Loreto Milford student is in his final year of school, and he will be moving Stateside for a scholarship to Villanova University in Pennsylvania.

Another year of successes for the 18-year-old earned him the Secondary School Sports Boy Award at the Donegal Sports Star Awards last Friday, and he was happy to add it to the Primary School Sports Boy and Youth Awards he has previously won.

His triumphs at school level came in winning the Ulster Schools Senior 800m title, before going on to take the National title at the All-Ireland Schools Championships in Tullamore, winning in a personal best time of 1:51.98.

He also featured on the Loreto Milford team that broke the Ulster 4×400 metre relay record at the Ulster Schools Championships, where he ran the final leg.

Adding to his 800m success, Caolan also won the senior boys' 1500m race at the Ulster District Schools Cross Country Championships.

“It came at a nice time, and I’m delighted to get the Secondary School Award,” McFadden said on Friday night.

“I got my first school title at the start of June in the 800m, which was great. In schools, there is always such strong competition, and I’m hoping I’ll be able to do it again this year.

“I started running when I was about seven. Eamon (Giles) came over to the school. Master McClafferty came into the classroom first and asked for any kids who were active, and the teacher pointed at me and ‘take him with you’, probably to get me out of their sight!

“My mum sort of got me into it, but she gave me the opportunity to do whatever I wanted. I did a bit of soccer and golf, but athletics was the main one for me. My sister, Nazara, was the first in the family to start, so that’s how I got into it.

“Since Covid, I really got into athletics and would watch it internationally, and ever since then, I have been in love with it.

“It’s great to see how well it’s going in the country and in the county. Conor Kelly at Finn Valley is doing amazing, and Mark English, Kelly McGrory, it’s just brilliant to see.

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“It really kicked off for me with Cranford in 2021 when I won my first national title, and then Cranford hosted the National Cross Country Championships in 2022 in Downings, and I got my first win.

“It was just after the Creeslough tragedy, and everyone was out cheering me on, so I felt that it just lifted the community a bit. Eamon thought I had a good chance at winning it, but he was trying to play it down, as were my mum and dad, because they knew the pressure would be on me, but I wasn’t too stressed about it.”

And 2025 was another great year for the Cranford man, as he claimed the Irish U19 Cross Country title at the National Sports Campus in Dublin in December, and he took the U20 silver medal in Derry, with only Noah Harris in front of him on that occasion.

That second helped him qualify for the U20 European Cross Country Championships in Lagoa, Portugal, also in December. McFadden placed 36th overall as the third counter on the Irish team for a fifth-place finish, with teammates Harris in tenth and Cormac Dixon in 13th.

“I was lucky enough to get selected for Ireland for the European Cross Country Championships out in Portugal.

“I was a bit disappointed with my result, but for the first time, I couldn’t complain too much. I still have another year at this level, and I think it’s in Serbia this year, and hopefully I can fight for the medals.

“Since watching the European Cross Country in Dublin in 2021, it’s always been my goal to represent Ireland in it. Seeing Darragh McElhinney get silver that time, and then Nick Griggs is such a good athlete, and he’s really inspiring, so it has always been my goal to push to those Championships.

“I had an injury before it. I rolled my ankle in one of the races, and I thought my chances of making it were really slim. I wasn’t expecting to qualify, but I had a good race in Derry, and thankfully, I got there, so I had a good year in 2025.

“Eamon has been really good, and he keeps the mileage low, and it’s more about quality work. Now that I’m 18 and fully developed, I can maybe push on a bit more, but I have been really lucky with injuries, and the ankle wasn’t that bad, it was just unlucky, and it set me back a couple of weeks, but I got out quick enough after that.”

McFadden’s school season has begun, and he already picked up the Ulster District C title last month.

Other targets will be coming up for him, including high aspirations of reaching the Under-20 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, later this year.

“The Ulsters are coming up now during midterm, but I’m at a training camp in Portugal during that, so I’m hoping to try and get a bye into the Nationals because I’d love to do it in my last school year, but I’m not sure what will happen, hopefully I can.

“I want to just run as fast as possible and to my best in the 800m and 1500m, and I want to try the 5000m this year because I haven’t had that opportunity.

“The World Championships are being held in Oregon at the end of August, and it would be brilliant to try and qualify for that and see how that goes.”

But America is on the cards for the youngster this year, regardless of qualification for the Worlds, after earning a scholarship to Villanova University.

One of the most prominent sporting colleges in the US, Villanova’s Track & Field Coach is four-time Irish Olympian and three-time 1500m World Indoor Champion, Marcus O’Sullivan.

It’s an opportunity that McFadden found hard to turn down, and he doesn’t want to look back and think ‘what if?’ in years to come.

“I’m not sure what I’m going to study, but over there you can sample loads of subjects, and in the second year you can go into a specific major.

“Marcus O’Sullivan is the coach, and he has been really supportive, and Matt (Valeriani) is another coach who has helped me. The team over there is really strong, and I’m really looking forward to it.

“They had been talking to me over the last year, and at the end of the summer, I decided to take the opportunity when it was there.

“The only real decision I had was whether I would regret (not doing) it down the line in ten years, and that’s what really pushed me. I can always study education, but a running career is limited.

“Some people mightn’t be too fond of it, but a lot of people love it. Jack Fenlon is out in Villanova, and he’s from Laois, he’s a third-year student, and he really supported me in the process.

“Then, when you see people like Conor Kelly getting on really well out there, that pushed me on.

“The NCAA is a really competitive field, and it’s probably the place for the best opportunities.”