European U18 Championships
Four Galway athletes competed on a very successful Irish team which competed in the European U18 Championships in Slovakia last week.
Orlaith Mannion of South Galway sailed through her 100m Hurdles heats on Thursday, and then placed 7th in her hurdles semi-final in 13.98.
Conor Penney soared through the qualification round in the High Jump with a best leap of 2.05 on his 2ndattempt to qualify for the final last Sunday. The final proved a tough challenge as Penney exited at 1.93m for 12th overall in Europe.
In the Walks Savanagh O’Callaghan of Tuam AC placed a fine 16th overall in the Ladies 5000m Race Walk while Matthew Newell also of Tuam capped off the Galway performances with a magnificent 7th place in the Men’s 5000m Walk
Irish Schools International
A strong International Team from Schools athletes travelled to the Carmarthen Athletics Track, Wales on Saturday 20th July 2024 last for the SIAB Home Countries international
A total of seven Galway athletes competed - namely Ben Moran of Presentation Athenry, Daniel Sangodele of the Bish, Tom McHugh of Clifden CS won the Discus, Angela Cielecka of Taylors Hill, Lucy Hounkponou of Colaiste Baile Chlair, Lauren Kilduff of Gort CS, and Niamh Madden of Portumna CS.
Lauren Kilduff excelled, winning silver over 300m Hurdles on her debut Irish international, in a fantastic time of 43.40.
Ben Moran placed a fine 5th in Long Jump with 6.30 metres while Niamh Madden of Portumna CS was 7th in the Shot Putt
Angela Cielecka anchored her 4x100m team to 3rd place in the Relay event, and earlier she was a fantastic 4th in her 100m time of 12.17s.
Lucy Hounkponou ran a great PB in the Hurdles for 11.91s and 7th place. Daniel Sangodele was 6th in the Triple Jump with a very good 12.68m best following on from his 8th place in the Long Jump.
Finally, Tom McHugh threw in the Discus competition and was a very impressive 5th overall.
Bocquet Olympic Selection and Diamond League
Shauna Bocquet of Craughwell AC got the fantastic news during the week that she was selected on the Irish team for the Paris Paralympic Games, a lifetime ambition and an achievement that the talented distance athlete has been working towards with great dedication over the past decade, something the entire community can testify to as she puts in the hours on the local roads or the athletics track.
To top it off, she raced in front of a packed 60,000 crowd at the London Diamond league on Saturday, setting a new personal best and an Irish record of 1:48.42 over the 800m distance.
National Juvenile Outdoor Track and Field Championships
The second weekend of the National Juvenile Outdoor Track and Field Championships was held in Tullamore last weekend, with numerous Galway clubs securing silverware after two great days of competition.
Craughwell AC secured medals via their U17s Boys’ relay team racing to the National 4x100m title in a time of 44.66 with Joshua Whyte, Kai Watters, Toyosi George, Sean Hoade and Cian Brady.
The U17 girls’ team were also victorious with Emma O’Donovan, Megan Devane, Aeveen Kelly and Rachel Warde showing baton skills par-excellence to win a fantastic silver in a time of 50.52.
Declan O’Connell won a brilliant bronze in the U17 3000m, clocking an 8:55 personal best. Darragh Kelly made a triumphant return to the podium with bronze in the U18 High Jump with a 1.80m clearance
GCH won individual medals at the Juvenile B championships via U12 Long Jumper Emma Barry who took gold, and later claimed bronze over 60m sprint, in theU13 Long Jump Darcy Noel won gold also.
In the U13 High Jump Benas Navickas won gold, while in the U12 60m Mathis Cullinane Vaux claimed bronze.
In the Juvenile Relays GCH secured three team medals, winning gold in the U18 Girls 4x400m, silver in the U13 Boys 4x100m, and bronze in the U19 Girls 4x400m event,
International Angela Cielecka travelled back from Wales to become National sprint champion with a huge PB of 12.06, win the U17 100m. Tom McHugh also excelled in the Discus, stretching his 43m first round throw to 44m+ in the final round and securing his first National clubs gold.
GCH won two further medals, as Shane McGovern delivered a new 400m PB of 51.45s to surge to second place in a wonderfully executed final, and Kevin Sangodele added the Under 15 Outdoor Triple Jump title to the Indoor one today with a massive new PB of 11.41m.
South Galway AC secured Silver via Sinéad Maher in the U 19 Girls 3,000m, while clubmate Ciarán Kelleher won a superb gold in the U6 Boys 3,000m Walk leading from the gun.
Tuam AC had a great championship, with the highlights being a superb gold medal win for Danielle Moynihan who finally achieved her long held dream of being an All-Ireland champion when she won the U18 400m title in Tullamore in a new lifetime best of 58.21 and via Ciara Gilmore who had the race of her life as she won the U18 3000m Race Walk title in 16.50.74
In the U14 Girls 2000m Race Walk the Tuam AC trio of Cuisle O’Callaghan (gold), Teagan Rooney (silver) and Roisin Steede Duffy (bronze) created history, as the Galway club became the first ever to have three athletes fill the podium of an event at these championships
Loughrea AC athlete Darragh Fahy won yet another gold, this time in the All-Ireland U18 Triple Jump. Fahy has won gold in every competition he participated in this year in the Triple jump and set a new season best performance of 13.43 metres.
West Coast AC star sprinter Lemar Lucciano powered home in style to take the U18 100m Gold medal, to add to his National Indoor 60m title
Noah Quinn of Loch Lurgan won gold in the U 15 Boys 800m National B finals Saturday last.
Seán Doggett of Athenry was a comfortable winner of the U19 400m final on Day 2 of the National Juvenile Championships, his final Juvenile outing
Athenry won a bronze medal in the throws also, via newcomer Daniel Lumumba in the Shot Putt.
National 10 Mile race
Jamie Fallon of Craughwell AC won Bronze in the National Senior 10-mile Road Championships on Sunday in Phoenix Park, clocking a fine time of 51:12 on a tough course.
