National Indoor Championships
Galway athletes achieved National glory at the weekend at the AAI National Senior Indoor Championships held in the National Indoor Arena in Dublin, and showcased the strength of athletics across the West.
Galway City Harriers duo Robert McDonnell and Cillin Greene delivered, with superb victories over 200m and 400m respectively, as did the GCH Men’s Relay squad who added a third gold. Young star Evan Hallinan of Craughwell and the evergreen Sean Breathnach returned two more medals for the West in what was a great occasion for athletics in Galway.
The highlight of the first day of the event was the gold medal winning performance of Robert McDonnell of GCH. In the 200m heats McDonnell had a comfortable win in 20.99 seconds, fastest of all the qualifiers and ensuring the favourable lane 6 draw for the final some three hours later. In the final the talented GCH athlete produced one of his best performances to date, winning convincingly in 20.86 seconds, a personal best, and a championship record,
Also on Saturday there were some fine performances from GCH sprinters Andrew Egan and Robert Meagher in their 200m heats, with Egan clocking 22.48 seconds, and Meagher, second in his heat with 22.91 seconds.
The second day of the Championships in Abbottstown produced yet more National medals with another individual sprint gold heading West via Olympian Cillin Greene. In a dominant front running performance, Greene led the finalists home with great confidence and determination, finishing with a season's best time of 46.64 seconds to claim the gold medal.
The Galway City Harriers relay team of Robert McDonnell, Cillin Greene, Andrew Egan and Robert Meagher, under coach Brendan Glynn,left the other teams in their wake as they stormed to victory in the 4x200m relay in a Championship best time of 1.27.51 minutes.
There was more success to come, with Craughwells young star Evan Hallinan delivering on his potential to take the bronze medal in the Men’s High Jump with a new personal best and leap of 1.95 metres.
Sean Breathnach, of GCH, returned to action to win silver in the weight for distance event with a throw of 8.06. Breathnach will shortly be traveling as team coach with the Irish team at the European Throws Cup in Portugal on March 12th/13th.
Galway athletes Alanna Lally of UCD and GCH’sEmma Moore both had fantastic runs in the 800m Women's final, with Lally in fourth and the up-and-coming Moore finishing sixth with a time of 2.12.74
Keith Fallon of dipped under the four minutes with a terrific run in the Men's 1500m final for seventh place in 3.58. GCH athlete Richard Kamson, jumped 12.42 in his favoured event, the Triple Jump to finish in sixth place.
Craughwell AC had two Senior 1500m finalists, in Sinead Gaffney and Patrick Noonan who each clocked huge personal bests in what were two high quality finals
Craughwell middle distance athletes Jack Miskella, Kyle Moorhead and Oisin Davis narrowly missed out on the 1500m final out in tactical heats, while William Fitzgerald clocked 8.35 in a competitive 300m final .
In the Ladies events, Nicole Walsh of GCH and Craughwells Sinead Treacy both ran cracking times but just missed out on final berths inthe 400m.
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Maree 8k
The Maree AC hosted 8k was held Sunday last with a good turnout of over 100 athletes taking in the scenic 8km route. First home was Jordan Walsh in 28.58 to take victory ahead of GCH athlete Brian O Connor in second and Adrian Duignan in third. First lady was Yvonne Fehily of Athenry AC in 34.53 ahead of Tara Whyte of GCH with Eimear Bray of Corofin in third.
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Kinvara Rock and Road races
The hotly anticipated Kinvara Rock and Road Half Marathon, Full Marathon and 10K Road Race will take place Saturday next, 5thMarch 2022 in Kinvara, Co. Galway. A huge field is expected in all races. The marathon kicks off at 10 am, with the 10km at 12 noon and the Half marathon at 12.10.
