Galway 5km Series
William Fitzgerald of Craughwell AC, race winner, and Regina Casey GCH first lady home in the Caltra leg of the Galway 5k Series.
Race one of the 2018 Galway 5km Series kicked off Tuesday 24th April last in Caltra, with well over 600 finishing the event in perfect summer conditions. William Fitzgerald of Craughwell AC was first man home in a fast 16.42, ahead of Michael Kerrin of GCH, second in 16.44 and Ger Hartnett of Tuam AC third in 16.56.
First lady home was Regina Casey of GCH in a superb time of 17.18, with Sinead Brody, also GCH, second in 18.32 and Aine O’Farrell of Athenry AC third. The Craughwell leg is next up on the 1st May, with Loughrea AC hosting the series on May 8th.
Galway Track and Field Juvenile Championships
GCH athletes who competed at the Galway Track and Field championships held in Dangan L to R Lily Fagan, Isabella Burke, Kelsey Wall, Aoibhe Joyce, Ava McKeon and Rachel Fahy.
Day One of the 2018 Galway Track and Field Juvenile Championships was held Sunday last in beautiful sunshine in Dangan, with the U13 to U19 age groups taking part in a packed programme of events.
Among the highlights of an entertaining day’s action were multiple medal wins for Emma Moore of Galway City Harriers, who won triple gold and set several new records in the 100m, 200m and 800m also winning relay gold at U15 level with some superb front running.
Conor Treahy of Craughwell won an amazing four individual golds in hurdles, Long and Triple Jumps, and his clubmate Chloe Casey of Craughwell who took three golds across both field and sprints events at U16/17 level.
There were also triple golds for GCH athletes Seren O’Toole, Ava McKeon, Robert McDonnell and Luke Dahler.
David Mannion of South Galway also won a triple as did Caitlin Griffin of Loughrea AC. The Jennings brothers Eoghan and Darragh of GCH claimed two wins apiece and many Craughwell AC athletes such as Laura Cunningham, and Aoibhe Donnellan were among others taking multiple title wins.
The track action started with the hurdles programme, where the U13 titles were won by Chloe Hallinan of Craughwell and Evan Moran also of Craughwell AC. David Mannion of South Galway AC and Ava McKeon of GCH took the U14 titles, At U15 level Saoirse Moore of Craughwell AC and Conor Hoade of GCH claimed two golds each as both won the sprint hurdles and 250m hurdles, At U16/17 level, Seren O’Toole also did the double in the 100m and 250m hurdles , while Conor Treahy and James Furey, both of Craughwell AC, took the sprint and long hurdles in the U16/17 Boys.
Rita Lahue of GCH won the U18/19 Girls 100m hurdles, with Lorraine Delaney of Craughwell winning the 400m hurdles event.
Ryan McNelis of Athenry AC set a new championship best 57.33 winning the U18/19 Boys hurdles.
In the sprints, Aoibhe Donnellan of Craughwell AC won the U13 Girls 80m, while Roan Heslin of Tuam took the U13 Boys title by a very narrow margin, At U14 level, Ava McKeon won for Galway City Harriers, while Cillian Griffin of GCH won the Boys event. At U15 level Luke Dahler took the Boys honours, while at U16/17 level Robert McDonnell of GCH and Chloe Casey won the Girls event, and at U18/19 level Rita Lahue and Darren Costello, both of GCH, took golds
Over 200m, there were wins for Ava McKeon of GCH and David Mannion of South Galway at U14 level, with GCH athletes then sweeping the boards via Luke Dahler at U15 level, Eimear Rowe and Robert McDonnell, at U16/17 and Laura Nally and Darren Costello in the U18/19 races.
At 400m there were wins for GCH duo Robert McDonnell and Colman Ni Cheidigh, at U16/17 level, while GCH athletes Laura Nally and Diego Brule took the honours at U18/19 level.
In the middle-distance races, Saoirse Coleman of East Galway AC and Ryan McNelis of Athenry won the U13 600m races. Aoibhe Joyce of GCH and David Mannion of South Galway AC claimed the U14 800m crowns. Adam McGreal won the U15 Boys event over 800m. At U16/17 category level Eimear Rowe and Barry Murphy both of GCH were crowned champions, while Rachel Hughes also GCH won the U18/19 Girls and Patrick Noonan of Craughwell AC claimed the boys title
In the 1500m events there were wins for Isabella Burke of GCH and Andrew Horan of South Galway AC in the U14 events, At U15 level Roisin Geaney of SGAC and Oisin Keane Of East Galway AC took the gold medals, while in the U16/17 events Sean Cotter of Craughwell AC won out in the Boys race while Caoimhe Kelleher of South Galway AC won the Girls title, In the U18/19s, Patrick Noonan of Craughwell AC and Aine O’Farrell of Athenry claimed wins.
In the Walks, Roisin Geaney of South Galway won the U15 Girls, with Grace Leen of Craughwell claiming the U14 Girls and Sean Kelleher of South Galway AC winning the U14 Boys title
The field events programme was highly competitive with many new Galway records being set.
In the Triple Jump events, Craughwell AC completed a clean sweep of titles, as Lukas Schukat of Craughwell AC won the U15 Boys, Leanagh Gilligan and Conor Treahy won the U16/17 events, while Laura Cunningham took the honours in the U18/19 Girls.
Eoghan Jennings won the Discus for GCH at U16/17 level, as Chloe Casey of Craughwell took the U16/17 Girls, At U14 level Caitlin Griffin of Loughrea and Liam Shaw of Athenry AC were victorious, while at U15 level Daragh Jennings of GCH and Aisling Finn of South Galway AC won gold.
In the Long Jump, Craughwell athletes dominated with wins for Aoibhe Donnellan in U13 Girls, Ethan O Brien at U13 Boys, Ella Lyons in the U14 Girls, Conor Treahy at U16/17, and Aubrey O Brien at U18/19 Boys level. Laura Cunningham set a championship best 5.09 metre performance to win the U18/19 Girls for Craughwell. South Galway’s Stephen Mannion took U14 Boys gold for South Galway, while Aoife Waldron won the U15 Girls for GCH, with her clubmates Luke Dahler claiming U15 gold and Seren O’Toole the U16/17 Girls title.
The always tense and exciting High Jump event saw U13 winners in Isabella Fitzgerald and Eddie Silke both from Craughwell AC. In the U14 section, Evan Hallinan and Jade Moorehead were winners again both of Craughwell AC, while in the U15 competition Tuam’s Isabelle Moynihan and Lukas Schukat of Craughwell emerged victorious. At U16/17 level Ellie Cronin of Craughwell won the girls with Jack Mannion of Tuam AC claiming gold in the Boys event. Laura Cunningham won a second gold in the High Jump.
Isabelle Moynihan Tuam AC winner U15 Girls High Jump in centre with left Saoirse Moore of Craughwell and right Saoirse Pierce also Craughwell.
In the Shot Putt, Tiernan Howe of Corrib AC won U13 Boys gold as Niamh Duffy of Craughwell won the girls title, while at U14 there were wins for Loughrea’s Caitlin Griffin and Liam Shaw of Athenry AC, second titles of the day for both.
In the U15s, Orla Blake from Tuam AC and a new best from Daragh Jennings of GCH saw them win the titles while the winner of the U16/17 Girls was Chloe Casey of Craughwell with another Galway event record.
In the Javelin, Grace Lynch of GCH and Adam Jordan of Craughwell AC won golds in the U13 category while Caitlin Griffin of Loughrea AC – with a great third victory - and Padraig Pearl of South Galway won the U14 titles.
At U15 level Rebecca Lynch of GCH and Oisin Keane of Craughwell were winners, while at U16/17 Freya Bohan of Craughwell and GCH athlete Eoghan Jennings won, and Paul McNally also GCH took the U18/19 title
In the ever-exciting Relays there were wins for GCH with six wins and Craughwell with five, with South Galway AC and Ballinasloe and District AC also taking team titles after some great competition.
Day two will be held next Sunday, May 6th, also in Dangan, with the U9 to U12 events taking centre stage. The U9-11 events are a team competition with results based on the combined results of two athletes from each club in each event, and the U12 is individual competition
