Galway 5km Series
The final race of the hugely successful 2018 Galway 5km Series was held in Kilcornan, Clarenbridge in sultry summer conditions last Tuesday with GCH the host club. Kevin Mooney of Craughwell AC made it two wins on the trot clocking16.43, to come home clear of young Craughwell star William Fitzgerald, second in 17.03, with Gerard Cuddy of Galway Tri Club third in 17.30.
Regina Casey of GCH was first lady home claiming her fifth victory of the series in 17.43 meaning Casey won every race in the series she ran with Barbara Dunne of GCH in second in 18.09, just ahead of Jane Ann Meehan of Athenry AC, who placed third in 18.15.
Irish Schools Track and Field Championships
Seren O'Toole (Ballinrobe CS and GCH) 300 metres Hurdles gold medal winner with her mother Sarah
The All Ireland Schools Championships took place in Tullamore on Saturday last, in near perfect weather conditions and the event saw some remarkable performances from Galway athletes.
Three GCH athletes achieved the top honours and were crowned All Ireland Champions for their schools, as Emma Moore, Seren O’Toole, and Darragh Jennings all won National titles and the latter duo also picked up bronze medals.
Seren O’Toole from Ballinrobe CS and GCH ran a superb race in the Intermediate Girls 300m hurdles, finishing first in a time of 44.47 seconds from Ella Duane. Three hours later she competed in the 80m hurdles and battled strongly to secure the bronze medal in a time of 11.83 seconds in a blanket finish.
Emma Moore of Pres Athenry, Gold Junior 800m and Darragh Jennings of Carraroe CS, Gold Minor Boys 800m and bronze in Shot
Darragh Jennings representing Carraroe CS ran a terrific 800m race in the Minor Boys category to take the honours in a new personal best time of 2.08. Darragh earlier produced a great throw of 13.74 to win bronze in the Shot Putt.
Emma Moore of Presentation Athenry became the clubs third All Ireland Champion, in taking the title in the Junior Girls 800m race. Moore lead from the gun and controlled the race throughout, sprinting for home with just under 200m to go and finishing in a time of 2.14 ahead of Victoria Lightbody of Lisburn.
Robert McDonnell of Colaiste na Coiribe, Silver in the 400m Inter Boys
Robert McDonnell of Colaiste na Coiribe won a silver medal in the Intermediate Boys 400m in a time of 50.52 seconds with a powerful finishing surge.
Ava McKeon of AM Ballinasloe, Minor Girls bronze hurdles
Ava McKeon representing AM Ballinasloe ran a magnificent race in the Minor Girls 75m hurdles to claim a bronze medal in a time of 11.58 seconds, narrowly missing out on silver in a very exciting finish with Lucy McGinn.
Athenry athletes had great success also as Aine O’Farrell of Presentation Athenry won bronze in the Senior Girls 3000m. Ryan McNelis also from Pres Athenry, won silver, coming second in the Senior Boys 400m hurdles, with his Athenry team mate Calum Healy securing a silver medal also, with second in the Minor Boys 75m hurdles.
Sean Cotter of Calascantius College Oranmore won a superb silver medal in the Inter Boys 3000m clocking a fast 9.09. Also at Intermediate level, Chloe Casey of St Raphael’s Loughrea won Silver in the Discus while Brendan Lynch of St Brigid’s College Loughrea secured Silver in the Senior Triple Jump
Other notable performances included fourth place finishes for Laura Nally of Calascantius College Oranmore in the Senior Girls 400m, Aoife Sheehy of Dunmore CS in the 400m hurdles and Eimear Rowe of Mercy Tuam who produced a great time of 41.7 in the Intermediate Girls 300m. Uyi Agbonayinma of Colaiste Einde doubled up and was a fantastic fourth in both the 200m and 800m at Junior level within an hour of each other.
Jack Dempsey from HRC Mountbellew) produced a magnificent PB of 10.72 in the Senior Boys 100m which was undoubtedly the race of the day with the first two athletes both clocking sensational record times of 10.52.
In the middle distance races, Thomas McStay from Colaiste Bhaile Chlair finished 5th in the Senior boys 1500m in a time of 4.06, Jack Maher of Clifden was sixth in the Senior Boys 800 and Barry Murphy of St Enda’s placed fifth in the Inter Mile.
Clifden, The Bish, Merlin Park College and St Mary’s Galway also fielded a large number of athletes at the Schools, an indication of the strength in depth of athletics at youth level in the county and city.
Galway Track and Field Championships
A huge crowd of athletes and spectators turned out for Day Two of the 2018 Galway Track and Field Senior/Masters Championships was held in perfect conditions last Thursday,31st May, held at Dangan track, NUI Galway.
There were some impressive performances on the night, as on the track, Cillin Greene of GCH was in imperious form, clocking 22.02 to win the Galway Senior 200m title. Neil Keane of GCH produced a great front running performance to claim the Men’s 800m crown in a PB of 2.01. Sarah Quinn of NUI Galway won the Ladies 200m in a fast 25.77 and her clubmate Sarah Lanigan looked strong in winning the Ladies 800m titles.
In the distance events, Brendan McDonnell of GCH won an enthralling Men’s 5000 race in 15.29, ahead of Caoimhin Kelly who clocked 15.35 and Talon Thompson of GCH in third. Sinead Brody, despite a late start still managed to win the Ladies 3000m title and Jane Ann Meehan of Athenry was first lady home in the 5000m.
Luke Evans and Sinead Gaffney both of Craughwell AC claimed victory in the 400m Hurdles.
In the field events, Michael Breathnach of GCH had another successful day winning double gold in the Discus, and Weight for the distance throw. Laura Cunningham of Craughwell won the Junior Discus with the biggest throw of the day, with Katie O’Donoghue of Craughwell AC adding to her first day’s medal haul taking the Senior discus crown and the Weight for Distance gold
Shane O’Rourke from Tuam AC won the Triple Jump, while Sarah Finnegan of Craughwell AC took the Ladies title. O’Rourke later claimed his second gold winning the High Jump while Laura Cunningham and Katie O’Donoghue both jumped the same height and took Junior and Senior gold respectively.
The relays closed the programme with four very exciting events held- Craughwell claimed the Ladies 4x100m Relay, with GCH led by Cillin Greene taking the Mens, while Craughwell claimed double gold in winning both Mens and Women’s 4x400m events.
The third day of the championships will be held in Dangan June 14th featuring the 10,000 metres and a challenge mile race.
National Combined Events
Liam Shaw from Athenry AC, Bronze In The National Combined events U14
Liam Shaw of Athenry AC won a bronze medal at the National Combined Events in Dublin last weekend in the U14 Boys category.
Kinvara Rock and Road races
The refixed Kinvara series of races was held Saturday last of the Bank Holiday weekend, with the 10k, Full and Half Marathon events on a busy programme of road races, with close on 900 athletes competing across the events.
Colin Maher of Ballyfin was first man home in the 10k in 31.49, with Sinead Brody of GCH first lady home clocking 39.15. The winner of the Half Marathon was Michael Canty in 1hr 14mins, with Aine Hayes first lady over the line in 1 hour 36 minutes. Kevin English won the Marathon, in 2 hours 46 minutes, with Michelle Flatley first woman home in 3hrs 48 mins.
Connacht Juvenile Track and Field Championships
The Connacht Juvenile Track and Field Championships takes place Saturday next, in Claremorris from 10 am. The event will see the U9, U10 and U11 pairs events taking place, along with the U12 competition.
Clifden 10k
The annual Clifden Lifeboat 10k Race take will take place on Sunday next at 2pm. The race is held in memory Of Mikey Mullen, who died at 18 when the MVF St Oliver sank off the south Connemara coast.
It was first run in 2008 to raise funds for the Clifden RNLI and has become popular with both serious and leisure runners as well as walkers, with many participants returning every year. It is an out and back which starts and finishes in Clifden and makes its way up the Sky Road, one of the most scenic areas in Connemara. Race HQ is the Town Hall, Clifden.
