Galway Athletics Report

National
Cross Country Championships

The National Juvenile B, Masters and
Intermediates Cross Country championships were held in Dundalk IT on Sunday
last, and Galway athletes travelled in numbers to compete on a damp February
day in the North East. There was National glory yet again for the evergreen
Martin McEvilly of GCH, who won the National gold medal at Over 70 level.

Galway Ladies O35 team were 9^th
overall, and were led home by Galway City Harriers athlete Grainne Ni
Uallachain in a great 15^th place, followed by Niamh Hennelly and Sinéad
Foran of GCH with Eileen McCarthy, also of GCH, the fourth scorer. GCH fielded
a Men’s club team at O35 level, with Mike Kerrin and Niall Murphy leading the
squad to 14^th place overall in a high-quality race.

At Juvenile Level for Galway, Castlegar athlete
Gearoid King continued his impressive debut season, with a silver medal win in
the Juvenile U13 Championship race.

Orna Murray of NUI Galway impressed in
the Intermediate Women’s race, in the colours of Ferrybank, placing 8^th
overall with a strong run, as did another NUIG athlete, Finlay Daly who was 14^th
in the Intermediate Men’s event over 8km.

National
Indoor AAI Games

In the lead up to the National Senior
Indoors, the AAI Games were held Saturday last in Athlone IT, with some quality
Galway performances, notably by GCH star Nicole Walsh who won her 200m heat in
25.25 seconds, and Cillin Greene of GCH who made his debut over 400m and
clocked 50 seconds.

10
Mile Races

Galway’s Laura Shaughnessy raced the
highly competitive John Treacy Dungarvan 10 Mile event on Sunday last and
clocked 58.56 for second place, in a solid season opener for the DSD athlete.
Meanwhile the talented Jane Ann Meehan of GCH also impressed on Sunday last,
placing second in the prestigious Trim 10 Mile race in a time of 60.44. A good
result as she gears up for her next marathon in April

Maree
8k

John Moroney was first home in the
annual Maree 8k held last Sunday in the surrounds of Maree in a time of 27.13
after a good battle with Conor Dolan who placed second in 27.22
while third was GCH’s Timmy Jones in 28.47. First lady home was Yvonne Fehilly of
Athenry AC, with Laurina Holleran second and third Eimear Bray of Corofin.

Connacht
Schools Cross Country

The South Connacht Schools Cross Country
races were held on a cold winter’s day in Bushfield, Loughrea last Thursday.
Among the winners on the day were Aaron Brennan of Claregalway in the Senior
Boys race and Barry Murphy of St Enda’s in the Inter Boys event. The Connacht
Finals will take place at the same venue on February 16th next.

Fixtures

Gort
5km

The annual Gort 8k takes place next
Sunday February 10th in the surrounds of Gort Co. Galway at 1.30pm. Race HQ is Gort
Community centre where pre-registered entrants can collect their race packs and
limited on the day entries will be taken.

University
Indoor Championships

The IUAA Indoor Track & Field
Championships for 2019 will be held in Athlone IT next Friday, 8th February.
NUIG Athletics club will field strong teams across the packed event programme,
with the likes of Nicole Walsh, Orna Murray, Sarah Quinn and Shane Mooney all
athletes who can challenge for medals.