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Thunderstorm and Downpours at Graded Meet
Laura and Lorraine competing in the Women's 100m at the Dublin Graded Meet
A small group of athletes made their way to meet number 6 of the Dublin Graded Meet last night, the first time this year that the club has taken part in it to my knowledge. The Dublin Graded Meets are a fantastic series of events with 8 meets taking place, one every second Wednesday from end of May through to August at 3 different venues in Dublin – Santry, Tallaght and Irishtown– and the officials are very welcoming to country clubs making the effort to travel up especially last night as thunderstorms greeted us as we arrived in Santry!
More information on the series can be found on www.dublinathletics.com. There are 2 meets left – 24 July Santry (200, 1500, mile, high jump, discus, shot) and 7 August Tallaght (400, mile, 3000, long jump, pole vault, hammer, shot). There is also a 4-series graded meet in Cork with the final day being next Monday with the following events: 200, 800, 3000, 4x100, high jump, discus, javelin.
Ben Garrard was in flying form in the 800m where he ran a blistering season’s best of 2:01.02 – faster than his indoor PB of 2.01.88 from the Connacht Indoors earlier this year and pretty close to his outdoor PB of 2.00.35 which he ran in sunny conditions in the National League in 2017. It leaves Ben nicely poised to break the magical 2-minute barrier this summer if the weather conditions are right.
Laura mid-hop on her way to a season's best of 10.31 in the triple jump
Despite the wet conditions, it was a good day also for Laura Cunningham, Lorraine Delaney and Shauna Tobin who all recorded season’s bests in their events. All 3 girls had eased back on the training and competition in the previous 9 months due to the Leaving Cert but are coming into form now as the season progresses. Laura raced to a blistering 13.16s in the 100m with Lorraine recording 14.39s on the wet surface – both excellent times into a +1 headwind on a saturated track. Laura later followed this up with a fine series of jumps in the triple jump culminating with a season’s best of 10.31 on her 6th and final jump. Shauna got to grips with a slippy discus on the wet night, spinning it out to a season’s best of 15.10.
Shauna Selected for World Junior Championships!
Shauna crossing the finish line to win the Wheelchair Category at the 2019 Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon
There was some great news for Craughwell AC athlete Shauna Bocquet recently with the announcement by Paralympics Ireland that she has been selected to represent Ireland at the IPC World Para Athletics Junior Championships in Nottwill, Switzerland.
Shauna will compete across 5 distances (100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m) in the U17 Female T54 category. The event takes place in Switzerland from 1st to 4th August with a busy schedule for Shauna as follows:-
- Thursday PM - 400m
- Friday AM - 1500m
- Friday PM - 100m
- Saturday PM - 200m
- Sunday PM - 800m
It is a fantastic achievement for a very dedicated young athlete and the club wishes her every success in one of the biggest events of her young career to date.
Sinead and Ella in Top Form at National T&F
Sinead Treacy who raced to a club record 56.96 to win bronze in the National U23 400m
and Ella Farrelly who raced to the National title in the U13 Girls 60m Hurdles in a blistering 9.98
Another weekend of National athletics action saw athletes compete in the National U20/23s Championships on Saturday in Tullamore and the National U13-19s on Sunday again in Tullamore.
Sinead Treacy had an outstanding race in the final of the U23 Women’s 400m to take the bronze medal in a club record time of 56.96 and later raced to a time of 25.40 to take 4th place in the 200m final. Jack Miskella recorded yet another sub-2 performance with 1.57.90 in the final of the U23 Men’s 800m to place 7th with Ben Garrard in close attendance when placing 8th in 2.02.33. Laura Cunningham took 6thplace in the U20 Women’s triple jump with a best of 10.14m and later placed 11th in the long jump with a best of 4.79m. Aoife Kelly continued her great improvement in the hammer with a throw of 21.29m to take 6th place in the U20 Women’s event. Alisha Larkin raced to 13.58 to place 5th in the heats of the U20 Women’s 100m and later leaped 4.74m to take 12th place in the long jump while Arlene Earls placed 6th in the heats of the U20 Women’s 400m in 63.61.
Jack Miskella, Laura Cunningham and Ben Garrard at tne National U20/23 Track & Field Championships
Meanwhile a day later in the same venue, Ella Farrelly powered through the heats of the U13 Girls 60m hurdles with a 10.08s time to win her heat and an hour later ran a blistering final to take the National title in an exceptional 9.98s. It completes a fantastic track and field year for the young athlete who won the National Indoor long jump title, added bronze in the National outdoor long jump and now added a National hurdles title to her achievements.
National U13 Girls 60m Hurdles Champion Ella Farrelly leaping for joy from the podium
Aoife Kelly took 5th place in the U17 triple jump with a best of 8.78 and threw the 3kg hammer out to an excellent 24.57m to take 8th place. In the high jump, Lukas Schukat was in fantastic form with a string of first-time clearances up to and including 1.70m before exiting at 1.75m – his 1.70m good enough to take 5th place overall. In the U15 high jump Siofra Davis, Jade Moorhead and Leonore Church all leaped 1.45m with Siofra and Jade placing 5th on countback and Leonore 8th – all 3 unlucky not to feature in the medals where 1.50m took the bronze. Saoirse Pierce jumped well to take 7th place with 1.45 in the U16 Girls event while Issy Fitzgerald leaped to a new PB when clearing the same height of 1.45m in the U14 Girls high jump after some very consistent jumps over the earlier heights.
Jade Moorhead, Siofra Davis and Leonore Church who placed joint 5th and 8th
in the U15 Girls High Jump at tne National Championships in Tullamore
The 800s races always pose a challenge when they comprise heats and finals on the same day, with very tactical heats to try to qualify for the final with the minimum of effort. Having won a brilliant bronze at the National indoor finals in 2:22.45 earlier in the year, Fauve Aylmer was very unlucky not to make the outdoor final with a blanket finish in heat 1 leaving the top 4 separated by 1 metre. Fauve’s time of 2:28.09 placed her 4th and with only the top 3 automatically proceeding to the final, heat 2 had the advantage of knowing what was needed timewise to make the final and so it was with 5 from the second heat going through to the final and Fauve losing out. A similar fate befell Sean Cotter in the heats of the U17 Boys 800m with his time of 2:03.68 taking 4th place in heat 1 and he just missed out on making the final. Oisin Davis ran a strong race to record 2.07.71 in heat 2 of the U17 800m while an intensely tough U18 3000m steeplechase final saw Kyle Moorhead well placed in the early laps but the longer distance took its toll on Kyle and he drifted back out of the leading group to place in a respectable 7th place in a time of 11.34.79.
Oisin Davis and Sean Cotter at tne National U17 Track & Field Championships in Tullamore
Athletes Star on County Teams
Some of the Craughwell AC athletes who represented County Galway
in the Womens Premier Division at Round 2 of the National Senior League in Athlone
Freya Bohan, Sarah Finnegan, Sinead Gaffney, Shauna Tobin, Arlene Earls, Laura Cunningham
Several athletes from the club featured on the County Galway Women’s and Men’s team who were in action in round 2 of the National Senior League recently in Athlone.
The women’s team is managed by Craughwell AC’s Sarah Finnegan and they topped their Premier Division group with a score of 211 points to qualify for the final. There were some fine performances from the club's athletes on the day including
- Sinead Treacy, 1st in the 400m in 58.64
- Sinead Gaffney, 4th in the 800m in 2:23.26
- Sarah Finnegan, 4th in the 100m hurdles in 18.79
- Laura Cunningham, 3rd in the triple jump with a leap of 10.20
- Alisha Larkin, 4th in the long jump with a leap of 4.91
- Freya Bohan, 3rd in the javelin with a throw of 25.64
- Shauna Tobin, 5th in the discus with a throw of 14.98
- Aoife Kelly, guesting in the hammer and throwing the 4kg weight out to 17.23
- Arlene Earls who helped the county to 2nd place in the 4x400m in 4:11.37
- Tara McNally who combined with Sinead Treacy to help Galway to 2nd place in the 4x100m in a time of 50.23
The County Galway men’s team were also in top form, taking 3rd place in the Division 1 group on the day which was good enough to make the final in 4th place overall, assisted by strong performances from Craughwell AC athletes including:
- Ronnie Warde 4th in the 100m in 12.19, 3rd in the shot putt with 9.82 and combining on the 4x100m for 4th place in 47.15
- John Cormican 3rd in the 400m in 54.07
- Gavin Cooney 3rd in the 800m in 2.01.46
- Jack Miskella 2nd in the 1500m in 4.07.71 and 4th in the javelin with 12.59
- William Fitzgerald 5th in the 5000m in 16.51.25
- the 4x400m quartet of Ben Garrard, Jack Miskella, Gavin Cooney and John Cormican who placed 3rd in a time of 3.40.16
Super Success at Day 1 of National Juvenile T&F!
Craughwell AC U12 Girls 4x100m Team - National Bronze Medallists 2019 !!
Day 1 of the National Track & Field took place today in Tullamore with some fantastic performances by members of the club. I will update this article with more details as they come to hand but here's the quick summary.
Starting at the end, the day wrapped up with a brilliant brilliant bronze medal by the U12 girls in the final of the 4x100m. To even have qualified for today from the Connacht finals was a great achievement. To make it through the heats by winning our heat, fantastic! To medal in the final, a dream!! Its not often that we have medalled in the National relays in the U12 age group and to do it today with a squad of 6 top notch athletes was super. Well done to Keevagh, Emma, Claudia, Lauren, Moya and Katelyn!! And our U12 boys came close to the medals also with a 5th or 6th place finish in the final having made it through the heats with a strong performance from Conor Penney, Sean Hoade, Dara Zimmerer and Cian Brady.
Darragh Kelly National U13 Boys High Jump Champion 2019 and
Ella Farrelly National U13 Girls Long Jump Bronze Medalist at the Championships in Tullamore
There were exceptional performances also from Darragh Kelly in the U13 Boys High Jump when taking the National title with a record-equalling 1.56m and from Ella Farrelly in the U13 Girls Long Jump with a fantastic leap of 4.58m to take bronze. The medal-winning heroics were completed by Lauren Morgan and Mia Hollingsworth with a super silver medal in the paired U11 Girls Long Jump!
There were many more fine performances, several of which went ever so close to getting on the medal podium - but I have to get full details together tomorrow before adding them to this article.
Well done to all participants today, the club is so proud of you!
Craughwell AC U12 Boys 4x100m Team - National Relay Finalists 2019
Timetable for National U9-13s finals this Saturday
Timetable for Saturday is at:-
Directions to the track are here:
http://www.craughwellac.com/site/index.php/home-mainmenu-70/directions/to-tullamore
Best of luck to all of our athletes!
Fantastic Day at Christy Kennedy Sports
Team captains of Killeeneen's B team receiving the trophy
after winning the B competition at the Christy Kennedy Sports
A busy week of athletics last week wrapped up with the Christy Kennedy Sports held at Craughwell NS on Thursday. Five local primary schools and over 300 children competed with distinction at the annual event including Ballymana NS, Carrabane NS, Clarinbridge NS, Coldwood NS and Craughwell NS.
Craughwell NS were victorious on this occasion, retaining the Christy Kennedy Shield which they won last year while Killeeneen’s B team won the trophy for small schools/B teams.
Points scoring on the day was very tight with the following the final tally of how the numbers crunched:-
Large schools competition
- Craughwell NS 254 pts
- Clarinbridge NS 228 pts
- Carrabane NS 228 pts
- Killeeneen NS 205 pts
- Ballymana NS 195 pts
Small schools and B teams competition
- Killeeneen NS 182 pts
- Carrabane NS 176 pts
- Coldwood NS 156 pts
- Craughwell NS 146 pts
Well done to all participants!
Craughwell NS's team captain hoists the Christy Kennedy Shield aloft
after the school won the 2019 Christy Kennedy Sports
Primary Schools Star at City and County Sports
Craughwell NS at the Galway City Sports 2019
Two days of primary school action last week saw the Cumann na mBunscol City and County Sports held on consequtive days in Dangan. I just have the results from Craughwell NS and Ballymana NS to hand so if parents have those for other schools, please email me and I will add them/photos thanks.
While obviously based in the county, Craughwell NS have always contested the city sports rather than the county sports because the latter did not exist when the school first started competing in athletics events. This year, the school enjoyed one of its best days ever with Ella Farrelly and Grace Lynch taking gold and silver in the U13 Girls 100m and the U13 Girls relay team also cruising to victory with the aforementioned ably assisted by Grace Keaveney, Rachel O’Callaghan, Isabel Schukat and Andrea Clancy.
Keelan Moorhead raced to bronze in the U11 400m and combined with Ben Moran, Oran Collins, Eanna Morrissey and Alex Ryan for bronze in the 4x100m relay. Alan Hallinan took the gold medal in the U9 400m by over 40m and led the U9 boys relay team to victory along with Calum McMahon, Cathal Desbonnet, Darragh O’Donnell, Sean Colleran and Stephen Coleman.
Katelyn Walsh was just outside the medals in 4th place in both the U11 Girls 400m and in the U11 Girls relay with Lauren Morgan, Chloe Keane, Ciara O’Connor, Mia Hollingsworth and Alana Clancy.
Ballymana NS shone at the Galway County Sports in Dangan with victory in the U13 Girls 100m for Aoibhe Donnellan and also in the U13 Girls 4x100m with Aoibhe joined by Isabella Boland, Abaigh Molloy and Gillian Crowe. Siblings Emma and Oisin O’Donovan raced to silver in the U11 Girls 400m and U9 Boys 400m.
Craughwell NS U13 Girls 4x100m Relay Team - Galway City Sports Champions 2019
Ballymana NS U13 Girls 4x100m Relay Team - Galway County Sports Champions 2019
Craughwell NS U13 Boys 4x100m Relay Team at the Galway City Sports in Dangan
Craughwell NS U11 Girls 4x100m Relay Team - 4th place at the Galway City Sports 2019
Craughwell NS U11 Boys 4x100m Relay Team - Galway City Sports Bronze Medallists 2019
Craughwell NS U9 Boys 4x100m Relay Team - Galway City Sports Champions 2019
Kyle Storms to Silver at Taillteann Games
Kyle Moorhead on the podium at the Taillteann Games
Kyle Moorhead put in an incredible run in the 1500m steeplechase last weekend to take the silver medal at the inter-provincial Taillteann Games in Santry last weekend. Having placed 6th a few weeks earlier against the same competitors at the Irish Schools finals in a PB time of 4:52.74, Kyle knocked a whopping 9 seconds off this time to take the National silver in 4:43.77 - Kyle’s first time on the National podium and a well-deserved success for a very dedicated athlete. This puts Kyle firmly in the frame for selection for the Irish team to contest the schools international later in the summer, with the team to be announced shortly.
At the same event Sean Cotter put in a blistering run to take 4th place in the 3000m in a time of 9:03.69 while Ross McGuinness placed 10th in 9:41.18. Lukas Schukat took 7th place in the high jump with 1.70m and 9th in the triple jump with 10.19m, Sophie O’Brien placed 10th in the high jump with 1.40m and Alisha Larkin placed 11th in the long jump with 4.65m.
Also in action last weekend, Jack Miskella continued his good form with a fantastic PB and club record of 3:59.03 at the Irish Milers meet in Belfast – breaking the old record of 3:59.45 set by Damien O’Boyle in Texas last year. While John Cormican raced to 3rd place in the men's 800m at the UL Thomond Games in Limerick in a time of 2.00.93
Kyle in action in the Taillteann steeplechase
Superb Performances at Connachts Day 2
Craughwell AC's Ryan Gallagher, Connacht U18 Boys Long Jump Champion 2019
Craughwell AC enjoyed another triumphant day at the U14 to Senior Connacht track & Field Championships held in Sligo the weekend before last with dozens of athletes featuring on the podium throughout the day.
Highlights of the day included Ryan Gallagher’s leap of 6.04m to take the Connacht title in the U18 Boys Long Jump which was Ryan’s first time over the 6m mark and Sean Liston’s 1.55m leap to take silver in the U14 Boys High jump, a 30cm PB for Sean! It was a fantastic day also for Aoife Kelly with tripe medals including a silver in the U17 Girls Hammer with a fantastic 20.51 throw in her debut in the event.
Craughwell AC's U14 Girls 4x100m team who took relay silver
at the Connacht Track & Field in Sligo
Craughwell AC's U15 Girls 4x100m team, Connacht Champions 2019
Jade Moorhead, Aoibhe Donnellan, Ella Lyons, Siofra Davis
Craughwell AC's 4x100m team who placed 2nd in the U15 Girls relay at the Connacht Track & Field in Sligo
Erin Kelly, Clara Corbett, Leonore Church and Aoibhe Fahy
Craughwell AC's Lauren McNally, Aoife Kelly and Saoirse Pierce at the Connacht Track & Field in Sligo
The day kicked off with the 4x100m relays where the U17 Girls took the Connacht U17 title in a time of C 56.65 with Aleisha Larkin, Lauren McNally, Aoife Kelly and Saoirse Pierce. The U15 Girls had an impressive performance in their 4x100m with both teams racing to gold and silver in fantastic times of 54.38 and 56.35. The Connacht title winning team featured (Ella Lyons, Jade Moorhead, Siofra Davis and Aoibhe Donnellan while the silver medalists were Clara Corbett, Leonore Church, Erin Kelly and Aoibhe Fahy. The U14 girls were also impressive with a very good time of 55.46 to take the silver medals in their 4x100m with Adara Salvo, Grace Keaveney, Ella Farrelly and Aoibhe Donnellan.
There was some tremendous middle-distance action with Jack Miskella continuing his outstanding form when taking the Connacht Senior Men’s 1500m title in a time of 4:11.11 and adding silver with 2:00.56 in the 800m for good measure with Ben Garrard taking bronze in 2:02.22; Paddy Noonan strode to victory in the U19 Boys 1500m in a time of 4:16.56; Fauve Aylmer swept to the Connacht title in the U15 Girls 800m in a time of 2:26.79; Kyle Moorhead took the Connacht title in the U17 Boys 3000m Steeplechase in a time of 10:55.79; Ross McGuinness took the Connacht title in the U16 Boys 3000m in 9:33.43; Mark Davis added silver in the Masters Men 3000m in a time of 9:38.02; Ailbhe Miskella raced to silver in the U18 Girls 2000m Steeplechase in 8:19.01; Sean Noonan took bronze in the U19 Boys 800m in 2:11.59; Oisin Davis took bronze in the U17 1500m in 4:36.32 and 4th place in the 800m in 2:14.09; Emily Miskella raced to bronze in the U16 Girls 1500m in a time of 5:17.32; while Ciara Sheppard raced to 4th place in the U18 Girls 1500m in 5:49.02.
Some of Craughwell AC's Middle Distance Stars at the Connacht Track & Field in Sligo
Paddy Noonan, Jack Miskella and Oisin Davis
Craughwell AC's Fauve Aylmer, Connacht U15 Girls 800m Champion 2019
Craughwell AC's Aoife Kelly and Ailbhe Miskella relaxing trackside at the Connacht Track & Field in Sligo
The sprints saw a strong return to action for Sinead Treacy when racing to victory in the Senior Women’s 400m in a time of 59.79 – Sinead blasted out of the blocks to establish a significant lead over the first 250m but ran into lactic agony on the home straight but just had enough in the tank to hold on for victory. Master sprinter and coach extraordinaire Ronnie Warde raced to victory in the Master Men’s 100m in a time of 11.21; Alisha Larkin took silver in the U17 Girls 100m in 13.48; Aoibhe Donnellan raced to a fine silver medal in the U14 Girls 80m in a time 11.13 and then literally had to race into the car for her dad Charlie to whizz her to Dublin to play in the half-time Cumann na mBunscol camogie match during the Galway-Dublin hurling game; and Fauve Aylmer followed up her earlier 800m Connacht title with bronze in the U15 Girls 200m in 28.66.
Ella Lyons took bronze in the U15 Girls 80mh in a time of 15.79 while in the long hurdles, Cian Lavan took silver in the U15 Boys 250mh in 41.64 and there were triple bronze for James Furey in the U17 Boys 300mh in 49.43, Saoirse Pierce in the U16 Girls 250mh in 43.83 and Siofra Davis in the U15 Girls 250mh with 44.43.
The throws also saw strong performances with the aforementioned silver for Aoife Kelly in the U17 Girls Hammer. Aoife added bronze in the U17 Girls javelin with 13.97m, an event where Lauren McNally fired the 500g javelin out to an impressive 22.95m to take silver. Millie Geraghty was very impressive in the U15 Girls javelin with her best of 25.15m taking silver and Aoibhe Fahy not far behind with 23.12m to take bronze while Andrew Power was also in fine form with 25.75m to take bronze in the U15 Boys javelin. Calvin Ryan took silver in the u15 Boys shot putt with 10.02 with Aoibhe Fahy adding to her earlier javelin medal with 8.10m to take bronze in the U15 Girls shot putt.
Craughwell AC's Aoife Kelly who won triple medals in the U17 Girls Hammer, Javelin and Triple Jump
at the Connacht Track & Field in Sligo
Craughwell AC's Andrew Power who took bronze in the U15 Boys Javelin
at the Connacht Track & Field in Sligo
Craughwell AC's Millie Geraghty and Aoibhe Fahy who placed 2nd and 3rd
in the U15 Girls Javelin at the Connacht Track & Field in Sligo
The good performances continued in the horizontal jumps with Ryan Gallagher and Aleisha Larkin leading the way with brilliant PBs of 6.04m and 5.00m to take the Connacht long jump titles in the U18 Boys and U17 Girls events – the first time over 6 metres for Ryan and first time over 5 metres for Aleisha. It was triple glory in triple jump for Leanagh Gilligan, Lukas Schukat and Evan Hallinan with all 3 taking Connacht titles – Leanagh supreme in the U18 Girls event with 10.05m, Lukas repeating this with 10.34m in the U16 Boys event and Evan likewise with 9.52m in the U15 Boys event. Siblings Aoife and Erin Kelly both added silver in their triple jumps with Aoife leaping 8.77m in the U17 Girls event and Erin leaping 8.24m in the U15 Girls event. Evan Quinn sailed to silver in the U15 Boys long jump with 4.61m while Grace Keaveney leapt an impressive PB of 4.50m to take silver in the U14 Girls long jump. Leanagh Gilligan added a bronze medal in the U18 Girls long jump with a leap of 4.89m, with Ella Lyons doing likewise in the U15 Girls with 4.33m and Lukas Schukat taking 4th place in the u16 Boys long jump with 4.97m.
Craughwell AC's Aleisha Larkin, Connacht U17 Girls Long Jump Champion 2019
Craughwell AC's Triple Jumpers Erin and Aoife Kelly at the Connacht Track & Field in Sligo
Craughwell AC's Ella Lyons who medalled in the U15 Girls Long Jump and Hurdles
at the Connacht Track & Field in Sligo
The high jump saw some fantastic success with the aforementioned leap of 1.55m by Sean Liston one of the highlights. Several athletes from the club soared to Connacht titles with James Furey doing so in the U17 Boys event with a leap of 1.60m, Sophie O’Brien in the U16 Girls event with a PB leap of 1.48m and Siofra Davis in the U15 Girls event with 1.50m. Jade Moorhead and Saoirse Pierce had to settle for silver in the U15 and U16 Girls high jump events, both tying on countback with the winning jumps of 1.50m and 1.48m. Lukas Schukat and Evan Hallinan took silver in the U16 and U15 Boys events with leaps of 1.65m and 1.50m, Evan struggling with an injury on the day. Isabella Fitzgerald also took silver in the U14 Girls with a 1.35m clearance. Leonore Church made it a clean sweep of the medals for the club in the U15 Girls event with a 1.45m clearance to take bronze; Calvin Ryan did likewise in the U15 Boys High Jump with Evan Quinn in 4th place with a 1.40m clearance. Cian Lavan was unlucky that the event clashed with the long hurdles and entered the competition at 1.55m which Cian is capable of but just a little high to commence jumping at. Cian later added the gold medal in the U15 pole vault with a 2.00m clearance.
Full results of the day are here:- results
Craughwell AC's Sean Liston who won silver in the U15 Boys High Jump
at the Connacht Track & Field in Sligo
Craughwell AC's Evan Hallinan, Calvin Ryan and Evan Quinn who placed 2nd, 3rd and 4th
in the U15 Boys High Jump at the Connacht Track & Field in Sligo
Top 3 in the U15 Girls High Jump at the Connacht Track & Field in Sligo
Craughwell AC's Soifra Davis (gold), Jade Moorhead (silver) and Leonore Church (bronze)
Craughwell AC's James Furey, Connacht U17 High Jump Champion 2019
Craughwell AC's Saoirse Pierce and Sophie O'Brien who took silver and gold in the U17 Girls High Jump
at the Connacht Track & Field in Sligo
