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Super Performances at National League and Community Games Finals
Galway County team on the podium in the National Premier League Final !
Huge congratulations to several local athletes who featured prominently on the County Galway women’s team who took historic silver medals in the National League Premier Division final held on Sunday in Tullamore.
Team manager and captain Sarah Finnegan led the way with 5th place in the triple jump with 9.87, 6th place in the 100m hurdles in 18.03 and 8th place in the javelin with 11.94; Maeve Curley took victory in the 1500m race walk with a splendid 7.03.28; Chloe Casey took 2nd place in the shot putt with 10.58; Sinead Treacy raced to 2nd place in the 200m in 25.50; Arlene Earls took a fine 3rd place in the 800m with 2.23.89; Katie O’Donoghue took 4th place in the high jump with 1.50 while Sinead Treacy and Arlene Earls helped Galway to victory in the 4x400m with Sinead also prominent on the 4x100m team that took second place. Well done also to members of the squad who had helped the team qualify for the final from the earlier rounds including Sinead Gaffney, Ciana Reidy, Lorraine Delaney, Laura Cunningham, Aisling Keady and Dearbhaile Walsh.
In Division 1 where the County Galway men’s team had qualified for the final for the first time under the management of Castlegar AC’s Sean McDermott, there were some further fine performance from Craughwell AC athletes including Luke Evans who took 3rd place in the 3000m steeplechase in 11:28.36, John Cormican who placed 5th in the 1500m in 4.29.65 and helped the 4x100m to 6th place; and Jack Miskella who placed 6th in the 800m in 2.09.06 and featured prominently along with Luke Evans on the 4x400m team that took 2nd place in 3:37.18. The team placed 7th overall. Well done also to Gavin Cooney, Damien O'Boyle, Ryan Gallagher, Jerry Keary and Daniel Callanan-Forde who had helped the team qualify for the final from the earlier rounds.
Craughwell's U14 Girls representing Galway in the 4x100m
at the National Community Games finals in University of Limerick
Meanwhile at the Community Games National finals held at the University of Limerick there were some strong performances from local athletes. Kyle Moorhead qualified comfortably for the U16 Boys 1500m final when placing 2nd in the semi-finals on Saturday and in the final on Sunday was holding a top 3 position as the race entered the home straight but had to settle for 6th place in a sprint finish over the last 100m. Alisha Larkin sailed through the heats of the U16 100m and just missed out on making the final when placing 5th in the semis.
James Furey had a super performance in the U16 Boys high jump, clearing 1.55m and taking 5th place overall just outside the medals. Tara Morgan and Ella Lyons competed strongly in the U14 Girls javelin and long jump, great to be competed there as Galway Champions.
The U15 Mixed Relay team of Lughaigh Morgan, Ava Finn, Rebecca Lynch and Robert Urquhart just missed out on making the final of their relay when placing 5th in the semi-finals. A similar fate was in store for the U14 Girls 4x100m team of Fauve Aylmer, Jade Moorhead, Erin Kelly and Siofra Davis who raced to a brilliant 3rd place in their heats but had to settle for 5th place in the semi-finals – but great achievements nonetheless to be the Galway champions at the National finals.
Craughwell AC On Tour - Glasgow 2019 !!
Some of the group on the first trip many years ago in 2008
Back row: Sue Joyce,Mike Tobin,Padraic Tobin,Cormac Dillon,Ruairi Finnegan,Niall Rooney,Cathal Coppinger,Triona Coppinger
Middle row: Julie Gallagher,PJ Kelly,Peter Treacy,Benny Gallagher,Ashley McDonnell,Orla McDaid,Laura Porter,Orla Ryan,Claire Ryder
Front row: Shaun Gallagher,Linda Porter,Debbie Kenny,Caoimhe Quill,Katie O'Donoghue
Over the last 10 years, the club have travelled to Glasgow most years for the Scottish Indoor Championships, having first gone there in 2008 with a group of around 50 athletes plus parents. Every year it has been a super trip with lots of enjoyment and camaraderie and plenty of success too with many Scottish national medals coming the way of our athletes.
The trip is mostly targeted at our older athletes, i.e. those in secondary school or older as it’s something for primary school athletes to look forwards to in the years ahead when they reach secondary school. The age groups are U13, U15, U17, U20 and Senior. The cut-off date is different to what we are used to in Ireland – it goes by the age you are under on 1 September next year, so if for example you turn 16 before 1 Sept you are an U17, but if you turn 16 on or after 1 Sept you are an U15.
The events available in each age group are:-
- All ages: 60m, 60mH, 200m, 800m, 1500m, Long Jump, High Jump, Shot Putt
- Plus the following for U15, U17, U20, Senior: 300/400m, Triple Jump, Pole Vault
The dates of next year’s event are not confirmed yet, but it’s likely to be the last weekend of January (senior and U17) and the first weekend of February (U20, U15 and U13). Often times it has clashed with mock JC/LC exams making it difficult for those students to travel – this looks like it will happen next year too with the mocks on from 4-15 February. The dates are usually confirmed around the end of September at which stage we can book flights and make accommodation arrangements.
We have usually stayed in Jury’s Inn which is near the city centre. Accommodation has worked out around £170 sterling for a twin room for 2 nights and £190 for a triple room. We will look at other hotels also. Flights have varied between €40 and €100 for the return trip depending on how quickly we book them. So it’s important we move fast once the event dates are confirmed (but not too fast as some years they have changed the provisional dates). And transport to/from the airport and the athletics arena might add another €20 per person.
I am starting to compile a list of those interested in going so can parents email or text me if interested (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 087 6591879). A parent normally travels with the athlete but we can accommodate a small number of the older juveniles travelling without parents. Plus this time we hope to have a small senior group travelling too. People can email me if they have any questions.
Club Yearbook 2018 !!
Plans are afoot to produce a new Club Yearbook to mark the 50th anniversary of the club in February this year. The club produced its first yearbook in 2005 and followed it up with its second yearbook in 2007 covering the years 2006-07. At the time, it was the intention to repeat the publication every few years but unfortunately this did not happen. But its never too late so to help mark the 50th anniversary of the club, work is now underway on a new yearbook.
Members are encouraged to send articles and photographs to Mike Tobin (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) between now and the end of September and an editorial committee will work over the following 3 months to try to put it all together into a new bumper yearbook covering the last 11 years and hopefully it won't be as long again before the next one.
We want to get everyone's photo into the yearbook so don't be shy in sending them in. And all articles small or large are weclome and from all ages. See small sample from the 2007 yearbook below. If anyone is interested in copies of the old yearbooks, they can still be purchased at a cost of €15 each.
Maeve race-walks to National bronze!
Maeve Curley, bronze medallist in the National Senior 5000m Race Walk in Santry
Maeve Curley raced to the bronze medal in the 5000m race walk at the National Senior Track & Field Championships yesterday in Santry. Maeve completed the grueling 12.5 laps of the track in an excellent 26.11.30 despite being penalised with a 30 second time penalty due to an infringement on the final lap. In new rules for race walking, some rule violations that used to result in yellow cards now result in time penalties. It meant Maeve had an anxious wait at the end of the race to get the official results and confirmation of her placing.
This is Maeve's fourth time on the podium at the National senior championships having won silver in 2015 and bronze in 2012 as well as indoor bronze in 2017. It brings to 28 the number of National medals won by athletes from the club in the outdoor track and field chammpionships this year, the clubs most successful year by a distance with the previous bests being 2015 and 2014 where the club won 20 and 22 National medals.
Also in action in Santry, Sinead Treacy raced to a splendid PB and new club record of 57.99, knocking over a second off her own previous club record of 59.31 and just missing out on making the final. Gavin Cooney completed the action from the club with a fine 2.00.40 in the heats of the men's 800m. With sub-2 being the target, Gavin went though 200m in 28 seconds pacing his own race very well as the race leaders went off at a crazy 1.48 pace. The sub-2 looked to be on but a strong head-win blowing down the home straight made it very difficult and Gavin finished strongly in 2.00.40 and a new PB which would certainly have been a sub-2 in better weather conditions. His time placed him 19th out of the 30 competitors in action across the 3 heats, a very strong performance in difficult weather conditions.
European U20 Club Track & Field
A nice write-up in today’s Connacht Tribune on the club and it’s qualification for the European U20 Club Track & Field. Get your copy today!!
The event takes place in September 2019 so we have a year to prepare our athletes for it. The venue is most likely Leiria in Portugal where it has been held for the last number of years. You can read about this year’s Europeans at www.leiria2018.com and previous championships at www.european-athletics.org.
It was a massive achievement for our squad of Aisling Keady, Caron Ryan, Laura Cunningham, Ciana Reidy, Lorraine Delaney, Shauna Tobin, Arlene Earls, Chloe Casey, Freya Bohan and Ailbhe Miskella to qualify. The squad will be greatly bolstered by a number of athletes who were unavailable for the Irish finals due to exams, injuries and holidays and also by the fantastic group of U16 athletes who will be old enough to take part in the U20 grade next year.
I will be emailing out more details to parents and athletes in the U16 to U20 age groups shortly as we will be trying to get athletes minds focussed on this event as their main target next year and try to revolve your year around it. It will be a huge honour for all of our athletes to represent club and country in a major European championships. We have approximately 25 eligible athletes in these age groups and we hope to bring everyone who wants to target the event to Portugal!
Grand Finale to Juvenile T&F Season
The final day of the National Juvenile Track & Field took place yesterday in Tullamore where again athletes from the club performed with distinction.
Highlight of the day was the U19 Girls Triple Jump where both Laura Cunningham and Lorraine Delaney both excelled to place 1st and 3rd in the competition with a marvellous string of jumps. For 2 athletes from the club to medal at National level in the same competition is a fantastic achievement. Both girls achieved this in the U17 triple jump 2 years ago and the only other times the club achieved it was many years ago when Tomas Keehan and Niall Rooney both medalled in the U16 boys high jump in 2008 and Cillian Doyle and Jerry Keary did likewise in the U12 boys high jump in 2011.
Medals Galore at National Juvenile Finals!
The first 2 weekends of the National Juvenile Track & Field Championships took place in Tullamore recently where some outstanding performances saw athletes from the club take home 1 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze in the 'A' Championships and 1 silver in the 'B' Championships as well as a string of 4th place finishes and top-8 performances.
Craughwell Athletes Star on County Teams
Craughwell AC's Katie O'Donoghue, Maeve Curley and Sarah Finnegan (team captain)
who were part of the County Galway women's team who qualified for the final
of the National League's Premier Division at the weekend in Tullamore
Several athletes from the club proudly represented the County at Round 2 of the National League recently which was held in Athlone IT, with the women’s team qualifying the National final of the Premier Division and the men’s team qualifying for the National final of Division 1.
AAI Confirm Club’s Selection for Euro Championships!
Athletics Ireland have this week confirmed that the club’s girls team has been selected to represent Ireland in the 2019 European U20 Track & Field Championships. The club were selected based on the fantastic performances from our U17 to U20 athletes at the recent National Junior Championships in Tullamore.
It’s a major achievement for the club to get a squad of athletes to this level and to have the honour of representing Ireland in a major European event.
You can check out the European website for more information on this year’s event which will be held in Leiria, Portugal in September. There is quite a lot of useful information there, particularly in the regulations link.The event has been held in the same location the last few years so most likely that is where we will be heading in September next year.
All of next year’s U17 to U20 athletes will be eligible for selection and we can bring a squad of 20 athletes and 6 officials. The officials will include as joint team captains this year’s U20s who unfortunately will be overage next year for the European event (Aisling, Caron, Dearbhaile) – but we have super strength in the current years U16s too who will be part of the squad going to the Europeans next year.
And its an event that the club could realistically qualify for each year in both girls and boys teams with such strength coming through each year in each age group. The athletes who led the club to this level at the recent Irish Junior Championships include the following. A few of the squad were missing on the day due to holidays and work commitments but hopefully all will be available for the European Championships in 2019 as well as this year’s U16s.
- U20s
- Aisling Keady (shot putt, high jump, weight for distance, 4x100m)
- Caron Ryan (5000m)
- U19s
- Laura Cunningham (shot putt, high jump, long jump, javelin, triple jump, 4x100m)
- Ciana Reidy (pole vault, high jump, discus, 4x400m)
- Lorraine Delaney (triple jump, 400m hurdles, 4x400m)
- Shauna Tobin (javelin, discus, 4x400m)
- Arlene Earls (800m, 4x400m)
- U17s
- Chloe Casey (shot putt, discus, 4x100m)
- Freya Bohan (javelin, 4x100m)
- Ailbhe Miskella (3000m s/c)
I will set up a meeting very shortly to provide more information to the squad and so that athletes and parents can ask questions and in the meantime any parents with questions should contact me at 087 6591879.
Brilliant Weekend at National U20/23s and U9-13s
Craughwell AC's Medallists at the National U20 and U23 Championships in Tullamore
Caron Ryan - U20 National 5000m Champion, Chloe Casey - bronze medallist in the U20 Shot Putt,
Conor Duggan - bronze medallist in the U23 200m and Sinead Treacy - silver medallist in the U23 200m & 400m
Craughwell AC’s U20 and U23 athletes were in flying form at Saturday’s National Championships in Tullamore taking home 5 individual medals, 2 sets of relay medals as well as 3 fourth place finishes during a busy day of athletics. The club also contested the U20 women’s team event for the first time and our unofficial calculations of the team scores put us at the top of the leader board with 111 points and hopefully winning selection as Ireland’s club team to contest the European U20 Clubs Championships in Portugal this September!
In the U23 events, Sinead Treacy raced to double silver in the 200m final in a time of 25.60 and in the 400m final in a time of 59.31. Sinead’s 400m time was a new club record, one of 5 club records set on the day by a splendid series of performances by our U20s and U23s. Conor Duggan came within 1 hundredth of a second of his own club record when racing 10.96 in the heats of the U23 Men's 100m and won a hard-earned bronze medal in the final in a time of 10.99. Conor later following this up with 22.55 in the semi-finals of the 200m and a 6th place finish in the final in 22.73. Jack Miskella placed 9th in a high quality U23 Men’s 800m final in a time of 2.05.68.
Craughwell AC's Medal Winning 4x100m Team
Aisling Keady, Laura Cunningham, Chloe Casey and Freya Bohan
The club fielded a squad of 10 athletes in the U20 Women’s events in an attempt to win the team event and qualify for the European finals in Portugal later this year. Caron Ryan led the way for the club with a splendid victory and club record in the 5000m in a time of 19:01.54 – making light of the intense Tullamore heat in the process. Chloe Casey stepped up 3 ages groups from U17 to U20 to record a brilliant bronze in the shot putt with a throw of 10.64 and later placed 4th in the discus, just outside the medals with a throw of 31.70. Chloe’s performances followed on from a fine bronze medal a week ago at the Taillteann Games when throwing the discus out to 32.26.
The strength in depth of the club was shown in the relays where we fielded 8 different athletes on our 4x100m and 4x400m teams with both teams making the podium within minutes of each other at the end of a long day. The 4x100m team raced to bronze in a time of 52.45 with Freya Bohan, Chloe Casey, Aisling Keady and Laura Cunningham while the 4x400m team did likewise in a time of 4:24.06 with Arlene Earls, Lorraine Delaney, Shauna Tobin and Ciana Reidy.
Craughwell AC's Medal Winning 4x400m Team
Arlene Earls, Shauna Tobin, Ciana Reidy and Lorraine Delaney
Laura Cunningham was the team’s highest scorer with points in the relay and in 5 individual events, placing 4th in the high jump with a 1.55m leap, 4th in the javelin with an incredible 26.07m which is a new club record, 7th in the shot putt with 7.12m, 9th in the triple jump with 9.81m and 10th in the long jump with 4.66m. Laura was clearly suffering from heat fatigue in the latter 2 events having been on her feet for 2 hours in the shot putt and high jump immediately prior to the long jump, and again later for an hour at the javelin immediately before the triple jump.
Aisling Keady made a little bit of history by competing in the first ever Weight For Distance event for junior women where she flung the 28lbs weight out to 3.89m to take 5th place, having earlier scored valuable points with a 7th place in the high jump with 1.40m and 8th place in the shot putt with 5.57m. Ciana Reidy leaped a brilliant 2.20m to take 7th place in the pole vault and followed it up almost immediately with 1.50m to take 6th place in the high jump and later took 11th place in the discus with 14.38m. Shauna Tobin also scored valuable points with 10th place in the discus with 16.33 and 6th place in the javelin with 14.64m. Freya Bohan had a strong javelin throw with 19.16 to take 5th place.
On the track, Lorraine Delaney put in a trojan effort in the 400m Hurdles when finishing 7th in a time of 75.90 and followed it up later with some great triple jumping to take 8th place with a best of 9.90m. Arlene Earls raced to a brilliant 2.25.56 to take 9th place in the U20 200m, a race in which Sophie O’Sullivan daughter of the legendary Sonia took 2nd place. And epitomising what was exceptional team spirit from the full squad of 10 athletes throughout the day, Ailbhe Miskella showed guts and talent to take 5th place in the 3000m steeplechase. Showing lots of raw courage on such a hot day, Ailbhe fell twice during the race due to fatigue – once in the water jump and once on the straight but each time picked herself up and battled on to a brilliant time of 13.31.78 which I need to doublecheck against our club records but think it’s a new club record for the 3k distance.
Craughwell AC's Table Topping U20 Squad!
Arlene Earls, Freya Bohan, Shauna Tobin, Chloe Casey, Ciana Reidy, Aisling Keady, Laura Cunningham, Lorraine Delaney and Ailbhe Miskella (missing from photo Caron Ryan)
To say the club is proud of the girls’ achievements would be a gross understatement. They jumped in and out of different events outside their comfort zone all day, gave heart and soul for the team and hopefully will have the sweet reward of representing Ireland in Portugal in September!
And on Sunday also in Tullamore, it was the turn of the youngest members of the club to shine in the U9-11s paired events and relays and U12/13s individual events.
Darragh Kelly leaped to a brilliant National title in the U12 Boys with an exceptional leap of 1.45m. It was a lovely way to end the track and field year for Darragh as he had some bad luck in the National indoor finals earlier in the year when he exited the high jump competition at the early heights but there was no stopping him today when he took the National crown in style. Ella Farrelly was unlucky to place just 1cm outside the medals in the U12 Girls long jump with a brilliant leap of 4.30m.
Emma O'Donovan and Lauren Kilduff took brilliant gold medals in the U11 Girls paired long jump events with big leaps of 3.86 and 3.68. Ben Moran and Dara Zimmerer took silver in the U11 Boys long jump with excellent jumps of 4.22 and 3.64. Lauren Morgan and Mia Hollingworth did likewise in the U10 Girls long jump with leaps of 3.56 and 3.41. Calum McMahon and Alan Hallinan took bronze in the U9 Boys 60m paired event in times of 10.00 and 10.29. They later added a silver medal in the 300m in times of 53.84 and 53.16 – brilliant performances in their first time competing at National level.
There were many more fine performances from the younger members of the club including Tara Keane 6th in the U12 Girls shot putt with 7.56m and 7th in the turbo javelin with 23.23m; Oisin O'Donovan and Daithi Lawless 7th in the U9 Boys long jump with leaps of 3.30 and 2.78; Ben Moran and Dara Zimmerer 8th in the U11 Boys 60m in times of 9.46 and 9.86; Lauren Kilduff and Keevagh Barry 9th in the U11 Girls 60m in times of 9.66 and 9.94; Keelan Moorhead and Riley Stenson 9th in the U11 Boys 600m in times of 1.59.60 and 2.00.57; Dean McNally and Harry Lynam 10th in the U11 Boys turbo javelin with throws of 18.64 and 11.55; Evan Moran 11th in the U13 Boys long jump with 4.22m; Saoirse Mullins and Gemma Cloonan 12th in the U11 Girls 600m in times of 1.39.06 and 1.54.62; Gavin Keenan 13th in the U13 shot putt with 5.87m; Chloe Hallinan 15th in the U13 Girls long jump with 3.79m; and Shannon Quinn 17th in the U12 Girls shot putt with 5.74m.
The club is immensely proud of all of our athletes achievements across all of the ages from U9 upwards. Its testamont to the hard work of the coaches that we enjoyed such a successful weekend at the top level of junior and U23 athletics and in the youngest age groups all on the same weekend. Well done everyone!
Strong Performances with the County Senior Teams
County Galway Mens' 4x400m team who placed 2nd in the National League at the weekend
Jack Miskella, Luke Evans, Gavin Cooney, Brendan Lynch
Craughwell AC athletes performed with distinction a week ago in Templemore while representing County Galway in round 1 of the National Senior League. The women’s team are placed 4th in the Premier Division after the first round while the men’s team are placed 3rd in Division 1 with all to play for in the second round in 2 weeks’ time.
Competing on the women’s team, team captain Sarah Finnegan took victory in the 100m hurdles in 18.51 and 2nd in the triple jump with 9.82; Maeve Curley placed 2nd in the 1500m walk in 7.00.27; Sinead Treacy took 2nd place in the 200m in 26.15; Ciana Reidy took 3rd place in the pole vault with 2.10m, Sinead Gaffney placed 4th in the 800m in 2.24.57; Lorraine Delaney took 5th place in both the 400m (66.45) and high jump (1.45); Aisling Keady placed 5th in the long jump with 4.44; Dearbhaile Walsh placed 5th in the 3000m steeplechase with 13.36.92 (a club record!); Sinead Treacy and Ciana Reidy helped the county’s 4x100m to 3rd place in a time of 51.69 while Sinead and Lorraine Delaney helped the county’s 4x400m to 5th place in 4.18.10.
Lorraine Delaney who placed 5th in the 400m and high jump
and Ciana Reidy who placed 3rd in the pole vault at the National League in Templemore
Dearbhaile Walsh who placed 5th in the steeplechase and
Maeve Curley who placed 2nd in the race walk at the National League in Templemore
In the men’s events, Jerry Keary took victory in the high jump with 1.85m while Ryan Gallagher Craughwell soared to a 10cm PB with an impressive 1.80m clearance; Damien O'Boyle took 2nd place in the 3000m walk in 21.11.42; Luke Evans took 3rd place in the 3000m steeplechase in 11.06.13; Gavin Cooney took 4th place in the 800m with 2.00.68 with Jack Miskella on his heels in 2.02.09; Jerry Keary and Ryan Gallagher helped the county to 5th place in the 4x100m relay in 46.70 while Gavin Cooney, Luke Evans and Jack Miskella combined with Loughrea’s Brendan Lynch to take 2nd place in the 4x400m. The next round takes place in Athlone on July 8th where both teams will be hoping to qualify for the final in August.
Damien O'Boyle who placed 2nd in the Men's 3000m race walk at the National League in Templemore
Jerry Keary and Ryan Gallagher
who placed 1st and 2nd in the Men' High Jump at the National League in Templemore
Belated Report on Connacht Championships
Craughwell AC's 1500m and 3000m medalists at the Connacht Championships in Claremorris
William Fitzgerald, Catherine Noonan, Kyle Moorhead, Patrick Noonan, Sean Cotter, Luke Evans
Following on from an exciting day at the Connacht Championships in Claremorris on June 9th where the U9s to U13s were in action, the U14s to senior grades continued a fine run of performances from the club at the final day of the championships where were held on June 16th in Claremorris. Read on for full details of our athletes’ performances on both days. Check out Kevin Moore's brilliant action pics also at :- https://www.flickr.com/photos/kevin-moore/albums/72157698099231625
Day 2's highlights included quadruple Connacht titles for Katie O’Donoghue in the Senior Women’s long jump (4.94), high jump (1.55), 100m (13.11) and shot putt (8.62 – a club record); quadruple Connacht titles for Laura Cunningham in the U19 Girls triple jump (10.09), long jump (4.98), high jump (1.55) and 4x100m as well as silver in the 100m (13.03); and a gruelling hat-trick of Connacht titles for Sean Cotter in the U16 Boys 800m (2:14.04), 1500m (4:33.06) and 3000m (9:42.12).
The strong windy conditions were both a help and a hindrance on the day depending on your event. They favoured the sprints but worked against the middle/long distance races with it being an almost uphill battle in the back-straight. Likewise, the strong winds didn’t help the jumps and throws which were into the gusting winds for the most part. Nonetheless athletes from the club shone across all of the age groups. Jack Miskella helped Craughwell AC to a clean sweep of the top 3 places in a tactical battle in the Senior Men’s 800m where a slow first lap went through the bell in 1:08 before the pace ratcheted up a few notches on the second lap with Jack moving clear just ahead of John Cormican. Gavin Cooney made a late break from the back of the race with 250m to go but just couldn’t reel in Jack and John who took gold and silver in times of 2:07.83 and 2:08.47 with Gavin third in 2:09.06. In the Senior Women’s race Sinéad Gaffney had a fine run to move clear with 250m to go to take the Connacht title in a time of 2.25.85.
Craughwell AC athletes competing in the long jump at the Connacht Championships in Claremorris
Siona Lawless, Shauna Tobin, Laura Cunningham, Katie O'Donoghue, Lorraine Delaney, Aleisha larkin, Ava Finn
For our U19s in action (Arlene, Laura, Lorraine, Shauna and Daniel), this was their last time running as a juvenile in the Connacht championships. Laura and Shauna made their first appearance all the way back in 2008 where they featured in the ball throw and the relay in the U9s event held in Sligo IT, qualifying for the National finals in the relay. Daniel made his Connacht debut the following year as an U10 featuring in the top 3 in the long jump, the 60m and the relay. Lorraine made her Connacht outdoors debut as an U14 in 2013 with silver in the long jump and bronze in the high jump, while Arlene debuted last year having represented both Athenry and Loughrea in her younger years and featured on the Connacht podium many times in long jump and middle distance. Remarkably our U19 girls 4x100m relay team have placed in the top 3 in every Connacht championships since they first appeared as U9s in 2009 and taking the Connacht title on 3 occasions during the last 11 years. And remarkably also, Laura missing just 1 Connacht championship in those years and has featured in top 4 in the long jump in the other 10 years and taking podium places in high jump and triple jump on many occasions also. Lorraine has been similarly prominent in the jumps, winning the long jump and high jump in 2015 and featuring on the podium many times in both events and in triple jump, while Shauna has gradually moved up the leader-board in the long jump over the years to make the podium this year. The club is very proud of their achievements and their dedication with nine U19 girls still involved in the club. While less boys stuck at the sport, the club is equally proud of the small group who stuck at it with Daniel, Jerry and Oisin also achieving extremely high standards in their events, winning many Connacht titles and all representing Ireland over the years and its particularly pleasing to see the fantastic performances of Luke Evans in this year’s Connachts.
Craughwell AC's U19 Girls 4x100m - Connacht Champions 2018
Shauna Tobin, Siona Lawless, Lorraine Delaney, Arlene Earls, Laura Cunningham
The U19 girls took the Connacht 4x100m title for the final time in 52.55 with Siona Lawless, Laura Cunningham, Lorraine Delaney, Arlene Earls and sub Shauna Tobin. Laura wrapped up a distinguished 11 years in the Connacht juvenile championship with a hat-trick of individual Connacht titles in triple jump (10.09), long jump (4.98) and high jump (1.55) and an excellent PB of 13.03 to win the silver in the 100m. Lorraine won double silver in the long jump (4.86) and high jump (1.45) as well as bronze in the 400m hurdles in a time of 75.12 against strong winds. Arlene took gold in the 800m in 2:29.03 while Shauna took gold in the javelin (12.58) and bronze in the long jump (4.17).
Daniel took double gold in the U19 triple jump (12.11) and long jump (5.99), excellent jumps in the windy conditions. Luke had a fine run to take 4th place in the U19 800m where he took the pack through the bell in a blistering 58 seconds before slipping to 4th in the second lap to come home in 2.04.21. He followed this up with silver in 10:22.58 in possibly the race of the day – the 3000m which featured from U16s up to Senior. The race ebbed and flowed like the mouth of the Corrib with the order of the leading runners interchanging several times throughout the race. The early laps saw Luke, Patrick Noonan (U18), William Fitzgerald (U18) and Sean Cotter (U16) well placed in the leading bunch. But with race leader Sligo’s Michael Morgan winding up and down the pace like a Kenyan at the front of the pack, the group started to split and for a time Patrick pulled away with a group of three. But the pace eased and the peleton caught up with the leading 3 before a lap or two later, another injection of pace this time saw Sean pull away with Sligo’s Morgan and GCH’s Cillian Jordan. William started to pick up the pace further back and overtook Patrick as the last lap loomed. The race ran out with Sean taking 2nd in 9:42.12 (1st U16), William 5th in 9:50.65 (1st U18), Patrick 6th in 9:59.17 (2nd U18) and Luke 10th in 10:22.58 (2nd U19). Luke had earlier placed 5th in the 400m in 57.83.
Craughwell AC's Sinead Gaffney and Jack Miskella, Connacht Senior 800m Champions 2018
In the U18 grade Siona Lawless took bronze in the U18 long jump with 4.42 while Catherine Noonan took silver in the 3000m with 12:34.27 and placed 5th in the 1500m in 5:39.66. Patrick Noonan added a bronze in the U18 Boys (4:26.20). In the U17 grade, Chloe Casey leaped an impressive 5.09 to take silver in the long jump as well as taking gold in the discus (28.22) and silver in the shot putt (11.91). Ryan Gallagher took gold in the U17 high jump with a leap of 1.60m and placed 6th in the 200m in 25.24 while Kyle Moorhead took silver in the 1500m with a solid 4:42.77 in the windy conditions.
Ellie Cronin took double Connacht titles in the U16 Girls high jump (1.50) and triple jump (9.48) and added a silver in the 250m hurdles in 39.02. Aleisha Larkin had a brilliant day out with an impressive 12.94 to take bronze in the U16 100m and a leap of 4.89m to take silver in the long jump. She followed it up with a 4th place finish in the 200m in 27.82. Ava Finn just missed out on the podium in the long jump with a 4.61m leap in 4th place and had strong runs to place 7th in the 100m (13.81) and in the 200m (29.26). Emmajane Moran took double bronze in the 250m hurdles (41.55) and triple Jump (8.80) with Aoife Kelly 4th in the triple jump (8.63). Aoife also raced to 11th in the 100m in a time of 14.50. In the boys’ events, Sean Cotter was the King of Distance with victories in the 800m (2:14.04), 1500m (4:33.06) and 3000m (9:42.12). Paschal Walsh and James Furey took 3rd and 4th place in the U16 Boys 250m hurdles in 39.0 and 41.81. Conor Trehy won the triple jump with a leap of 10.66 and took silver in the long jump with 4.99 while James claimed silver in the triple jump with 9.62 and shared bronze position with Lughaigh Morgan in the high jump with a clearance of 1.40. Paschal placed 6th in the long jump with a leap of 4.62 while Shaun Gilligan and Lughaigh placed 5th and 6th in the 100m in impressive times of 12.14 and 12.18.
In the U15 grade, Saoirse Moore hit the podium 3 times with silver in the 80m hurdles (13.90) ad bronze in the 250m hurdles (42.94) and high jump (1.35) while Saoirse Pierce took silver in the high jump (1.40). Carla Noone took silver in the javelin with 13.46 and placed 12th in the long jump with 3.72. Robert Urquhart and Lukas Schukat were impressive in the boys’ events with Robert claiming silver in the 200m (26.73) and 80m hurdles (13.64) and despite a fall, bronze in the 250m hurdles (46.56) while Lukas took double Connacht titles in the high jump (1.45) and triple jump (9.66) and silver in the long jump (4.65). Oisin Keane and Liam McDonagh took 2nd and 4th place in the javelin with throws of 30.65 and 28.25 and 5th and 6th place in the discus with 24.41 and 23.14.
In the U14 grade, both girls and boys raced to silver in the 4x100m relays with the girls running 57.64 (Clodagh O'Meara, Jade Moorhead, Siofra Davis, Ella Lyons, subs Erin Kelly and Alicia Locteau) and the boys running 57.04 (Evan Hallinan, Daniel Galvin, Evan Quinn, Cian Lavan). Jade leaped to the Connacht high jump title with a 1.45 clearance with Siofra winning silver with 1.40. Siofra added a bronze in the 75m hurdles in a time of 13.20 with Clodagh O’Meara winning her heat in 13.64 to finish 7th overall.
Fauve Aylmer battled the wind in the U14 800m to take a fine bronze medal in a time of 2:35.63 and later placed 10th in the 200m in 30.59. Clodagh put in a late surge in the 800m to take 6th place in a time of 2:41.44. Aoibhe Fahy and Millie Geraghty took gold and bronze in the javelin with throws of 21.98 and 18.94, with Aoibhe also taking 4th in the shot putt with a PB of 8.13. Erin and Alicia battled hard in the high jump, placing 5th and 7th with clearances of 1.25 and 1.20 while Erin was unlucky to foul 2 of her jumps in the long jump which possibly would have put her in the medals, having to settle for 8th place with 4.21. Ella had a fine run in the 80m sprint taking 7th place in a time of 11.23 and took 5th place in the long jump with 4.32 with Jade 6th with 4.24, Siofra 11th with 3.87, Aoibhe 16th with 3.54 and Alicia 18th with 3.23.
Evan Hallinan led a clean-sweep in the U14 Boys high jump with a 1.45m clearance followed by Cian Lavan with 1.40 and Calvin Ryan 1.35. Evan added further silverware with silver in the long jump (4.40) and 75m hurdles (12.83) while Calvin did likewise when taking bronze in the shot putt with a heave of 8.69. Cian took 4th spot in the hurdles in 13.07 and 7th in the long jump with 4.22. Evan Quinn took 5th in the long jump - just outside the qualifiers with 4.24 while Daniel Galvin placed 13th with 3.66 and took 9th place in the 800m with 2.42.98.
Day 1 of the Connacht Track & Field Championships took place the previous weekend, also in Claremorris and with plenty of success for Craughwell AC. The U13 grade saw several fine performances in particular Chloe Hallinan who took double Connacht titles in the 60m hurdles (10.77) and long jump (4.33) and bronze in the high jump (1.30), and from Evan Moran who did a sprint double in the 80m (11.00) and 60m hurdles (10.44) and took 4th place in the long jump (4.28). Eddie Silke also had a fine day with silver in the U13 Boys high jump (1.35), bronze in the long jump (4.38) and 8th place in the 80m sprint final (11.66). Isabella Fitzgerald took gold in style in the U13 Girls high jump with a massive leap of 1.40 and placed 14th in the long jump with 3.18. Tara Morgan took the Connacht title in the U13 Girls javelin with a throw of 13.35m and placed 9th in the long jump (3.44), while Eabha Neary took silver in the javelin with 12.01 and Gavin Keenan took bronze in the U13 Boys shot putt with a 7m throw, 7th in the javelin with 14.42 and 12th in the long jump (3.61). Tara Molloy placed 9th in the shot putt with 5.56 and 15th in the long jump with 3.12. Holly O’Boyle took 5th place in her 600m in a time of 2:13.76 having earlier taken 5th in the javelin with a good throw of 9.80 with Isabella Fitz 6th with 9.15.
Ella Farrelly and Darragh Kelly were particularly impressive in the U12 age group with Ella leaping 4.46m to take the Connacht long jump title and Darragh clearing 1.48m to take the Connacht high jump title. Darragh also took bronze in the shot putt with 7.39m and 4th place in the long jump with 4 metres. Sean Lavan took bronze in the U12 Boys high jump with 1.15 and placed 11th in both the long jump (3.74) and the turbo javelin (14.67) as well as 5th place in his heat of the 60m hurdles in 12.47. Tara Keane took the Connacht title in the shot putt with a throw of 7.05m with Shannon Quinn marginally behind when taking silver with 6.96m. Tara added a silver in the turbo javelin with a throw of 22.68m, took 4th place in her heat of the 60m hurdles in 12.92 and placed 10th in the long jump with 3.66, the same distance as leaped by Shannon Quinn in 10th place.
The U12 girls went on to take bronze in the relay in a time of 61.47 with Isobel Schukat, Shannon Quinn, Gillian Crowe, Tara Keane and sub Maiah Fleetwood. Fionn Higgins placed 13th in the long jump with 3.74 while Matthew Coleman was 20th with 3.46. Fionn was unlucky later when placing 3rd in his heat of the 600m in a good time of 1.54.28 but unfortunately the medal winners all came from the other heat. He also had a good jump of 1.10 to place 5th in the high jump. Hannah Whitney Mangan was 12th in the long jump with 3.63, followed by Gillian Crowe 15th with 3.51, Beth Crowe 19th with 3.41, Isabel Schukat 20th with 3.31, Maiah Fleetwood 29th with 3.06 and Ayla Hollingsworth 32nd with 2.84. Maiah threw the turbo javelin out to 13.52m to take 7th place and took 6th place in her heat of the 60m hurdles in 14.53. Isabel took 6th place in the high jump with a 1.15 clearance while Erin Fahy suffered the misfortune of a broken arm in the same high jump competition, landing awkwardly on the mat after clearing 1.05.
Keevagh Barry and Lauren Kilduff took a brilliant bronze in the U11 Girls 60m in times of 9.59 and 9.36, while Lauren later partnered with Emma O’Donovan to take the Connacht title in the long jump with excellent efforts of 3.75 and 3.55. Ben Moran and Dara Zimmerer took the silver medals in both the U11 Boys 60m in times of 8.91 and 9.48 and in the long jump with leaps of 3.79 and 3.60, while Riley Stenson and Keelan Moorhead raced to gold in the U11 600m in times of 1:55.28 and 1:55.96. Dean McNally and Harry Lynam combined with throws of 18.22 and 11.1 to take the bronze medals in the turbo javelin. The U11 boys relay completed a fine day of track performances with silver in the relay in a time of 60.19.
Saoirse Mullins and Gemma Cloonan took the team bronze in the U10 Girls 500m in times of 1:37.35 and 1:53.79, with Saoirse having earlier partnered with Lauren Morgan to take 4th place in the 60m sprint in times of 10.08 and 9.71. Lauren partnered with Mia Hollingworth to take a brilliant team gold in the long jump with Lauren leaping 3.75 and Mia 3.43. The U10 Boys raced to team silver in the 4x100m relay in a time of 64.89 with Eanna Morrissey, Daniel Gilmore, Calum McMahon, Oran Collins and Daniel Farrelly. Eanna Morrissey and Oran Collins just missed out on team bronze when placing 4th in the U10 Boys 60m in times of 9.83 and 10.17 as did Ciara Byrnes and Megan Smith in the U10 Girls turbo javelin with throws of 8.13 and 9.40.
In the U9 paired events, Calum McMahon and Alan Hallinan raced to the Connacht 300m title in times of 49.77 and 50.04 and added a team bronze in the 60m sprint in times of 10.25 and 10.23. Oisin O'Donovan and Ethan Horan combined with jumps of 3.28 and 3.07 to take bronze medals in the long jump while Daithi Lawless and Sean Dempsey just missed out on the podium when placing 4th with jumps of 3.06 and 3.05. The U9 Boys also took 4th place in the 4x100m relay in a time of 1.10.37.