Galway clubs enjoyed success the Connacht Indoor Athletic Championships held over two days in Athlone at the weekend.
At senior level Laura Ann Costello of GCH was the impressive winner of both senior 60m and 200m titles, clicking 7.8 seconds and 25.3 seconds respectively, with clubmate Nicole Quirke just behind in both events.
Reakwon Lucciano of Castlegar stormed to gold in the men’s 60m, clocking a fast with 6.96. Castlegar sprinters impressed at underage level also. There was an U17 win for Leon Ukaga in 200m, while Lemar Lucciano won well in the 60m and 60m hurdles, with second over 200m also at U17. At U19 level 1 Osioma Chinagorm claimed victory in 60m hurdles.
GCH Juveniles were also prominent - the standout athletes Louis Jean Hounkponou who bagged the maximum haul of five medals, a gold, silver and three bronze. He jointly won the 60m, was second in long jump and bagged a hurdles bronze to add to two relay bronze.
Aisling Tauchen leaped 3.92m to win silver in the long jump, while Roisin Osbourne's 1.30m leap at U13 level was enough to win bronze. Harrison Agnew also qualified in the race walk.
Craughwell Juveniles also impressed, notably at U16 level, which saw Claudia Coyle joining her brother Donal in winning the 800m, and Emma O’Donovan and Oisin O’Donovan also claiming golds.
At U19 level Craughwell claimed the U19 4x200m relay via Jade Moorhead, Siofra Davis, Ella Lyons and Leonore Church. Moorhead also retained her Connacht high jump title with Church third. Evan Quinn took the Connacht long jump title, and Andrew Power took the Connacht triple jump title.
Tuam AC claimed a huge haul of medals across both days, and among the stand out performances were an amazing four gold medals for Danielle Moynihan including U17 60m, 200m and high jump golds, and a win as part of the Tuam winning relay squad. In the race walks, there were wins and Connacht Championship records for Savanagh O’Callaghan and Matthew Newell in the U16 1500m events
Double gold in U14 60m hurdles and high jump came the way of Rachel Treacy, as well as bronze in the 1km Race Walk. Sprinter Aine Maguire won the U17 400m and claimed silver in the 200m, while there was middle distance success for Aoibhinn Redington and Sarah Hartnett who each won medals in the 800m and 1500m
Oisin Phelan won U18 400m gold silver in the long jump and bronze in the hurdles, likewise there were three medals for Jakub Kostrrubiec including silver in U14 800m and bronze in the 60m as well as relay gold.
Athenry athlete Liam Shaw took the U19 shot putt title with a championship best performance of 15.14m, breaking the previous record by 3.17m, while at U18 level clubmate Sean Doggett was second in the 800m, second in the 200m, and third in the high jump.
Clare River Harriers saw five qualifiers for the All-Irelands via Ciara Murphy in Hurdles, Kieva Kelly - U12 60m, Brian Griffin - U12 shot putt and high jump, Patrick Lee - U13 600m, and Isla Day over 800m.
Maree 8k
The annual Maree 8km Run celebrated its 14th year in 2023, with record numbers taking part. Almost 400 toed the line for last Sunday's 8km race.
David Carter of GCH showed he is returning to top form with a clear victor over the rolling circuit, clocking 25.42 for victory, ahead of Darren McCann second place and Sean Hynes in third. The first women home was Jane Ann Meehan of GCH in 30.06, with clubmate Eimear O'Leary second, and Edel Kelly third.
DNA Athletics
The Dynamic New Athletics U20 International Meeting was held in Spain recently with four Galway participants representing Ireland.
DNA Athletics is fast-paced sequence of events lasting around two hours, with teams scoring points based on each of 11 events. Included in Ireland’s 18-person team are Emma Moore from Galway City Harriers, Craughwell’s Evan Hallinan, Athenry’s Liam Shaw and South Galway’s David Mannion taking on Czech Republic, Great Britain, France, Spain and Portugal. The quartet all performed well across their events, leading the Irish team to an overall fifth place position behind Great Britain.
Intervarsity Cross Country
The Intervarsity Cross Country championships, which takes place this Saturday in the University of Limerick and University of Galway, will field strong teams, with the men’s squad tipped for a medal. The squad includes Tom McStay, Sean Cotter, Paddy Nooan and Cormac McDermott, while the women's event will see Fiona Everard go for glory.
