Irish athlete Shauna Bocquet of Craughwell AC competed at ParAthletics 2024 in Nottwil Sport Arena, Switzerland. The event took place last weekend with Shauna partaking in four events as she chases Paralympic qualification.
Bocquet achieved three High Performance standards which will greatly help her Olympic selection bid. She competed over 1500m, 800m and 5000m - with a personal best over 100m also - in a gruelling but rewarding weekend of racing for the talented Craughwell star.
Fixtures
The Connacht Outdoor Track and Field Championships were held over the last two Saturdays in Claremorris and Athlone respectively. Galway clubs excelled with a large medal haul, one that was spread out across the county clubs. This is indicative of the growing strength in athletics across the region.
Craughwell AC secured a huge 42 medals on Day 2, including 18 gold. Wins came from the likes of Rachel Ward, Darragh Kelly, Conor Penney - and at Senior level Sinead Treacy excelled.
South Galway AC also ran up a cricket score of medals, with 10 gold and six silver plus many national qualifiers. Two Championship records were set by South Galway Athletes; Claudia Coyle set a new u16 Girls 1,500m record of 4:53, while Ciarán Considine set a new 3,000m record of 9:20.
Tuam AC secured a huge haul of medals on Day 2 of the Connacht Championships in Athlone.
The burgeoning club won a total of 18 Gold, nine silver and four Bronze across all disciplines. This included wins for Rocher Adeyeye in the Senior sprints, Ger Hartnett over 3km, and juveniles Rachel Treacy and Danielle Moynihan.
Loch Lurgan AC continued their rise also - with three golds and a silver along with multiple national final qualifications. Likewise, Caltra and District AC excelled also - winning five Gold, six Silver, and one Bronze Medal.
Clare River Harriers secured multiple medals, winning two Gold, three Silver and two Bronze. Medal winners included Rhona Connolly and Patrick Lee (both double medallists ), among others.
Castlegar AC won two Golds, via Rainer Botha and Dylan Madden - as well as four Silver and one Bronze medal.
Galway City Harriers juvenile athletes turned out in force, scoring multiple medal wins. There were some championship records set by GCH athletes, including Angela Cielecka's 100m effort in 12.09s - and a huge Long Jump of 5.64m; Daniel Sangodele in the Triple Jump achieved a distance of 12.85m, while Lucy Hounkponou over 100m Hurdles ran 14.96s.
GCH also won relay quads over Boys U17 4x400m (Shane McGovern, Alvyne Ngani, Daniel Sangodele & Oisin Maher ), and the GCH Girls U19 4x400m (Lianne Colleran, Sophie Foley, Saoirse Coleman & Inga Cielecka ).
Fixtures
Attention now switches to the National U9-11 Paired Children's Games this weekend - along with the U12 Championships set to be held in Tullamore on Sunday, June 23.
Many of Galway’s top Juvenile athletes have also qualified for the Tailteann Games - an interprovincial event - which goes ahead Saturday, June 22 in Dublin at Morton Stadium.
On the road, The Bullaun 8k takes place this Friday, June 21 at 7.30 pm. A children’s race will take place ahead of the main event. Entry is on Eventmaster, and registration on the day will be at the local school.
