Kevin Mooney of Craughwell AC was the winner of the final race in the hugely successful 2018 Galway 5km Series.
Mooney made it two wins on the trot when he clocked 16.43 in Kilcornan, Clarenbridge in sultry summer conditions last Tuesday.
Young Craughwell star William Fitzgerald was second in 17.03, with Gerard Cuddy of Galway Tri Club third in 17.30.
Regina Casey of GCH was the first woman home, claiming her fifth victory of the series in 17.43 - a 100 per cent success rate in the races she ran. Barbara Dunne, GCH, was second in 18.09, just ahead of Jane Ann Meehan of Athenry AC, who placed third in 18.15.
Irish Schools Track and Field
The All Ireland Schools Championships took place in Tullamore on Saturday in near perfect weather conditions, and the event saw some remarkable performances from Galway athletes.
Three GCH athletes achieved the top honours and were crowned All Ireland Champions for their schools. Emma Moore, Seren O’Toole, and Darragh Jennings all won National titles and the latter duo also picked up bronze medals.
Seren O’Toole from Ballinrobe CS and GCH ran a superb race in the intermediate 300m hurdles, finishing first in 44.47 seconds from Ella Duane. Three hours later she competed in the 80m hurdles and battled strongly to secure the bronze medal in 11.83 seconds in a blanket finish.
Darragh Jennings representing Carraroe CC ran a terrific 800m race in the minor boys to take the honours in a new personal best time of 2.08. Darragh earlier produced a great throw of 13.74 to win bronze in the shot putt.
Emma Moore of Presentation Athenry became the club's third All Ireland Champion winning the junior 800m race. Moore led from the gun and controlled the race throughout, sprinting for home with just under 200m to go and finishing in a time of 2.14 ahead of Victoria Lightbody of Lisburn.
Robert McDonnell of Colaiste na Coiribe won a silver medal in the 400m in 50.52 seconds, while Ava McKeon, representing AM Ballinasloe, ran a magnificent race in the minor 75m hurdles to claim a bronze medal in 11.58 seconds, narrowly missing out on silver in a very exciting finish with Lucy McGinn.
Athenry athletes had great success with Aine O'Farrell of Presentation Athenry winning bronze in the senior 3000m; Ryan McNelis claiming silver in the senior 400m hurdles, and Calum Healy securing a silver medal in the minor 75m hurdles.
Sean Cotter of Calasanctius College Oranmore won silver in the intermediate 3000m clocking a fast 9.09, while Chloe Casey of St Raphael’s Loughrea won silver in the discus. Brendan Lynch of St Brigid’s College Loughrea secured silver in the senior triple jump
Other notable performances included fourth place finishes for Laura Nally (Calasanctius College Oranmore ) in the senior 400m, Aoife Sheehy (Dunmore CS ) in the 400m hurdles and Eimear Rowe (Mercy Tuam ), who produced a great time of 41.7 in the intermediate 300m. Uyi Agbonayinma of Colaiste Einde doubled up with fourth in both the 200m and 800m at junior level.
Jack Dempsey (HR Mountbellew ), in fifth, produced a magnificent PB of 10.72 in the senior 100m, which was the race of the day with the first two athletes clocking sensational record times of 10.52. In the middle distance races, Thomas McStay (Colaiste Bhaile Chlair ) finished fifth in the 1500m in 4.06, Jack Maher of Clifden was sixth in the senior 800m, and Barry Murphy of St Enda’s placed fifth in the intermediate mile.
Clifden, The Bish, Merlin Park College and St Mary’s Galway also fielded a large number of athletes at the Schools, an indication of the strength in depth of athletics at youth level in the county and city.
Clifden 10k
The annual Clifden Lifeboat 10k Race take will take place on the Sunday at 2pm. The race is held in memory of Mikey Mullen, who died at 18 when the MVF St Oliver sank off the south Connemara coast. It was first run in 2008 to raise funds for the Clifden RNLI and has become popular with both serious and leisure runners as well as walkers, with many participants returning every year. It is an out and back which starts and finishes in Clifden and makes its way up the Sky Road, one of the most scenic areas in Connemara. Race HQ is the Town Hall, Clifden.
