Galway’s Maria McNamara secured the silver medal in the high jump at the u-15 age group Scottish Indoor Championships at the weekend.
The Craughwell athlete jumped 1.55m to record a new personal best height. This was a big step up for McNamara, much to the delight of coach Michael Tobin.
"Maria has been knocking on the door of major honours for the last two years and her silver medal in Scotland is a great reward for a lot of hard work," he said.
At the National Universities Indoor Track and Field, McNamara’s clubmate Cathriona Farrell, representing DCU, claimed her first university high jump title with a jump of 1.66m. Galway's prowess in the jumps was further highlighted when Athenry's Claire McNamara, representing NUIG, claimed joint second in the same event with a jump of 1.63m. She also took silver in the combined events.
Munster Athlete Eilish Fitzpatrick, representing NUIG, won both the 60m and 200m in an impressive 7.73 and 25.85, while other Galway medallists were Michael Moran, who won silver in the 2k walk, and William Finnnegan who was third in the combined events.
In Galway the hugely competitive Connacht Schools Cross Country took place in St Mary's College with some strong showings from Galway students.
Alana Lally of Presentation Athenry won the minor girls, with Colaiste Iognaid and Presentation College Athenry taking second and third team positions respectively. In minor boys St Mary's took the team prize, but we had no individual winners.
In the junior girls Katie Carter of Taylor's Hill finished first in the individual race, with Presentation Athenry taking second, a single point ahead of Taylor's Hill.
In the junior boys Conor Gillen of Athenry Vocational School continued his excellent form to come second, while St Mary's again showed their depth of talent by winning the team prize with St Joseph’s of Galway coming third.