Galway athletes came home with a massive haul of medals from the second day of the National Championships, including two gold medal-winning performances from Conor Duggan and Louis Corr.
Craughwell AC’s Conor Duggan won gold in the u-18 boys 100m in an excellent 11.27, while clubmate Damien O’Boyle won silver in the u-18 3000m steeplechase with a 9.56 clocking.
GCH athlete Louis Corr took Galway’s second gold medal with a long jump win in the u-12 boys with a 4.52 metre leap. James Mitchell of GCH claimed silver in the u-19 boys 100m with a time of 11.43 .
GCH sprinter Laura Ann Costello won silver in the u-18 100m, with a time of 12.31 seconds, just ahead of Sinead Treacy of Craughwell who ran 12.49 for bronze. Athenry AC’s Brandon Lee won bronze in u-14 75 metre hurdles in 12.27, while Lydia Doyle of GCH won silver in the u-15 80m hurdles. James Fleming of GCH also claimed bronze in the u-19 110 metre hurdles event in 17.72.
There were notable performances just outside the medals from many other Galway athletes who reached the finals, including GCH’s Sarah Agboola, Jack Dempsey, Daniel Johnson and Kacper Poniatowski, Craughwell’s Matthew McKiernan, Daniel Callanan, Mia Waters and Michelle Duggan, Athenry’s Evan Quirke, and Loughrea’s Maeve Farrell.
Barnaderg 5km and 10km
The Barnadearg series of races took place on Sunday with John Byrne of Mayo winning the 10k with ease in 33.56, ahead of Sean Nee and Dan O’Rourke. The first woman home was Roisin Farragher in a time of 42.19, with Ann Marie Miskell second.
In the 5k, Tomasz Kadzielawski of Athenry AC took first place with a time of 18.52, while Grace Donnellan was first woman.
Galway County Track and Field Championships
At the final day of this year’s Galway Track and Field Championships in Dangan, the up-and-coming James Mitchell of Galway City Harriers won the junior 100m title in 11.47. Ronan McCarthy of Athenry won O35 gold and Michael Stapleton Loughrea AC claimed the O50 title.
The women’s events saw Sarah Finnegan of Craughwell surge to victory in the 100 m in 13.86, with Assumpta Feeney of Athenry AC and Mary Barrett of Loughrea winning the Masters 35 and 50 events respectively.
Craughwell AC athlete John Cormican took victory in the men’s 400m junior event with his clubmate Peadar Harvey claiming senior gold. Masters wins went to McCarthy of Athenry and Coleman Greene of CRH.
Niamh Hennelly of GCH continued her excellent run of track performances with victory in the ladies senior 400m event with Emer O’Connell of Corrib winning the O35 title and Peggy Higgins O50 gold.
Craughwell's Jamie Fallon just pipped Loughrea athlete Peter O’Sullivan in a hugely exciting race, to claim the 1500m victory in a time of 4.05, with Fallon taking the junior title and O’Sullivan the senior win. First master was Coleman Greene in the O50 event and Sean McDermott of Castlegar AC won the O35 title.
GCH star Regina Casey put in a hugely impressive performance to win the ladies 1500m title in a time of 4.43, with clubmate Sinead Brody claiming O35 gold and Peggy Higgins the O50 title.
In the field events, junior athlete Caomhan Conaghan of Loughrea AC won a very competitive high jump with a leap of 1.90m, ahead of South Galway AC athlete Karl Casey who won senior gold. Conaghan completed a double with victory in the triple jump, also with a leap of 12.06 metres, ahead of senior winner Henry Duggan of GCH. Masters high jump wins went to Mitkas GCH and Tommy Farragher in the O50s.
Sarah Finnegan again took gold in the high jump with a clearance of 1m40, and completed a ha- trick of wins on the day with triple jump victory with a best jump of 10.18m. Mary Barrett took both Masters 50 event wins.
The evergreen Tommy Farragher of Corofin AC won the hammer with 42.75 metres, while Linas Mitkas of GCH won M35 gold, throwing 36.45 and Brendan Staunton took senior gold with 35.21
Mitkas also won the javelin with a throw of 38.77 metres, while Mary Barrett took yet another win in the women’s event, ahead of junior winner Sinead Kean, also of Loughrea.
Fixtures
This Sunday East Galway AC Club hosts a fundraising event for UHG, with both 8k and 5k events in Castleblakeney. Races start at 12.30pm.
