Craughwell’s Jerry Keary produced a fantastic display of high jumping at the Schools' International Athletics Championships in Kent at the weekend.
Keary was one of a number of Galway athletes representing Ireland at the event, which pits England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales against each other at U17 level.
Keary leapt 1.99m to claim silver in one of his best performances this season, while Lydia Doyle of GCH finished seventh in the 80m hurdles. GCH sprinter Jack Dempsey finishing a credible fifth in both 100 and 200m events, and topped it off, by securing silver for Ireland in the 4X100m relay. Brendan Lynch of Loughrea AC placed fourth in a competitive triple jump competition
At home in round two of the National Track and Field League at Cork IT on Sunday, Galway ladies and men’s teams reached the finals on August 7.
Galway ladies scored 93 points, and had some fine individual performances, with wins for Emma O'Hara in the hammer and Veronica Burke in the walk. O'Hara was second in the discus, while Sinead Treacy, Sarah and Rachel Finnegan, and young sprinters Laura Nally and Michelle Duggan, also scored valuable points, Niamh Hennelly ran well in both the 1500m and 800m events clocking 4.52 and 2.30 for third and sixth, and in the field Laura Cunningham and Edel O'Meara also racked up points for the county squad.
National champion Sean Breathnach grabbed wins for the men's team in both shot put and discus, while Gary Thornton was first in the 5000m in 15.20. Kelvin Samson was second in the triple jump and fourth in the hurdles; Brian Ndego was second in the high jump; Seamus Leddy placed third in the 3k walk; and Brendan Staunton was third in both the hammer and the weight throw. There were also strong performances from Eanna Folan, seventh in 1500; Mark Powell, fourth in the steeplechase, and sprinters Eoghan Dobey, Robert Meaghar, Luke Shaughnessy, and Eoin Lyons over 800m and Igor Muntean in the field.
In other athletic action, Laura Shaughnessy, a member of Galway’s winning national cross country squad and now with DSD AC in Dublin, won the Dublin Docklands 5k last week in a superb time of 16.32.
GCH’s Matt Bidwell placed second in the Roscommon 10 miler on Saturday, clocking 54.10, while Jane Ann Meehan continued her winning ways with a win in Mullingar over 10 miles, with a time of 61.54
Fixtures
Cillin Greene of GCH competes on the Irish 4x100m relay team at the World Junior Championships which are taking place in Bydgoszcz in Poland from July 19 to 24.
The 31st running of the famous Streets of Galway 8km road race takes place around the city streets in two weeks, on Saturday August 6 at 7pm. This year the Radisson Blu Hotel and Spa Galway is the race sponsor, and local club Galway City Harriers is chief organiser.
This event is one of the most renowned road races in the country, and attracts a top class elite field as well as thousands of club runners, joggers and well known faces from around Galway. Close on 3,000 entrants are expected to run the 8km course which weaves through the city streets, Salthill and the Claddagh, with limited entry still available on http://www.galwaycityharriers.com for details.
