Galway Ladies team are top of the premier division after a superb team performance at round one of the National Track and Field League in Athlone IT.
Maeve Curley stormed home in the 1500 metre walk, Lydia Doyle won the 100m, Emma O'Hara took hammer victory, captain Sarah Finnegan won the triple jump, and the 4x100m relay team were anchored to victory by Sinead Treacy.
There were valuable points racked up by Treacy in the sprints, Rachel Finnegan over long hurdles, Aoife Sheehy over 400, Niamh Hennelly in the 1500, Aine O'Farrell over 3k, Maebh Brannigan in the 800, and in the field events via Aoife Walsh, Mary Barrett, Siona Lawless, Lorraine Delaney and Cathy McKenna.
GCH men are eighth overall in the premier division with wins on the day from Robert Meagher in the 200m and Brendan Staunton in the discus, and good performances by Shane Canavan, Cliff Jennings, Henrique Nvokolata, Eanna Folan, James Frizzell, Eoghan Dobey and Diego Brule.
Galway County men’s team lie 10th overall after their debut at the National League with a two-metre-high jump and event victory by Jerry Keary among the highlights. Keary also won the triple jump, and Daniel Callanan Forde took the long jump. The squad, managed by Sean McDermott and Michael Tobin, fielded a range of young stars and experienced athletes, with strong runs on the track by Ryan McNelis and Patryk Woleniuk of Athenry, throwers Tommy Farragher, Justin Lane and Barry Rafferty, all clocking up points, and Craughwell athletes Kevin Mooney, Ben Garrard, Gavin Cooney and Peter O'Sullivan all placing well in the middle-distance races
Juvenile wins
Tuam's young athletes enjoyed great success at the National U9-11 Track and Field Championships in Tullamore on Satuday.
Grace McGrath and Clodagh Gannon took pride of place as the pair won the All Ireland U9 60 metre sprint. McGrath also took bronze along with Kate Halligan in the U9 300m race.
In the relays, there were silver medals for the Tuam U10 squad of Conor Mongey, JJ Ofioh, Taylor Woodham, Matthew Mannion, Oisin McGinn and Tom Henry, and bronze for the U9 Girls relay team of Kate Halligan, Grace McGrath, Clodagh Gannon, and Siofra Phelan. Tuam pair Ciaran O'Donnell and JJ Ofioh were second in the U10 60m pairs event.
Galway City Harriers' U11 boys pair Richard McGrath and Shane Meagher took home bronze in the 60m sprint event. Craughwell AC athletes Ben Moran and Dara Zimmerer won silver in the U10 long jump, and also placed fourth in the 60m sprint pair.
Irish captaincy honour
Sean Breathnach of GCH captained t
he Irish squad that competed in the European Team Championships held in Vaasa, Finland last weekend. Ireland finished eighth team overall and maintain their place in the European First League as a result
Athenry AC Half Marathon
Paul Conlon was first home in 1 hour 20 mins 28 seconds in the Athenry AC half marathon that took place in Monivea on Saturday.
Conlon was just 10 seconds ahead of Daire Comer of Tuam AC after a great tussle between the pair, with Kevin Ward of Longford AC in third in 1.21. The first woman home was Jane Ann Meehan of host club Athenry AC, for the fourth year in a row, in a time of 1.25. Yvonne Feehily, also Athenry AC, was second in, with third home Maeve Flannery of Derg AC in 1:37:50
A 5km was also held alongside the half marathon, and first home was Feargal Walsh (Athenry AC ) in 17:27, second was Ronan O'Conghaile (GCH ) in 18:01, and third, Castlegar AC’s Damien Ryan in 18:20.
In the women's section, first home was Athenry’s Edel Kelly in 20:15, with Maggie Vahey (Athenry AC ) second in 20:23, and Tammy Corrigan (Athenry AC ) 20:28
Dunshaughlin 10k
Loughrea native Laura Shaughnessy continued her recent winning streak at the prestigious Dunshaughlin 10km held on Saturday night. She was the first woman across the line in a phenomenal time of 34.2 seconds.
Fixtures
National Championships: This weekend sees the National Junior & U23 T&F Championships, National Juvenile Interclub Relay Championships, and the National Masters Track and Field Championships all taking place.
Galway will have plenty of interest in the juniors and U23s which will be held on Saturday in Tullamore, with Cillin Greene and Robert Meagher of GCH, and Jerry Keary of Craughwell AC all competing for honours. The Masters take centre stage in Tullamore on Sunday, with the Majella Loftus and Sonya King of GCH targeting sprint medals, and Martin Kearney, Sean McDermott and Ian Egan all medal contenders in the distance events. The inter lub relays for U12-19 are on Sunday in Athlone IT
Headford 8k 2017: The annual Headford 8k road race takes place on Saturday at 7pm sharp. Race entry is €20, and the race is an AAI Approved event. Race HQ is at the GAA pitch.
