Sally Rose Maughan, a member of Castlebar AC, jumped longer than the qualifying level of 5m 80 for the Long Jump event at the European Youth Olympic trials when she competed at the Leevale AC open sports in Cork recently. Her jump of 5m 86 is well inside the qualifying standard for the European trials and sees her eligible for selection as part of the Irish Youth team for the event. The trials will take place in Moscow, Russia on May 21 to 23. A European team will be selected from these trials to compete at the World Youth Olympic games to be held in Singapore in August. Sally also won gold in the individual long jump and 300m events and silver in the 60m sprint - in a personal best of 7.95 seconds - at the National Juvenile Indoor Athletics Championships held in Nenagh recently.
Mayo AC feature strongly in the National 10k
John Byrne Mayo AC won silver in the national 10k. Byrne ran an excellent race to bring him in the top 20 men including elite athletes on the day and finishing in second overall in the o35 section. Mayo AC also performed very well in the Great Ireland Run, when a 24 strong team finished very high up the field. The Mayo AC ladies team finished in fourth place over all. The Mayo women’s o35 team and men’s o35 team both took the silver medal in the o35 events.
Ann Lennon led the o35 team home in silver medal team position in a brilliant 40:26, the ever improving Cathy Connolly finished next in 41:41 just ahead of her sister Chris Gallagher in 42:23, Ann Murray was next in 45:23 with Ann Fahey Ronayne in 48:10.
In the men’s o35 section John Byrne finished in 32:19 leading the team home with TJ. Mc Hugh finishing in 34:31 and Anto Devanney very close behind in 34:41, Robert Malseed who was struggling with injury held on in great team spirit to finish in 35:53, David Huane was next in 38:55 followed by Gerry Galvin who had an amazing personal best on a day when most of the runners were outside of their times because of heat and a tough last 5km. Christy O’Malley finished in 44:31.
First River Moy Marathon
The first River Moy Marathon will take place on Sunday May 16 at 11am in Ballina. The organisers are hoping it will bring much needed revenue to the town of Ballina at the very start of the summer season while showcasing Ballina as an ideal running location. Runners and walkers of all levels are encouraged to take part in what looks set to be a great event. The course starts and finishes at the Ballina Rugby Club, Creggs Rd, Ballina. A brilliant atmosphere is expected as family members, friends and supporters will be able to see competitors throughout the course along with lively musical entertainment at the start of the race. Local businesses Gerry Kenny Sports and Molloy’s Lifestyle Pharmacy will host stands at the start of the event showcasing their fantastic sporting ranges which can all be purchased locally. All details of the event and entry forms can be found on www.rivermoymarathon.ie
