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Triple Gold For Michelle!

Big congratulations to Michelle Tobin who won 3 gold medals at the Laois Paralympic Games held today at St Lawrence O’Toole Athletic Club in Carlow. Michelle’s medals came in the shot putt, discus and javelin with PBs in all 3 events. Well done Michelle!

Another Brilliant Day at National Finals!

Champions of Ireland - Jerry Keary and Laura Cunningham

Another fantastic day of action in Tullamore saw athletes from the club come away with 5 more medals and many fine performance on the final day of the National Juvenile Track & Field in Tullamore.

It was a big day for Laura Cunningham and Jerry Keary who both claimed National titles in the U18 age group with Jerry claiming the high jump title for the first time and Laura adding the outdoor triple jump title to the indoor one from earlier this year. Jerry had a tiny blip at 1.90m with a knocked bar but got it on his second attempt and the same at 1.93. Then sailing over 1.96m on his first attempt, he heaped the pressure on his opponents. With just 2 left after 1.96m, Jerry had a brilliant leap over 1.99m to take the gold medal. Remarkably despite coming close on a number of occasions, its Jerry’s first National title in the club championships. Laura kept her best 2 jumps until last in the U18 triple jump, moving into the lead on her 5th jump with a fine leap of 10.46m and improving her lead further with a leap of 10.63m on her final attempt. Lorraine Delaney was unlucky in the same triple jump competition to break 3 of her 6 jumps and had to settle for 5th place with a best of 9.59m.

Chloe Casey, Silver Medalist in the U16 Girls Shot Putt at the National Championships

Chloe Casey continued to impress in the throws when adding shot putt silver to the discus silver she won a week ago – heaving the shot out to 12.77 metres on her second throw. This is Chloe’s 3rd National medal of the year and great progress for a very dedicated athlete. Laura Cunningham make it a very special day for herself and the club when taking her second National medal of the day in the U18 Girls high jump, claiming the bronze with a clearance of 1.55m on her first attempt. It’s a rare achievement to win a National medal and to win two on the same day is exceptional. Both Ciana Reidy and Lorraine Delaney were unlucky in the same high jump competition with both clearing 1.50m and going close to clearing the 1.55m but it was not to be with Ciana having to settle for 4th place and Lorraine 7th on countback.

A remarkable day for the club continued with one of the final events of the day where Conor Trehy was in action in the U15 Boys triple jump. This is Conor’s first season of competing in this event and he put in an incredible series of jumps in these National finals – leaping over the 10m mark on four of his six jumps with a best of 10.33 on his third jump claiming the bronze medal.

Conor Trehy, bronze medalist in the U15 Boys Triple Jump at the National Championships

Liam McDonagh and Oisin Keane went close to the medals in the U14 Boys discus with Liam placing 5th with a best of 30.03 and Oisin 6th with a best of 30.00. Again this is the first year the U14s competed in discus and both lads have plenty to look forward to in this event in the future based on today’s performances. Ellie Cronin took 8th place in the final of the U15 Girls 250m hurdles in a time of 39.21 having earlier ran a PB of 39.08 to take 2nd place in heat 2 – a super performance again in her first year of this event. James Furey placed 13th in the U15 Boys high jump with a PB of 1.40m. The club had just 2 athletes in action on the track today in the 1500m races. The 1500s at National level are possibly the toughest events of them all with elite opposition grinding it out over 4 laps of the track on a hot day. Both Sean Cotter and Ciara Sheppard acquitted themselves very well against the nation’s best with Sean placing 12th in the U15 Boys race in 4.44.73 and Ciara placing 13th in the U16 Girls race in 5.53.74.

Meanwhile a day earlier 3 of our U13s travelled to Tullamore for the National B Championships with all 3 girls putting in excellent performances. Fauve Aylmer had a brilliant run to win her heat of the U13 80m in a time of 12.04 and went on to place 8th in the final. Later in the day Fauve had a fine run in the U13 600m, knocking over 2 seconds off her PB with a time of 1.55.35. Erin Kelly had a good series of jumps culminating with a 1.15m clearance in the U13 high jump while Maireád Tucker jumped strongly in the U13 long jump with a best of 3.50m.

So that wrapped up the juvenile track and field season for another year. With 11 medals over the 3 days of National finals and a large participation, the club is punching above its weight at National level – all testament to the dedication of the athletes and their coaches and their parents. There are no short-cuts to National success and it’s great to see so many of our athletes making it at the top level and so tough on many more who train just as hard and come up just short of the medals. But they live to fight another day and I am certain we will see many of those athletes on the National podium in the next 12 months. I will publish a statistical summary of the season later in the week for those who like stats.

Well done Alanna!!

Massive congratulations to Galway's Alanna Lally formerly of GCH and now of UCD and Ireland, who finished 4th today in the final of the European U23 800m. Our athletes have competed with Alanna on Pres Athenry teams and against Alanna on GCH teams on many occasions in the past.

Coming 4th in the final of a major international is an amazing achievement and to come within inches of a medal incredible. 

She was always right up there at the top and a great inspiration to all involved in the sport in Galway to see her make such an impressive mark on the European stage.

Well done Alanna! And well done to her parents Clodagh and Dave who travel the country and continent with her. And well done to her current coaches in UCD and to her former coaches and clubmates in GCH.

A video of the race is here for anyone that wants to catch it https://youtu.be/d1w4GngDS50.

Alanna pictured below receiving the trophy for the most successful school at the Irish Schools Track & Field Championships in 2010, pictured with Craughwell athletes Jessica Heneghan, Claire Ryder, Sinead Gaffney and Maria McNamara.

Summer Camp

Well time is almost upon us again Week One of Summer camp starts on Monday next 17th July. Thanks to all those who have already sent in their bookings. Places are filling up but we still have availability for anyone who is still interested in joining us for aweek of fun.

The camp proves to be very enjoyable and is a great place to learn new activities and skills while having fun. Lots of new friends to make, and a chance to spend time with friends we haven't seen in some time. All this with hopefully good weather promises to make for a good week of fun, enjoyment and learning.

Please arrive a little earlier than 9.30am on Monday to allow for registration and allow the day of fun to begin as soon as possible. There will be the opportunity to register on the day for those who haven't managed to get forms in before the day.

Please remember to pack following items for all camp attendees 

Healthy packed lunch, (we usually have 2 short breaks) Tracksuit or shorts depending on the weather, Runners, Hat, A light rain jacket (just in case) Please apply suncream prior to arrival if the day proves to be bright and sunny.  

Just a quick note re August Camp 

I am aware that the Bank Holiday is later than usual and that we have Camp arranged for that week. Camp will commence on the Bank Holiday Monday and run to the Friday as was advertised. 

If anybody requires an application form or further information, I can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 087 9390366.

Athletes Take Six Medals at National Finals!

A super weekend of action at the National juvenile finals in Tullamore saw many brilliant performances and personal bests, six of which resulted in National podium finishes for some of our super athletes.

Evan Hallinan put in an amazing series of jumps in the U13 Boys high jump commencing with a first-time clearance of 1.35m and culminating with a first-time clearance of 1.56m to take the National title and in the process equal the U13 National record in this event. Only a handful of athletes in the club have set or equalled National records and it is an incredibly impressive achievement to jump or equal the highest jump ever by an athlete of the same age in the National Championships.

Chloe Casey was in 4th place in the U16 Girls discus after 3 throws with a best of 26.34m and went on to smash this on her 5th throw with a powerful 28.61m. Chloe’s throw eclipses the previous club junior record held by Emma Urquhart for this event and also the club senior record held by Sarah Finnegan. And continuing the club’s success in the throws, Niamh Duffy heaved the 2kg shot putt out to an impressive 8.64m in the U12 Girls event to add the National outdoor silver to her bronze medal from the National indoors. Also in the silver medals, Jade Moorhead had a magnificent series of jumps in the U13 Girls high jump to clear 1.45m and take the silver medal, a huge improvement for Jade in this event having placed 12th in the National indoors with a best of 1.30m.

And in the U18 Girls pole vault, Ciana Reidy leaped an impressive 2.40m to take the bronze medal in an event that Ciana only took up this year. The weekend concluded with a fantastic bronze medal for Lukas Schukat in the U14 Boys high jump where he leaped a splendid 1.58m to claim bronze in stiff competition, a new PB and an age group record within the club and Lukas’ second time on the National podium having medalled as an U12 indoors in 2015. It was a great weekend for Lukas having earlier placed 8th in the U14 long jump with 4.73m. And hard luck to Aughagower’s Thomas Gannon who placed 4th in the high jump and was just pipped for a medal by Lukas but in the true spirit of sportsmanship, both he and his mum/coach Breffni warmly congratulated Lukas after the event.

Ciana Reidy bronze medalist in U18 Girls Pole Vault pictured with 
silver medalist Ciara Hickey (Blarney/Inniscara AC) and gold medalist Clodagh Walsh (Abbey Striders AC)

There were further impressive performances in the U14 boys hurdles where Conor Hoade and Robert Urquhart both made the final of the U14 75m hurdles with Conor racing to 4th place in a time of 11.89 and Robert taking 8th place in a time of 12.33 and both boys breaking the club’s age group record for this event.

Ben Garrard was another in fine form with a tactical 2.02.54 in the heats of the U19 800m to take the 3rd automatic qualification spot and went on to place 5th in the final with an impressive 2.01.82 only 2 hours later. Laura Cunningham had a good series of jumps in the U18 Girls long jump to place 6th with a best of 4.74m while Lorraine Delaney placed 9th with a best of 4.67m, Shauna Tobin 10th with a best of 4.27m and Arlene Earls 11th with a best of 4.08m. Arlene went on later to record a fine 2.32.38 when taking 9th place in the final of the U18 Girls 800m. Siona Lawless made it into the final rounds of the U17 Girls long jump where she placed 7th with a best of 4.65m.

Ellie Cronin took 5th place in the U15 girls high jump with a clearance of 1.50m and later placed 11th in the long jump with 4.37m. Garvin Surlis placed 7th in the U16 Boys Triple Jump with 9.85m and 9th in the long jump with 4.84m. Kyle Moorhead had a brilliant run to take 8th place in the final of the U16 Boys 800m in a time of 2.11.59 only a fraction of a second away from his PB while Oisin Lyons raced to a 2.03.17 to take 7th place in in the heats of the U18 800m.

There were many more fine performances over the 2 days including Elisha Larkin 6th in the heats of the U15 100m in 13.52; James Furey 10th in the U15 javelin with 21.02; Liam McDonagh 10th in the U14 javelin with 29.64 and Oisin Keane 13th with 28.27; Saoirse Moore 12th in the U14 high jump with 1.30 and Saoirse Pierce 14th with 1.25; Rebecca Lynch 11th in the U14 long jump with 4.38 and 13th in the javelin with 20.04; Hannah Hynes 11th in the U14 discus with 15.73m; Cian Lavan 6th in the heats of the U13 hurdles in a PB time of 11.17 and 16th in the high jump with 1.25; Calvin Ryan 15th in the U13 high jump with 1.30; Aoibhe Fahy 15th in the U13 shot putt with 6.94 and unlucky to foul her throws in the U13 javelin; Jade Moorhead 16th in the U13 long jump with 3.14m; Chloe Hallinan 10th in the U12 long jump with 3.91 and Grace Lynch 16th with 3.20; Izzy Fitzgerald 16th in U12 high jump with 1.10; Niamh Duffy 7th in the heats of the U12 60m in 9.12; Evan Moran 10th in the U12 long jump with 3.83 and 16th in the high jump with 1.20 and 6th in the heats of the 60m in 8.90; Eddie Silke 13th in the final of the U12 600m in a time of 1.55.24.

Callum Holly RIP

The club wishes to express its deepest deepest sympathies to the parents, relatives, friends, classmates, club-mates and coaches of Callum Holly who died tragically at the weekend. Callum was a member of Athenry Juvenile AC and Predator Triathlon Club and many of our members would know him through school and through sport. May he rest in peace. Funeral arrangements are on rip.ie.

Craughwell AC Teams Battle Hard in National Relays

U19 Girls 4x400m Relay - 5th place in National finals
Dearbhaile Walsh, Arlene Earls, Ciana Reidy, Shauna Tobin

Another day of National relay finals and another day of tough battles and close shaves. No medals on this occasion but some marvellous runs from our brilliant teams pitted against the best in Ireland - this year in Athlone IT, a switch from their usual Tullamore venue. 

The club entered the National finals of the U18 and U19 Girls 4x400m relays for the first time in its history with a mostly U18 squad. The U18s in action first where they set a new club senior record of 4.21.87 when placing 6th in their final with the team of Caoilin Milton, Arlene Earls, Lorraine Delaney and Laura Cunningham. Later the U19 Girls team raced to a brilliant 5th place in their final in a time of 4.23.20 with the team of Arlene Earls, Dearbhaile Walsh, Shauna Tobin and Ciana Reidy. The 400s knocked the wind out of the girls a little for their 4x100s but they gamely took to the track again placing 5th in the final of the U19 Girls 4x100m in 53.03 with Aoife Walsh, Dearbhaile Walsh, Caoilin Milton and Laura Cunningham and 4th in the final of the U18 Girls 4x100m with the same line-up with Lorraine Delaney in place of U19 Dearbhaile Walsh.

U18 Girls 4x100m – 4th in the National finals
Arlene Earls, Aoife Walsh, Caoilin Milton, Laura Cunningham, Lorraine Delaney, Shauna Tobin

U19 Girls 4x100m – 5th in the National finals
Aoife Walsh, Dearbhaile Walsh, Caoilin Milton, Laura Cunningham
U18 Girls 4x400m – 6th in the National finals
Lorraine Delaney, Caoilin Milton, Arlene Earls, Shauna Tobin, Laura Cunningham

U16 Girls - 7th place in the National 4x100m finals
Chloe Farragher, Chloe Casey, Freya Bohan and Aleisha Larkin

The U16 girls team of Chloe Casey, Freya Bohan, Chloe Farragher and Aleisha Larkin ran brilliantly to place 4th in their heat in a time of 52.96 and qualify for the final where they placed 7th in a time of 53.34. The U15 Girls 4x100m saw two Craughwell teams in action with the teams just missing out on qualification for the final. The team in heat 1 ran an exceptional time of 52.07 to place 6th in their heat only 0.18s from qualification with their team of Chloe Farragher, Aleisha Larkin, Ailbhe Folan and Ava Finn – a superb time for an U15 team. While the team in heat 2 also ran an impressive time of 53.77 to place 4th in their heat with Emma Jane Moran, Aoife Walsh, Ornaith Coen and Aine Kelly. The U15 boys team of Lughaigh Morgan, Paschal Walsh, Robert Urquhart and Oisin Davis ran strongly to place 5th in their heat in a great time of 52.19. In the U14 boys 4x100m, the Craughwell team ran a fine race to place 4th in the heat in a time of 55.83 and went on to place 8th in the final in a time of 56.91 with the team of Conor Hoade, Kieran O'Connor, Lukas Schukat and Liam McDonagh. The U12 girls 4x100m ran strongly to place in 6th in their heat with Grace Keaveney, Chloe Hallinan, Niamh Duffy and Isabella Boland while the U12 boys placed 4th in their heat in a time of 59.25 with Evan Moran, Adam Jordan, Eddie Silke and Eoin Spelman.

U15 Girls and Boys Relay Squads at the National finals in Athlone

Craughwell AC U12 Boys Relay Team at the National finals in Athlone

Craughwell AC U12 Girls Relay Team at the National finals in Athlone

National Bronze for Jerry and Sinead!

It was another successful day at National level yesterday for both Jerry Keary and Sinead Treacy when both athletes claimed bronze in their respective events with Jerry clearing 1.95m to take the bronze in the Junior Men’s High Jump and Sinead leaping 4.95m to take the bronze in the U23 Women’s Long Jump. Indeed, Jerry went ever so close to clearing 2.00m for the second week in a row, a leap that would have yielded the silver medal while Sineád’s long jump is almost back to its brilliant best only inches from going over the 5m mark.

Also in action, Ben Garrard battled hard in the heats of the Junior Men’s 800m to place 5^th in his heat in 2.02, fractionally losing out on a place in the final but great experience in preparation for his own U19 800m race next weekend.

Ben Battles it out in the World Mountain Running Championships

We all thought it was hot in Santry on Saturday, but by 10.00am in the Italian mountains, temperatures had soared to 34°C! Even sitting in temperatures this hot; is exhausting, one can only imagine the affects on the body when you have to run a 5k distance and run a significant part of it, uphill.

According to Ben (Ryan), it was an incredibly fast start to this race, with the first 200m covered in 30 secs; which you can liken to a 2 minute 800m pace. After the first lap Ben held a very strong comfortable position somewhere in the middle of the pack. Embarking on the second lap, he decided to give it his all and charge forward, overtaking several runners which left him at the end of the 2nd lap amongst the top 20 runners. This was a remarkable achievement demonstrating Ben's strength of character and motivation to ignore the feelings of fatigue attributable to the extreme temperatures. Unfortunately although the risk paid off, in him gaining signifcant places, it also meant that it led to him missing out on an all important water station and necessary hydration stop. The combination of the heat and dehydration resulted in Ben collapsing with a mere 1500m to go.

Speaking to his family after the race, they recounted how devastated Ben was not to have been able to finish the race, with such a short distance to go. Shortly after the race he indicated that he would "never" run in that heat again.

It was only later on that day speaking from the hotel Jacuzzi that Ben was able to reflect on the fantastic experiences he had gained and the benefits of such experiences going forward. He is now looking forward to the possibility of representing his country again. 

I am always amazed at how effortless our long distance runners make their races look and to add to the equation of long distances (in this instance) were steep hills and extraordinarily high temperatures. A fantastic achievement Ben. Well done. 

National League Rounds Off Busy Week of Athletics

Some of Craughwell AC's athletes representing County Galway in the National League on Sunday
Lorraine Delaney, Jerry Keary, Jack Miskella, Ben Garrard, Gavin Cooney, Aoife Walsh

It was another bumper week of athletics with competition ranging from the local Christy Kennedy Sports held in Craughwell NS on Wednesday to the Sligo County Sports in Sligo IT the same evening to the National U9-11 Track & Field finals in Tullamore on Saturday to the inter-provincial Taillteann Games in Santry on Sunday and finally on to Round 1 of the National League held in Athlone IT on Sunday. A busy busy week!

The Christy Kennedy Sports saw teams competing from local primary schools including Ballyglas, Ballymana, Carrabane, Coldwood, Clarinbridge, Craughwell and Killeeneen. Craughwell NS emerged victorious in the larger schools competition with Ballyglas NS taking the honours in the event for smaller schools. Later that day at the Sligo City Sports, Ben Garrard and Gavin Cooney put in a blistering start in their 800m race going through the bell in 59 seconds with Ben holding on to place 5th in a new PB time of 2.00.35 and Gavin fading slightly towards the end to cross the line in 2.07.50.

Saturday saw our U9 to U11 athletes battle for National honours in Tullamore with many fine performances and close shaves with long jump duo Ben Moran and Dara Zimmerer claiming a fantastic silver medal in the U10 boys’ event and heroic performances from all of our young athletes on the National stage. See separate report from Tracy for full details. Full results are on Athletics Ireland website.

Also on Saturday in Santry, a number of our secondary school athletes were in action in the Taillteann Games which are an inter-provincial schools competition with teams selected from the best performers in the schools track and field earlier in June. Oisin Lyons ran a brilliant PB of 2.01.65 in the Boys 800m to place 6th amongst top-class opponents while Chloe Casey threw a massive 29.02cm to place 5th in the Girls Discus and heaved the shot putt out to 12.37m to take 5th place – strong performances from Chloe who is young enough again for this age group next year. Siona Lawless ran strongly on the Connacht 4x100m relay time that placed 4th in a time of 51.36.

Sunday saw Round 1 of the National League take place in Athlone IT where the club had several athletes in action on the Galway mens and womens teams. With a nice blend of youth and experience on both teams, the teams put in some terrific performances with the women’s team leading the Premier League team rankings after round 1 and the men’s team in 5th place in Division 1. For the men’s team Jerry Keary led the way with a PB-equalling 2m clearance in the high jump and followed it up with a 23.73 time to take 4th place in the 200m in addition to anchoring the Galway 4x100m to 5th place in a time of 45.78. Peter O’Sullivan ran an impressive 4.16.91 to take 3rd spot in the 1500m while Ben Garrard took 2nd place in the 800m in 2.00.51 and Gavin Cooney close behind in 5th in a time of 2.05.19. Gavin earlier ran 55.98 to place 5th in the 400m and later in the day combined with Ben Garrard, Jack Miskella and Athenry’s Ryan McNeilis to take 5th place in the 4x400m in a time of 3.42.28. Kevin Mooney placed 7th on his track debut in the 5000m in a time of 17.10.60, with Jack Miskella in 9th place.

In the women’s events, Maeve Curley made a welcome comeback to the track with victory in the 1500m walk in a time of 7.18.84 while Sarah Finnegan took victory in the triple jump with a leap of 9.82m and took 3rd place in the 100m hurdles in a time of 18.76. In the jumps, Lorraine Delaney took 3rd place in the high jump with a leap of 1.45m while Aoife Walsh took 4th place in the pole vault with a clearance of 1.80m and Siona Lawless placed 5th in the long jump with a best of 4.78m. Rachel Finnegan was 4th in the 400m hurdles in 1.10.47 while Sinead Treacy took 5th place in the 200m in 26.57 having earlier anchored the Galway 4x100m team to an impressive victory in a time of 50.33.

Results of individual performances in the league are here: men women

Superstars Shine in All Ireland's

What a great show of talent amongst our U9/U11 athletes yesterday in the All Irelands Championships.

We go along to enjoy the day and hope for PB's, which in all cases when pitched against the "best" in Ireland our kids certainly gave it their all..

Our boys Ben/Dara missed out on bronze by a 8/100th of a second to place 4th (60m ) in Ireland; however, they were rewarded in the long jump by winning the Silver medal... The 2nd BEST in Ireland.!!!!! Dean and Sean jumped out of their skins to place 4th overall in Ireland...a massive achievement with massive improvements since the Galways!  Sean and Joseph threw the turbo brilliantly in what was an expert field! 

Alex and Keelan were also pitched against the fastest 500m runners and they held their own, never giving up right until the second they cross the line....always a  tough race !

Best of Luck to Ben Ryan in the International Youth Cup in Italy this weekend