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Jack Miskella Breaks Club 800m Record!

Jack leading the way from John Cormican and Gavin Cooney in the Galway Senior 800m recently
(picture courtesy of Leonardo Brûlé) 

An amazing year continued for Jack Miskella last Saturday at the IMC Le Cheile meet in Leixlip. Having dipped under 2 minutes for the first time only a week ago with a 1.59.70 in the Galway Senior Track & Field, Jack absolutely blasted his PB away by more than 2 seconds when recording 1.57.47 in a gritty race.

Feeling the pressure with 200m to go, a lane opened up for Jack as people vied for position entering the home straight and despite being in anguish, he went for the gap and hit the accelerator for the last 100m for a fantastic time.

Jack being presented with a training grant of €100 by Club PRO Mike Tobin
in recognition of his selection for the Irish Universities International against Scotland recently

Jack’s time was not just a PB but also a club record, just pipping the time of 1.57.96 set by Damien O’Boyle in 2015.  Jack becomes part of an elite group of 6 athletes who have broken the 2 minute barrier on 1 or more occasions indoors or outdoors. The following are those who have achieved the feat either indoors or outdoors :-

At the same Le Cheile meet, Sinead Gaffney recorded an impressive 2:21.29 to come close to breaking her own club record of 2:20.43 set in 2017. The female equivalent of a sub-2 minute 800m is breaking 2:25 as per the IAAF scoring tables. The numbers of girls in the club achieving that elite feat is slightly less than the lads but equally impressive with Sinead heading both the indoor and outdoor tables and Arlene and Fauve lurking in the shadows to take her crown!

Sinead on her way to victory in the Galway Senior 1500m 
(picture courtesy of Leonardo Brûlé) 

Craughwell AC Retain Galway Senior League Title!

Mark Davis and the King of the Track Gerry Ryan pictured
at the Galway Senior T&F Championships along with Castlegar AC's Shane Begley
following Gerry's National record-breaking run in the men's 10000m

The final two days of the Galway Senior Track & Field took place over the last two Thursdays in Dangan. Craughwell AC trailed GCH by six points after day 1 but managed to overhaul the deficit on day 2. The reduced program on day 3 comprised 10,000m, mile and hammer for both male and female categories and sprint time trials over 120m and 300m. 

The third and final day saw Craughwell AC and GCH entering the day tied on 181 points at the top of the league table, with Craughwell AC’s title on the line which the club had won at the inaugural Galway Senior League last year. Incredible team spirit saw the club pull victory out of the bag, inspired by the return to action of the ageless Gerry Ryan who donned the green and white singlet after a few years absence on the track to record an incredible 33:25.31 and take the victory in the Men’s 10000m with Mark Davis 2nd in 34:45.36.

Gerry’s time is one that men half his age would be proud of and is a new Irish record in the over-55 men’s master category, knocking an incredible 82 seconds off the previous record held by Dublin’s legendary Jim McNamara.

Full results of the team scoring are here:- team results. And some super photos (including the one of Jerry/Mark above and Gavin below) from John O'Connor day 3 and from Leonardo Brûlé day1 and day2.

Gavin Cooney being presented with the Tim Colleran Cup 
by County Chairman Brian Bruton following his victory in Senior Men's Mile
at the Galway Track & Field Championships

Gavin Cooney raced to victory in the Senior Men’s Mile to claim the inaugural Tim Colleran Cup in a time of 4:52.56 and followed it up immediately with bronze in the Senior Men’s 300m in 40.47. Ailbhe Miskella took gold in the Junior Women’s Mile in 5:56.01 with Ciara Sheppard 2nd in 6:23.66. Noel Gorman took bronze in the M35 Men’s Mile with 6:07.00.

Sinead Treacy took gold in the Senior Women’s 120m in 15.73 and added silver in the 300m in 41.14. Aubrey O’Brien took silver in the Junior Men’s 120m in 14.89 while Colm McAllen added valuable points for the team with silver in the M35 Men’s Hammer with 12.72m. 

Sinead Gaffney and Sinead Treacy after their 300m
at the Galway Senior Track & Field Championships in Dangan

Below is a recap of the the second day of the Senior Track & Field which took place in Dangan a week earlier where Craughwell AC again excelled across a range of events.

Jack Miskella’s silver in the Senior Mens 800m was one of the highlights of the meet when breaking the 2 minute barrier for the first time in 1:59.70 with John Cormican hot on his heels to take the bronze in a 2:00.24 PB. Sarah Finnegan took double gold in the Senior Womens triple jump (9.29) and discus (12.54). Aisling Keady took gold in the Senior Womens Weight for Distance (3.63) while Sinead Gaffney raced to silver in the 800m in 2:26.04. In the Masters grades, Gerry Treacy took gold in the O50 200m in 35.73, while Cormac Kearney took gold in the O35 high jump with an impressive leap of 1.45. Brendan Treacy took silver in the O50 5000m in 24:31.43.

Top 3 in the Womens High Jump at the Galway Senior Track & Field Championships
Ciana Reidy (2nd), Ellie Cronin (1st), Freya Bohan (3rd)

In the Junior grades, Jerry Keary took gold in the Mens high jump (1.85) with Daniel Callanan-Forde doing likewise in the triple jump (11.50). Leanagh Gilligan took gold in the Womens triple jump (9.51) and Eva Whyte 2nd with a leap of 8.34. Freya Bohan won the Womens 800m in her first time over the 2-lap distance in 2:41.45. The club took a clean sweep in both the Junior Women’s high jump and 3000m with Ellie Cronin leading the way with 1.55 in the high jump followed by Ciana Reidy (1.45) and Freya Bohan (1.25) and Ailbhe Miskella taking the gold in the 3k in 11:33.94 with Ciara Sheppard 2nd in 12:26.16 and Catherine Noonan 3rd in 13:24.15. Ava Finn took silver in the women’s 200m in 29.68, with Aubrey O’Brien doing likewise in the men’s event in 26.07.

Top 3 in the Junior Womens 3000m
Ailbhe Miskella (1st), Ciara Sheppard (2nd) and Catherine Noonan (3rd)

Craughwell dominated the relays taking the gold medal in all four relays – Womens 4x100m (53.45) - Sarah Finnegan, Aisling Keady, Ava Finn and Sinead Treacy; Mens 4x100m (46.25) – Aubrey O’Brien, Jerry Keary, Daniel Callanan-Forde and Conor Duggan; Women’s 4x400m (4:14.04) – Freya Bohan, Sinead Gaffney, Ciana Reidy and Sinead Treacy; men’s 4x400m (3:38.04) – Conor Duggan, Jack Miskella, John Cormican and Gavin Cooney. The club also took gold and bronze in the O35 Men’s 4x100m with Cormac Kearney, Ronnie Warde, John Walkin and Conor Dunne 1st in a time of 48.93 and Gerry Treacy, John Ward, John Fitzpatrick and Noel Gorman 3rd in 63.33 and adding a 2nd bronze in the 4x400 in 5:07.38.

Galway Senior Men's 4x100m Champions 2019
Craughwell AC's Aubrey O’Brien, Conor Duggan, Daniel Callanan-Forde, Jerry Keary

Galway Senior Women's 4x100m Champions 2019
Craughwell AC's Sarah Finnegan, Sinead Treacy, Aisling Keady, Ava Finn

Galway O35 Men's 4x100m Champions 2019
Craughwell AC's Ronnie Warde, Cormac Kearney, Conor Dunne, John Walkin

Galway O35 Men's 4x100m and 4x400m Bronze Medalists 2019
Gerry Treacy, John Ward, John Fitzpatrick, Noel Gorman, Colm McAllen

Galway Senior Women's 4x400m Champions 2019
Craughwell AC's Sinead Treacy, Sinead Gaffney, Freya Bohan, Ciana Reidy

Galway Senior Men's 4x400m Champions 2019
Craughwell AC's Jack Miskella, Conor Duggan, Gavin Cooney, John Cormican

Solid Performances at Irish Schools T&F

Ross McGuinness, Patrick Noonan and Kyle Moorhead soak up the atmosphere at
the Irish Schools Track & Field in Tullamore

Several athletes from the club journeyed to Tullamore to battle for honours at the National finals of the Secondary Schools Track and Field  on Saturday 1st June. There were no medals on the day but some fine performances including Sean Cotter (Calasancius Oranmore) 5th place in the Inter Boys 3000m in 9:16.18; Fauve Aylmer (St Raphaels) 6th place in the Junior Girls 800m in 2:27.24; Kyle Moorhead (Pres Athenry) 6th in the Inter Boys 1500m Steeplechase in 4:52.74; Gerry Keary (Galway Technical Institute) 7th place in the Senior Boys high jump with a leap of 1.85; Ella Lyons (Pres Athenry) 7th in the Minor Girls 75m hurdles in 12.51 and 11th in the long jump with 4.27; Jade Moorhead (Pres Athenry) 8th in the Junior Girls high jump with 1.45; Sophie O’Brien (Coláiste Bhaile Chláir) 9th in the Inter Girls high jump with 1.45; Evan Quinn (St. Brigids) 9th in the Minor Boys long jump with 4.77; Leanagh Gilligan (St. Brigids) 9th in the Senior Girls long jump with 4.84 and Eva Whyte (Calasanctius) 11th with 4.27 and both girls later placing 10th (Leanagh 9.92) and 11th (Eva 8.62) in the triple jump.

Sophie O'Brien, Siofra Davis and Jade Moorhead competing in the high jump
at the Irish Schools Track & Field in Tullamore

Order of Events for Connachts U9-13s June 8th

Timetable for day 2 of Galway Senior T&F

Galway Track and Field Championships 2019

Day 2 programme
Thursday 30th May, Dangan

Order of events from 7pm

Track

7.10 400m Hurdles
7.20 3000m (Ladies) 
7.40 5000m (Men) 
8.10 200m
8.25 800m 
8.40 4 x 100m relay 
8.50 4 x 400m relay

Field 
Jumps –

7.05 High jump

7.45 Triple jump

Throws-

7.15 Discus,

7.45 Weight for distance

Order- Ladies events followed by Men

Categories Junior, Senior, Masters O35, O50, O65 
Clubs entry via email
Guests ( AAI reg ) 5 euro 
Limited on the night entry from 6.20

5km may have two heats if more than 20 check in

Ladies may run 5km with men , non championship

Events MAY run ahead of schedule listen to announcements!

€117K Grant Announced for Craughwell AC!

The club is absolutely delighted to learn yesterday that it has been awarded a LEADER grant of €117,000 towards the provision of a toilet block and community room on its 8-acre grounds adjacent to Craughwell national school.

Provision of toilets for our large membership is 1 of the priority needs of the club and this grant is a massive boost for the club’s ambitious development plans.

The grant is the second LEADER grant approved this year, with funding of €15,000 granted in January towards the recently completed perimeter walking pathway around our grounds.

The application for funding for the building was a more complicated process and the club had to go through a rigorous procurement process via the eTenders website. The club appreciates the diligence and assistance of the officials in both Galway Rural Development and the Department of Rural and Community Development and the work done by one of the parents in the club Kieran Quinn of Sean Dockery & Associates who steered the club through the procurement process.

The club are in the process of raising additional finance for the project – primarily in the form of a loan from Community Finance Ireland but also will be driving some fundraising towards it.

PLEASE SUPPORT OUR CLUB LOTTO

Parents are again encouraged to support our club Lotto which is a cornerstone of our facility funding. You can sign-up for as little as €20 which would leave your account every 10 weeks.

The club’s policy is to fund the development primarily with grants and debt – and our Lotto income is a key part of repaying that debt. The result is that we can provide facilities immediately to current members rather than fundraising for years and providing them when perhaps the children whose parents funded them have left the area.

CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT

The grant-aided building is not the only part of imminent development plans – the club has applied for a Sports Capital Grant for extending its sprint track into a J-track and all going well with the grant process, work would start on that early next year. The club also has a grant of €72,000 towards a 36x24m sportshall which it hopes to commence once the toilet block and community room project is complete.

Results of Day 1 Galway Senior T&F

Eva Whyte and Ava Finn who
placed 2nd and 1st in the Junior Women's Long Jump
at Day 1 of the Galway Senior Track & Field Championships in Dangan

Well done to all of our athletes who competed yesterday in the first day of the Galway Senior Track & Field.  Individual results are available online here.

After the first day of action,. the club lies second in the provisional team rankings on 73 points - only 6 points behind GCH. Provisional team rankings are here:- teamscores.d1.pdf. Let me know if any mistakes!

Day 2 takes place next Thurs 30th May with the following events:

• 3000m Women / 5000m Men
• 200m
• 800m
• 400m hurdles
• 4x100m
• 4x400m
•  High jump
• Triple jump
• Discus
• Weight for distance

International Call-Up for Jack Miskella!

Best of luck to Jack Miskella who competes in his first Irish international this weekend in Antrim. Jack was selected for the Irish Universities team that will be taking on Scotland on Saturday in the annual international track & field meet between the 2 countries.

He becomes the 22nd athlete to come through the juvenile ranks of the club and gain selection for international duty. To represent your country in any sport is one of the highest honours a sportsperson can aspire to so well done Jack on a fabulous achievement.

Sometimes when people hear of international selection, they don’t realize the effort and commitment it takes to get to that level.  Jack started running first way back in primary school where the earliest record on our website (the history of the club!) shows him placing 72^nd in the 3^rd/4^th class 800m at the Galway Primary Schools Cross Country finals in 2008. The followed year he ran 2.19.96 in the U12 Boys 600m at the Connacht  Indoors 2009 and placed 91^st in the 5^th/6^th class 1000m at the Galway Primary Schools Cross Country finals in 2009 and 98^th in 2010. 

Jack won’t mind me saying his primary school performances didn’t set any headlines and he is in good company ... as I can recall listening to an interview with 1 of Ireland’s greatest ever milers Marcus O’Sullivan who won 3 World Indoor 1500m titles and became the first man to run 100 sub-4 minute miles but says that when in first year in Secondary School he was considered too small and not good enough to be selected for his school’s cross country team.

Jack dropped the sport in secondary school but took it back up in TY year and has made mind-blowing improvements since then and is posed to break the 2 minute barrier for 800m any day soon plus the 4 minute barrier for the 1500m.

Most of the 736 participants in the recent 5k Series race held in Craughwell can testify to Jack's talent as they watched his back fade into the distance when he blazed to victory in the men’s race in an exceptional time of 16:37. His obvious talent for middle and long distance running is honed by incredible dedication to training and his international selection is a very well-deserved recognition of this.

Well done Jack!

Timetable for tonight's Galway T&F

Galway Senior, Masters and Junior Track and Field Championships

Thursday May 23rd ,
Dangan , NUI Galway track
TIMETABLE

Athletes Shine at National Senior League

County Galway Women's team who contested Round 1 of the
Premier Division of the National Athletics League at the weekend
Back row: Leanagh Gilligan , Ailbhe Miskella, Ellie Cronin, Mary Barrett, Laura Nally,
Nicole Walsh, Maeve Curley, Rachel Finnegan, Sarah Finnegan (manager)
Front row: Freya Bohan, Aoibhinn Farrell, Aisling Joyce, Sinead Gaffney, Aisling Keady, Lydia Doyle
(missing from photo Arlene Earls and Caoimhe Kelleher)

Several athletes from the club represented County Galway in round 1 of the National Senior League held in Templemore on Sunday. There were many impressive performances from Craughwell AC athletes on both the Galway women’s team in the Premier Division and the Galway men’s team in Division 1 with the women's team topping the Premier Division table at the end of the day and the men's team in 3rd place in Division 1.

The women’s team was managed by Craughwell AC’s Sarah Finnegan and included the following athletes from the club - Ailbhe Miskella (3000m steeplechase), Aisling Keady (long jump and 4x100m), Arlene Earls (4x400m), Ellie Cronin (high jump), Freya Bohan (javelin, 4x100m and 400m), Leanagh Gilligan (long jump and triple jump), Maeve Curley (race walk), Rachel Finnegan (400m hurdles), Sarah Finnegan (100m hurdles and triple jump) and Sinead Gaffney (800m and 4x400m).

The men’s team was managed by Castlegar AC's Sean McDermott and included the following athletes from the club - Ben Garrard (400m, 800m and 4x400m), Daniel Callanan (long jump, triple jump and 4x100m), Gavin Cooney (800m and 4x400m), Jack Miskella (1500m and 4x400m), Jerry Keary (high jump and 4x100m), Kyle Moorhead (3000m steeplechase), Ronnie Warde (200m and 4x100m) and William Fitzgerald (5000m).

There were many fine performances from both teams throughout the day. Most notable fro Craughwell AC on the day was the club record of 13.20.61 set by Ailbhe Miskella in the 3000m steeplechase despite a fall on the first time through the water jump, and a very good early season run by Sinead Gaffney coming close to her own club senior record with a time of 2:21.32. Full results are below:

• Premier Women
• Division 1 Men
  
  

i will update this article later today with a more detailed report.

Superb Performances at Connacht Schools T&F

Pres Athenry's Sean Noonan in action in the Senior Boys 800m
at the Connacht Schools Track & Field in Athlone

Athletes from the club enjoyed tremendous success at the Connacht Secondary Schools Track & Field Championships which were held last Thursday in Athlone. While official results are not yet available, the following provides a summary. I will up date when official results are made available and in the meantime if anyone is missed or incorrectly reported below, please let me know.

The race of the day was the Intermediate Boys 3000m where Calasanctius’ Sean Cotter just pipped Pres Athenry’s Ross McGuinness on the line with both athletes recording an impressive time of 9:36, while Leanagh Gilligan (St Brigids) was also very impressive with a 5.35m leap to win the Senior Girls long jump, a big PB for Leanagh and the second best jump ever by a female athlete in the club only marginally behind Sinead Treacy’s club record of 5.44m set in 2015. Leanagh followed it up with a fine 10.58m leap to win the triple jump. Ryan Gallagher (St Raphaels) leaped an impressive 5.97m to take silver in the senior long jump while Jerry Keary (GTI) made a welcome return to action to take silver in the senior high jump with a 1.85m leap. Patrick Noonan (Pres Athenry) posted 4:29 to take 4th place in the senior 1500m while Calasanctius’ Eva Whyte took a brace of medals with silver in the Senior Girls triple jump with 8.98m and bronze in the long jump with 4.25m. Arlene Earls (St. Brigids) and Catherine Noonan (Pres Athenry) also claimed bronze in their events with Arlene in the 800m and Catherine in the 3000m. Sean Noonan (Pres Athenry) raced to a fine time of 2:10 in the Senior Boys 800m. 

St Raphaels' Ryan Gallager who won the silver medal with an impressive 5.97m 
in the Senior Boys long jump at the Connacht Schools Track & Field in Athlone

In the Intermediate grade, Kyle Moorhead (Pres Athenry) raced to double glory in the 1500m steeplechase in a fine debut time of 4:50 and in the 800m in 2:11 while Luke Burke (Pres Athenry) claimed silver in the long jump. St Brigids’ Lauren McNally took the Connacht title in the javelin with an impressive 24.75m while Aoife Kelly (Pres Athenry) went over 9m to take silver in the triple jump with 9.18m. Aleisha Larkin (St Raphaels) took silver in the long jump with a leap of 4.76m followed by Sophie O'Brien (Coláiste Bhaile Chláir) in 4th place with 4.55m. Sophie later took silver in the high jump with a 1.45m clearance.  Ciara Sheppard (Calasanctius) recorded a solid 5:50 in the Intermediate Girls 1500m

The junior grade saw impressive high jumping with Pres Athenry duo Jade Moorhead and Evan Hallinan taking the Connacht titles with leaps of 1.50m and 1.55m, while Evan also claimed a second title in the triple jump with 10.40m and Jade raced to 4th place in the 200m. Fauve Aylmer (St Raphaels) took the Connacht title at her ease in the 800m with a 2:28 time while Siofra Davis (Pres Athenry) claimed double bronze in the high jump (1.45m) and in the 75m hurdles. Ryan McDonnell (St Brigids) posted a massive PB of 4.98m to take 4th place in the long jump.

Pres Athenry's Leonore Church and Jade Moorhead, Minor and Junior Girls High Jump Champions
,and Sophie O'Brien (Coláiste Bhaile Chláir) Intermediate Girls High Jump silver medalist 
at the Connacht Schools Track & Field

In the minor grade, Pres Athenry’s Leonore Church was in sublime form when taking the Connacht title with a 1.50m clearance while Evan Quinn (St Brigids) was also in top form when taking the Connacht title in the Minor Boys long jump. Ella Lyons (Pres Athenry) completed a fine day for athletes from the club with double bronze in the 75m hurdles and in the long jump with a 4.28m leap.

Review of cracking day 2 at Galway T&F

Alana Grogan (U15 Girls 2k Walk Champion), Tara Morgan (U14 Girls Javelin bronze medalist)
and Aoibhe Fahy (U15 Girls Javelin Champion) at the Galway Championships in Dangan

A little late in getting this report up. Craughwell AC had another marvelous day of track and field at day 2 of the Galway Championships in Dangan where the U13 to U19 age groups were in action on SUnday 12th May.

Ellie Cronin was the star performer on the day with triple gold medals in the U16/17 Girls high jump, 100m hurdles and 250m hurdles as well as silver in the 4x100m relay. It was a good day also for Freya Bohan with double gold in the U18/19 Girls javelin and shot putt and double silver in the 100m and 400m, and for Saoirse Pierce who won the U16/17 250m hurdles in a tight battle as well as silver in the high jump in a PB of 1.50m. Additionally several athletes secured championship best performances when taking the Galway titles in their events including Darragh Kelly in the U13 Boys high jump with a leap of 1.57m to break the previous record of 1.45m jointly held by Evan Hallinan and Lukas Schukat, Ella Farrelly in the U13 Girls long jump with a leap of 4.38m to breaking the previous record of 4.30m held by Claire Ryder, Evan Hallinan in the U15 Boys triple jump with a leap of 10.80m to break the previous record of 10.01m held by Lukas Schukat, and Fauve Aylmer with a brilliant 5:08.98 to break the championship record in the U15 Girls 1500m and going on later to take the 800m title. Versatile Alisha Larkin leaped an impressive PB of 4.81m in the Long Jump to claim Silver and later added bronze in the 100m. Oisin Davis dictated the pace in a tightly grouped field in the u16/17 1500m on his way to win Gold in 4.36. Later in the day, Oisin added 800m Gold with a PB time of 2.08 in an exciting finish.

Read more: Review of cracking day 2 at Galway T&F