Home

Well done Sarah & Tom Finnegan!

Congratulations to Sarah and Tom Finnegan who received a Special Achievement Award at the Galway Athletics Awards ceremony held in the Meadowcourt at the weekend in recognition of Sarah's tireless work in coordinating the County Galway Senior Women's Track & Field league team for the past 10 years and Tom's work in officiating at the league events. It takes a huge amount of coordination to pull the team together with the logistics of athletes from different clubs and summer holidays and individual athletes own competition schedules. So well done Sarah and Tom!

Check out John O'Connor's excellent photos of the event at:- https://www.flickr.com/photos/edenhill77

Congratulations Laura - Galway U19 Athlete of the Year!

Laura pictured with her parents Tom and Lucy at the Awards ceremony

Congratulations to Craughwell AC’s Laura Cunningham who was awarded Galway U19 Athlete of the Year at the County Galway Athletics Awards ceremony held in the Meadowcourt at the weekend. The award marks an outstanding 2018 for Laura with 3 jumps medals in the National Juvenile Indoors in high jump, long jump and triple jump as well as 4x200m relay silver and she followed this up with the National outdoor title in the U19 Triple Jump as well 4th place in high jump and long jump and National relay medals in the U19 4x100m, U19 4x400m and U20 4x100m, an outstanding year by any standards.

Check out John O'Connor's excellent photos of the event at:- https://www.flickr.com/photos/edenhill77

Laura had an incredible 2018 with no less than seven National medals in the U19 grade at the National indoor and outdoor track and field finals. The indoor season saw her take a brace of silver medals with a 10.38m leap in the triple jump and a 1.55m clearance in the high jump, as well as a bronze in the long jump with a 4.87m leap. She copper-fastened a remarkable indoors when anchoring her club 4x200m relay team to National silver in an excellent 1.47.85. Earlier in the season, she had two 4th placed finishes at National level with 4th in the U20 Combined Events and in the U20 high jump. She was also a leading member of the Craughwell Womens team who won team bronze in the National Indoor League.

The outdoor season saw no let-up in Laura’s top-drawer performances culminating with winning the National U19 Girls Triple Jump title with a leap of 10.58m and two 4th placed finishes in the long jump and high jump. And for good measure, Laura ran the anchor leg for both the club’s 4x400m and 4x100m relay teams, winning silver in the 4x400m and bronze in the 4x100m.

Laura also set a new Galway Indoor Championship Best of 10.02 in the senior women’s triple jump and she continued this form into the outdoor season when repeating this achievement with a 10.90m leap in the U19 triple jump at the Galway Outdoors and added a CBP in the long jump with a 5.02m leap. She won numerous Galway and Connacht titles both indoors and outdoors as well as quadruple Connacht outdoor titles in triple jump, long jump, high jump and relay.

She was also the leading member of the club’s U20 Womens team who were the top club at the National U20 Track & Field Championships, thereby qualifying for the European Clubs Track & Field this year. Laura contested 5 events and the 4x100m relay, placing 4th in the high jump and javelin where she threw an impressive 26.07m and anchoring the relay to the bronze medals. Her willingness to push herself to her physical limits by competing in 7 different events was inspirational for her team.

Laura’s achievements in 2018 are remarkable, particularly winning 7 National track and field medals in the same age group – a rare and perhaps unique achievement in Co. Galway and one that makes her a very worthy recipient of Galway Athlete of the Year.

Timetables for National Juvenile Indoor T&F

Best of luck to all of our athletes competing at the National finals in Athlone this weekend and next weekend.

Timetabels for the 3 days are as follows:

• Saturday 30th March
  
  
• Sunday 31st March
  
  
• Saturday 6th April

Sean helps Ireland to Silver in Santry

With perfect conditions for distance running, the 2019 version of the SIAB International School’s cross country took place in Santry Demense on Saturday. It was a dry, mild day with good underfoot conditions creating the right environment for some fast races. The English Schools Team were expected to sweep the boards in the team races and did not disappoint with some incredibly strong performances over the course of the day.

Delighted Sean at the End

The most striking aspect of all the races was the intense pace that was set from the gun. The Intermediate Boys race over 6,000m presented a real challenge for the Irish athletes used to running 4.5K for their clubs. The Irish boys were told to expect the English team to run a steady first lap (1500m) and to push on from there but the tactics book was torn to shreds when the English team spearheaded by rising young star Mohamed Ali (yes!) dominated the early pace and lead the pack out with a blistering pace.

Sean digging deep in the middle section

Sean did well to stay in touch with a first 1500m lap in 4.26 but the pace being forced at the front soon splintered the field and the Irish runners re-grouped and worked together to stay in the race. Mohamed Ali took gold for England easing his way to a 18.07 time for the 6k course. He is certainly one to watch and has recently taken Mo Farah’s 1500 and 3,000m UK U15 all-time records.

First home for Ireland was Michael Morgan from Sligo who ran a great race to come in 5th continuing his recent fine form. With the lactic acid in the legs building from the midway point, Sean ran a very brave race to come in to score for the Irish team and helped secure a silver medal in the team event which was Ireland's best score of the day. Overall it was a great experience and Sean is very grateful for all the messages of support and encouragement from everyone in Craughwell AC. Particular thanks are due to Lisa and Mark for helping Sean fulfill his ambition to represent his club and country and he looks forward to flying the flag again in the not too distant future!

Tank emptied!

Sean with his Silver-winning Teammates - Ireland's best result of the day

Sean's Split times and pace for the ~1500m laps - FAST start!

Cotter Claims International Cap In Thrilling Schools Final

On a cold breezy sunny day in the spectacular Hogwort-esque environs of Clongowes Wood College, several Craughwell Athletes delivered outstanding performances for their Schools in the Intermediate Girls, Inter boys, Senior Girls and Senior boy's races. 

Intermediate Girls race: Emily has a breakthrough run!

Emily Miskella, representing Presentation College Athenry was the first of the Craughwell Athletes in action in the 3500m race.  Emily's consistent progress shows no sign of slowing, and she dug deep to deliver yet another breakthrough performance.  She drove out hard, and after 600m, her trademark pink headband could be spotted well up the field of almost 80 regional qualifiers.  As the kilometers ticked past, Emily continued to pick people off, moving from one cluster to the next as the race progressed.  In the end, she finished an amazing 18th place in the high quality field, the highest placed finisher of the day for the PCA.  This was another brilliant and richly deserved run from Emily who is still elligible to run in this category next year.

Intermediate Boys Race: Sean seals international Cap

Sean Cotter, representing Calasanctius produced the highlight of the day for Galway, and one of the great comeback stories of 2019.  I think it provides a good insight into running and planning in general!  Often the most interesting part about any race is the journey to the start line, and this one was a bumpy road!

In September 2018, Sean and dad Eoin sat down together and picked out a goal for his Junior Cert year, and this was it - to target the Schools Cross Country.  He started on a smart program carefully designed to help him peak for the event, with all races along the way just checkpoints.  During those checkpoint cross country races, Sean led his u16 and u17 teammates to Galway and Connacht golds, and an historic team Bronze in the National Cross Country at Abbotstown.  However, during the race in Abbotstown, Sean experienced severe pain and realized that what he had thought was a niggle in his hip was potentially something quite serious.  A trip to the physio afterwards confirmed his worst fears, and his season and perhaps even his running future appeared scuppered - devastating news for any young athlete and the carefully laid season plans were torn up there and then. 

Sean and family took the news onboard and embarked on a new plan. They consulted the best people about the injury and paid heed to the advice they received - after a few months of cross-training (principally swimming), Sean was back on the wagon jogging pain-free and armed with more information on the kinds of workout that will be right for him.  His aerobic fitness, maintained by the swimming, allowed him to come back quickly and he was able to line up feelng fresh and with nothing to lose on the startline in Clongowes last Saturday.  A completely different route to the start line than intended, but he got there!

The course was perfect, but narrow for long stretches, so it was still important to get a good position early.  In the Intermediate boys 5km-ish race, Sean slotted in beside the defending champion and pre-race favourite Michael Morgan at the start line.  When the gun went, he followed Morgan to the front of the field and defended his position fiercely.  Positions were traded in an attritional pace battle over the 3 long nearly two kilometer laps but in the end, Sean powered down the home straight for a magnificent 7th place and selection for the Irish team to compete in the Schools International in Santry on 23rd of this month.  Fantastic achievement by Sean and all his clubmates and coaches are just thrilled for him.

The Presentation College Athenry had a very strong team in the same race - Kyle Moorehead, Luke Burke, Ross McGuinness and Oisin Davis lined up for their school with realistic hope of a team medal.  The team was led home by Oisin Davis in 27th in a fine run, followed by Ross McGuinness in 42nd, Kyle Moorehead in 47th and Luke Burke who is coming back from a bad dose in 76th.  The Pres team came a narrow 6th place (1 point off 5th) out of the 11 teams - a very solid performance!  Team medals are a tricky thing to predict!  Their score would have medalled in many previous years but to medal this time, they each would have needed to finish 18 places further up - a tough ask!!

Senior Girls Race - Ailbhe has a Cracker!

Perhaps inspired by excitement of Emily's fine performance earlier, Ailbhe Miskella left it all on the course in a superb run.  She powered out early and pushed hard all the way on the fast 2500m effort, catching people all the way.  Ailbhe finished in 21st position, the second highest pres-Scorer of the day!  A brilliant run and delighted coach Lisa was left beaming from ear to muddy ear with pride - Lisa is not normally so muddy but she completed a tough mud run just before racing down to support her athletes! Well done to her on that!

Senior Boys Race: Patrick has a fine run
The final race of the day was a senior boys race of the highest standard and Patrick Noonan, representing PCA was the sole Craughwell Athlete.  The distance was supposed to be 6000m, but in reality I think it was quite a bit longer than that.  Ever brave, Patrick went out hard and as the relentless pace continued to crank up as the kilometers ticked past, I think he dropped a few positions - but not many!.  In the end he finished a brilliant 34th for a great run!

So ends another great Cross Country Season :(
And so, (aside from Sean who has his international job to do!) ends the long Cross Country Season of 2018/2019 which stretched from Castlegar to Clongowes.  A great season characterized by ups and downs, tears of joy and disappointment and superb results at all ages and for the most part remarkably dry weather.  Special thanks to all the many volunteers and the parents and kids that made it possible - I hope ye enjoyed it as much as we did!  

Upcoming National Indoor and Summer Outdoor Fixtures

The following is a rough breakdown of what events are on which day for the National juvenile indoors. Please consult pages 19, 21 and 21 of the AAI juvenile competition booklet for more information.

• Relays Sat 6 Apr
• 60m sprints Sat 30 Mar
• 60m hurdles Sun 31 Mar
• 200m Sun 31 Mar
• 400m Sat 30 Mar
• 6/800m Sun 31 Mar
• 1500m Sat 30 Mar
• Walk Sat 30 Mar
• Triple Jump Sat 6 Apr
• High Jump Sat/Sun 30/31 Mar
• Pole Vault Sat/Sun 30/31 Mar
• Long Jump All 3 days
• Shot Putt All 3 days

For the field events, consult your main coach or the juvenile competion booklet to see which days for which event.

Also I am getting some enquiries re juvenile outdoor track & field dates from some parents who are trying to plan holidays to avoid events. The following are the dates:

Galway:

• Sun 05-May-19 Dangan U8-12 Galway U9/10/11 T&F Teams and U8 and U12 T&F
• Sun 12-May-19 Dangan U13-U19 Galway U13-19 Outdoor Track & Field
• Sun 26-May-19 Dangan U9-11 Galway Juvenile B T&F
• Sun 26-May-19 Dangan U13/older Galway Combined Events

Notes:

• U8s is just 1 event - a development sprint.
• U9-11 pairs qualify for Connachts from Galways (top 3 pairs).
• Those not qualifying for Connachts can take part in Galway Juveile B competition on 26th May
• U12 and older relay teams qualify from county for the All-Irelands - younger relays qualify from Connacht.

Connacht:

• Sat 08-Jun-19 Dangan U9-U13 Connacht U9/10/11 T&F Teams and U12-13 T&F
• Sat 15-Jun-19 Sligo U14-Senior Connacht U14-Senior Outdoor Track & Field

Notes:

• Connachts are open entry for U12 and older, i.e. you don't have to qualify from Galways for them.

National:

• Sat 29-Jun-19 Tullamore U9-U13 AAI Juvenile U9, U10 and U11 T&F and U12-13 field events
• Sun 07-Jul-19 Tullamore U12-19 AAI U12-19 National Juvenile T&F Day 1
• Sat 13-Jul-19 Tullamore U12-19 AAI U12-19 National Juvenile T&F Day 2
• Sun 14-Jul-19 Tullamore U12-19 AAI U12-19 National Juvenile T&F Day 3
• Sun 21-Jul-19 Tullamore U12-19 AAI Juvenile B Track & Field and U12-19 relays

Cracking performances at Connachts Day 2

Day 2 of the Connacht Indoor Championships saw another series of fantastic performances with many many highlights, most notably Gavin Cooney’s gut-busting sub-2 minute 800m run, Patrick Noonan’s incredible 4:15 minute 1500m, Lukas Schukat’s 1.70m clearance in the high jump and Cian Lavan’s 2 metre club record in the pole vault!

The men’s 800m featured 3 of our top middle-distance runners attempting to break the magical 2-minute barrier for the first time over the 4-laps of Athlone indoor arena. A super standard is being set in the club at the moment with 4 men on the cusp of breaking the 2 minutes – Ben Garrard, Gavin Cooney, Jack Miskella and John Cormican and younger athletes such as Kyle Moorhead and Luke Evans edging towards the mark and former stalwarts such as Paul Joyce gearing up for a return to the sport. It has been nip and tuck between a few of them this year with John running 2:00.26 at the Northwest Games at Christmas, Jack running 2:00.87 at the Offaly Indoors and 2:00.83 at the National Seniors and Ben running 2:04.52 at the Northwest Games and 2.03.21 at the Offaly Indoors.

Read more: Cracking performances at Connachts Day 2

U12s and U13s Shine at Connachts!

A busy busy weekend saw over 100 athletes from the club take part in the Connacht Indoor Track & Field Championships at the weekend in the magnificent surrounds of Athlone IT’s international indoor arena. The U12s and U13s were in action on Saturday, the subject of this article … and I will get another article out later tonight on the U14s and older who were in action on Sunday.

Read more: U12s and U13s Shine at Connachts!

Enter the Craughwell 10!

Please follow link below to enter Craughwell 10mile or 10k:

https://www.njuko.net/craughwell-10mile-10k/select_competition

Juvenile Competition Booklet 2019

The updated 2019 AAI juvenile competition booklet is available from the link below:-

https://www.athleticsireland.ie/juvenile/rules-regulations/

For those not familar with it, this is a very useful book with dates of all National juvenile events, the breakdown of what events are on what days etc for indoors outdoors and cross country.

Laura Cunningham AAI Juvenile Star Award Winner!

Huge congratulations to Laura Cunningham who was presented with the Athletics Ireland Juvenile Star Award for 2018 based on her incredible achievments last year!  Each year Athletics Ireland select one athlete from the older juvenile age groups U16 upwards from each county for the award based on their success at individual National level throughout the year. Its a difficult award to win, particularly in County Galway such is the wealth of talent in the juvenile age groups. Previous winners of the award from our club were the outstanding Cathriona Farrell and Sinead Treacy so that's an illustration of how hard it is to be recognised at this level.

Laura's first taste of National success was as an U10 in 2009 with silver in both the paired long jump and in the relay. She has really blossomed as an athlete in the last 4 years with many National medals and an international appearance in triple jump in 2017 on the Irish Celtic Games team. But it was her performances in 2018 that sealed her selection for the prestigious award at the weekend with double silver in the National U19 indoor triple jump and high jump and bronze in the long jump . And in the outdoor season, she won gold in the National U19 triple jump, and placed so close to the medals with 4th place in both high jump and long jump.

For good measure, she was also a key member of our U19 relay teams who made the National podium 3 times in 2018 with silver in the indoor 4x200m, bronze in the outdoor 4x100m and signing off with their 'favourite' relay distance with gold in the outdoor 4x400m. In addition, she was the highest point-scoring member of the club’s U20 team which won the Irish U20 Club Championships, earning the right to represent Ireland at this year’s European Clubs U20 Track & Field. All of this success was achieved off huge dedication to training, one of the hardest working athletes in the club - routinely training 4 or 5 days a week during 2018 and cutting back a little this year to allow for extra study time for Leaving Cert.

And a quick mention of Laura's training group over the years. Participation wise, it was always one of our largest age groups each year when you compare previous years. There is an unfortunate dropoff from sport right through the teenage years due to study reasons, social reasons, parttime jobs, etc but Laura's group stayed very strong right throughout with 11 girls and 6 boys sticking at it right through to U19s. There are incredibly talented athletes in the group, several of whom would also have been very deserving of last weekend's award. But they can share in Laura's success as their talent, dedication and comradery was a huge factor in helping 1 of the group to this award and if they can stick at it, they will all go on to fantastic achievements as adults.

Finally a quick anecdote on her first taste of success which was in the Christy Kennedy Sports way back in 1st or 2nd class when Laura was on the Craughwell NS relay team. She was the final runner on her relay team and not having raced before didn't know what to expect. She got the baton in 4th place and as an observing neighbour remarked, she just took off like a rocket and passed all of the other teams bar 1 in the next 50 metres - telling her mum afterwards that the line came too soon before she could pass the last girl!

Well done Laura, you are a credit to yourself, your parents, your training group and the club! Pictured below with her parents Tom and Lucy, with some of her training parteners Shauna and Lorraine, and with her coach Mike.

Great day at Connacht Schools XC

The finalists from North and South Connacht competitions met today in perhaps Ireland's finest Cross Country course at Bushfield, Loughrea.  The weather was perfect for racing - a welcome change from the horrible conditions in the qualifiers, and the footing was ideal for the athletes.  Typically for a Saturday - numbers were smaller than the qualifiers (no day off school here!), but the standard was noticeably higher in all races.

Craughwell AC Athletes represented their schools with pride again, both individually and as a team - with some of the winning teams comprising entirely of athletes from the club!

The distances were all a little longer for this event than the earlier one and as usual the action kicked off with a very competitive Minor Girls race.  Clodagh O'Meara, representing St.Raphaels, Loughrea was once again the standout performer with a superb performance to take 3rd position.  She ran strongly all the way in a brilliant show of talent and determination. 

Fantastic running from the St.Raphaels Girls!

Close behind Clodagh, Leonore Church representing PCA also had a fantastic run to drive home in 9th position in a hard-fought field.  Perhaps the most impressive breakthrough run of the day came from Alanah Grogan of St.Raphaels.  Alanah is known as a talented race walker with a great running style - she really dug deep today and drove home well up the field with great pace - I'm not sure of her finishing position but she looked to be in the qualifying spots to me!  

In the next race, the Minor Boys Mathys Bocquet would have been the hot favourite after his domination in the qualifiers, but he is struggling with a slight niggle the last week or so so decided to choose the wise route and sit it out. The only athlete I am aware of is Killian Walsh representing PCA who had a very solid run to finish 24th.  If anyone knows of more Craughwell Athletes from this race please send it on!

The winning Junior Girls Team! 

In the Junior Girls Race, Club standout Fauve Alymer was also absent due to family commitments, however her clubmates certainly accounted for themselves brilliantly, with the Presentation College Athenry team winning the team category and putting themselves through to the all Irelands.  First home for the Pres with a marvellous individual Bronze medal was the spectacular Aoibhe Carr. Aoibhe bravely took on the race and ran strongly throughout, such a talented prospect!.  Next home for the Pres in 11th position was Jade Moorehead closely followed by Grace Leen and Aine Hardiman. A brilliant performance from a great group of young athletes, and it was rewarded with the pres getting the first slot on the new perpetual plate - the first piece of silverware to cross the door of the new School!?  

The girls kick off the decorating of the new Pres School!

Craughwell AC had no athletes that I'm aware of in the Junior boys race (someone send me the details if I'm wrong here!).

Emily working her way smartly through the field!

Next up was the 3000m Intermediate Girls race and it was a really high standard affair with a very strong group of about 12 or so top athletes taking to the front early.  Young for the age group (she will be there again next year), Emily Miskella of PCA was the sole representative of the club and her school.  Emily has been training very consistently this year and it's showing in her performances.  She ran a perfect race tactically from start to finish - tucking in at the back of the leading group of 9 athletes for the first 1500m loop, and making all the right moves at the right times to consistently reel in those ahead of her.  She was gaining on the leaders all the way to the end, but ultimately finished in a fantastic 4th place, very close to the top 3 and easily qualifying for the All-Irelands next month - a smashing performance!!

A fantastic race by Emily!

The Intermediate boys 4500m was next and unlike the South Connachts which had a relaxed vibe, no prisoners were taken this time!  The field was deep and the race was fast from the off!  The leading group of Michael Morgan, Sean Cotter, Ross McGuinness and Barry Murphy set out at a punishing pace of close to 3:10 per kilometer.  Behind them, a large following group contained other Craughwell Athletes - Kyle Moorehead, Oisin Davis and Luke Burke. 

Back in the groove - Sean had a powerful run

 The classy Morgan continued to push the pace and soon the field spread with several athletes trading places as they felt the burn.  Sean Cotter representing Calsanctius had a sensational run to finish in Second place overall, a fantastic return from injury for Sean who is looking stronger for the break.  Next home for Craughwell and representing the pres was Oisin Davis in 4th.  Oisin ran a smart race, not getting drawn in by the early pace and climbing strongly through the field for what looked like a comfortable finish.  Next home for the pres was Ross McGuinness in 5th place.  Ross had a great run especially given that he was quite ill last week and also that he did get involved in some of the early fast kilometers! Another triathlete Luke Burke had a sensational run to come home next in 8th place.  This was one of Luke's best ever performances - he also took his time to settle into the race and built through the field and it worked out great for him.  He was very close to claiming 7th but the finishing straight was just not quite long enough for him!  Pres team captain - Kyle Moorehead rounded out the Craughwell domination with 5 athletes in the top 10 of a high quality field.  The second plate for the new pres!  

Famous Five in the top 10!

The action continued apace in the Senior Girl's race over 2000m with two 1km laps.  The relatively short distance made for a ferocious pace with a packed finish.  Ailbhe Miskella bravely took on the race, getting stuck in at the head of affairs right from the off. It was a superb run and as they turned into the home straight, I really thought she had done enough to seal Silver for herself but right on her shoulder was 800/1500m specialist Maeve Dervan and despite a fantastic fightback from Ailbhe she got just outkicked - a fantastic race and super bronze won!!  

The final race of the day was another barnstormer!  The Senior boys race was run over 5500m which is quite a distance on that undulating course.  The top group of 3 athletes were of the highest standard - Keelan Kilrehill taking out the field at a savage pace and bringing two along with him.  Patrick Noonan soon found himself in a fascinating battle for 4th place, stuck shoulder to shoulder with the excellent Thomas Devaney for the entirety of the race.  The last 500m was particularly interesting - Patrick made a move with 500m to go but Devaney was not having any of it and responded with a kick of his own in the last 200m to make a dive for home.  Patrick hung on and made a final surge for the front, just pipping Thomas in the last 5 metres or so.  A fantastic race by both young men and the dramatic finish was captured brilliantly by the Connacht Telegraph (Harry Murphy/Sportfile) below:

Patrick's rapidly improving brother Sean also had a super race finishing well inside the top 10.  Sean was in a battle for the first few kilometers, but burned off his opponents and then found himself in a bit of a "no man's land" where he didn't have opponents in range either in front or behind him for the remainder of the race.  He kept his concentration and ran hard throughout and in the end I felt that he was gaining on those ahead of him.  When it came to the home straight - Sean didn't disappoint and delivered his trademark kick to finish off a great run for perhaps his last XC of the Season.

Brothers in Arms - Great performances from the Noonans!

Another Shield won for the new Presentation School!