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Majestic Throw from Chloe on International Debut!
Irish Junior Girls Pentathlon Team at the International Schools Combined Events in Athlone IT
Niamh O'Neill, Rhian Kidd, Chloe Casey, Erin Fisher
Saturday saw Chloe Casey make her international debut, the first of many when you see the remarkable distance she threw the shot out to. Chloe was part of the Irish Schools Junior Girls Pentathlon team who took on the best athletes from England, Scotland and Wales in the International Schools Pentathlon. An event whose traditional home is Glasgow, it moved for the first time out of its Scottish homeplace to the new surrounds of Athlone – unfortunate for Chloe as it meant no foreign trip but handy for us locals who only had to travel over the road to attend!
Chloe threw the shot putt out a massive 13.28m to record the top throw in her age group on the day, as well as achieving performances of 4.46m in the long jump, 10.80 hurdles, 1.36m high jump and 2.45.89 800m.
Chloe becomes the 16th juvenile athlete from the club to represent Ireland following in the footsteps of Ann Loughnane (race walk), Cathriona Farrell (high jump and pentathlon), Claire Ryder (long jump), Conor Duggan (relay and 100m), Conor Gillen (cross country), Damien O’Boyle (cross country and steeplechase), Jamie Fallon (cross country and 5000m), Jerry Keary (high jump), Maeve Curley (race walk), Maria McNamara (pentathlon), Nicholas Sheehan (800m), Oisin Lyons (cross country), Shauna Bocquet (wheelchair 400m), Sineád Treacy (200m and pentathlon) and Tomás Keehan (high jump).
DCM 2016
A smaller group from the club took to the streets of Dublin to run the 2016 Dublin City Marathon than in previous years. This was primarily the result of a large contingent heading abroad earlier in the month to take on the Amsterdam Marathon! (race report pending I hear).
For the first-time Dublin sold out in August this year. A combination of the switch to Sunday and the 1916 commemoration medal led to a record entry with a little under 17,000 toeing the start line.
Race day conditions were perfect, no wind, no rain and temperatures not set to rise above 12 degrees. The support from the crowds along the whole route in Dublin was phenomenal. It can be overwhelming at times and you find yourself smiling and laughing between gritting your teeth and arguing with your legs to keep going! Special mention to friends, family and club mates who placed themselves strategically alone the route armed with jellies, flat coke and much needed words of encouragement. The last mile was a wall of noise with people cheering encouragement at you all the way to the finish line.
It's Party Time!
After an historic year both on and off the track, Craughwell AC have 2 celebratory events coming up. Firstly this Saturday evening 10th December, the club have organised a Family Night at the Dogs to help raise funds towards its ongoing facility development. The club are hoping that many of its members and former members and their families will come along to enjoy the night – tickets are still available from any committee member or from Mike Tobin at 087 6591879.
Secondly on Friday 16th December, Raftery’s Pub in Craughwell are provided a free evening of entertainment for Craughwell AC from 9.30pm onwards with music from Evoke and free finger food. The club are inviting all coaches, parents and adult members along that night to join in the celebrations of a fantastic year and will be organising free transport home for those who want to imbibe in a few beverages! So come along and join the fun and celebrate what has been a wonderful year for the club.
Pictured below, Rachel Raftery presenting a sponsorship cheque to Craughwell AC's Mike Tobin and Tracy Moran at the club's fantastic new track facilities.
Athletics Club Burgled
Sometime between 10.30pm on Monday night and 8am on Tuesday morning this week, the containers which store the club’s equipment and equipment belonging to the local FAS scheme were burgled.
The locks on the containers were cut or smashed and 2 strimmers worth around €800 belonging to the FAS scheme were stolen. These strimmers are used routinely by the FAS workers to keep our athletics field looking tidy and a pleasant place for children and adults to exercise in. They are also used for maintaining other community and sports grounds in the area.
Its despicable that anyone would think it’s okay to go and steal from a club where volunteers give 1000s of their hours for free each year for the greater good of the community.
Please share this post as widely as possible on Facebook. The club are asking that anyone who may have noticed anything suspicious that night in the vicinity of the athletics facility or the nearby fields/main road, please contact Garda Flanagan or Garda Perill in Gort Garda Station at 091 636400.
If you come across strimmers being sold at a bargain, please consider whether they may be stolen goods and whether it is still advisable to purchase them. The details of the strimmers in question are make efco CE 2010 1770060192 8460 IC - 8460 (45.7 cm3) - 8530 IC - 8530-8550 BOSS (52.5cm3) (purchased on 13/12/2012) and KAAZ VS256 (purchased on 3-6-2014). The harness for one was also stolen.
The Craughwell AC Senior Club AGM 08/01/17
The Craughwell AC senior club AGM will take place on Sunday 8th January, 2017 in St. Michaels Hall at 7.30. There will be a number of positions opening up on the committee also. If you are interested in joining the committee please get in touch by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or speak to a current committee member to express your interest.
New Athletics Threads arriving at the Craughwell AC Store
A new year is coming, but Green is still the in color for 2017!
New half zip soon available..please place your order through your age co ordinator to ensure it arrives before XMAS...Also available to purchase for XMas are our Hoodies at 25 small sizes/27 euro for bigger sizes, Technical Running Tops at 15euro in green and white and NOW our New Half Zips at 30 euro.. place your order today!! Or message the Craughwell Juvenile AC page on facebook.
Read more: New Athletics Threads arriving at the Craughwell AC Store
Athletes Battle With the Nation's Best
The National Even Ages Cross Country took place last weekend on a fantastic new purpose-built course at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown in Dublin.
As always, the standard is just crazy high at National level. When you think about the numbers involved ... there are roughly 60000 or 70000 children of same age in Ireland (based on secondary school exam numbers!) so thats approx 35000 boys and 35000 girls. And 2 years combined run each age group in cross country, so in each race you up against the top 200 children from 70000 ... that's the top 0.0028% in your age group!!
So to run at Nationals is a major achievement, to place in the top 100 an even bigger one, to place in the top 50 extraordinary, to get into the top 20 unreal!
While we didn't bring any medals home from Abbotstown, all of athletes competed with distinction doing themselves and the club proud.
Jamie Fallon led the way for the club with a fine 13th place finish in the U20 Men’s 6000m race and 7th in the junior grade. I think every adult runner in Galway knows how good Jamie is so this gives you a good grasp of the elite standard of this event.
Ben Ryan was very impressive also with a 16th place finish in the U16 Boys 4000m, leading his Craughwell AC teammates to 12th place with William Fitzgerald 40th followed by Kyle Moorhead, Patrick Noonan, Sean Noonan and Finbarr McFadden.
The U14 Boys were led home by Sean Cotter in 28th place followed by Liam Leen, Ross McGuinness, Eoin Byrne and Darragh McCartin with the team taking 13th place overall.
The U12 boys took 10th place in their 2000m race with Evan Hallinan first in followed closely by Cian Lavan, Mathys Bocquet, Daniel Galvin and Luke Flynn.
Fit4Life Autumn 2016 End of Term Time Trial
End of Term Time Trial Results are in the table below! Well done to all who took part.
Well done to all who completed the 10 weeks. Fit For Life will recommence in mid January.
Keep an eye on the website and Craughwell AC Facebook page for updates.
A special thank you to all of the Fit for Life Leaders; Katie Gorman, Steven Carty, John Ward, Gerry Tracey, Niamh Flavin, James Diviney, and Edel Kavanagh. Your time and effort is greatly appreciated.
Timetable and directions for National Cross Country
Timetable for tomorrow's National cross country is at the link below. Best of luck to all of our athletes. The races kick off at 11.30am with the U12 girls. Please try to arrive 75 minutes before your race as the large crowds make it difficult to find people and organise teams.
http://www.athleticsireland.ie/downloads/events-timetable/National_XC_Nov_2016_Timetable....pdf
The venue is Abbotstown which is near the Blanchardardstown Shopping Centre in Dublin and is the new National Sports Campus. It will be the first time there for most of us and it will be interesting to see the new facilities there. It is exit 6 off the M50 as you head to the airport. Then shortly after taking that exit, take the turn left for Blanchardstown and immediately go across the flyover over the road you were just on to get onto the R843. The R843 takes you past the National Sports Campus on the right. See map below for details.
Strong Performance from Jamie in Spain!
Well done to Jamie Fallon who produced a strong performance in the international Cross de Atapuerca at the weekend in Spain where he placed a commendable 34th in an elite field in the Junior Men's race. Results are at the link below.
http://www.crossatapuerca.com/nw/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/12Junior-Masculina.pdf
Chloe Claims First International Vest!
Chloe Casey (St Raphael’s Loughrea), pictured across put in an outstanding performance at yesterday’s Irish Schools Combined Events to take 4th place in the Junior Girls category with a points total of 2977 and in the process claim her first international vest with the international due to take place in Athlone on December 11th.
Chloe’s elite event of shot putt put her right up in contention after 4 events with a heave of 13.31m earning her 748 points. Qualification went down to the wire with the 800m deciding it in a shake-up between four athletes for the 4th spot on the team leaving them separated by just 33 points – a little under 3 seconds in an 800m! Chloe did just enough in the 800m to hold onto 4th place and becomes the 5th athlete from the club to make this team over the years joining Cathriona Farrell, Maria McNamara, Aidan Conneely and Sineád Treacy.
And it was hard luck for Laura Cunningham (Pres Athenry) who put in a magnificent performance in the Intermediate Girls grade to record a points total of 2760 which included PBs of 9.22 in the shot putt and 2.46.87 in the 800m. As with Aisling Keady’s points total last year, Laura’s total would have made the Irish team on many occasions in the past 10 years but not so this year where there was an incredible standard in the intermediate grade with 1st and 2nd both exceeding 3500 points.
Ellie Cronin (Pres Athenry) was also in action in the Minor Girls event where she put in another great performance in a high-standard competition. Having won the Connacht title a few weeks ago, Ellie battled hard in her first time in a National multi-events competition where she placed 11th overall but great experience and a definite contender for international multi-event teams in the years ahead.
In the boys events, Sean Connaghton (St Raphael’s Loughrea) placed 9th in the junior boys grade with 2485 points, a strong performance across all of the events with some exceptional performances despite the lack of recent practise.
In the intermediate grade, Ben Garrard and Oisin Lyons both recorded some fine results in a high standard event. Ben’s long jump of 5.76m was particularly impressive while Oisin’s 2.03.48 in the 800m was the fastest of the day. Ben’s points score of 2883 placed him 7th overall while Oisin’s final score of 2773 placed him 9th overall.
In the Senior Boys grade, Paul Armstrong made his debut at National level where he placed 7th with 2095 points, a good performance in his first time at this level where he produced 4 PBs including a 5.34m leap in the long jump.
Athletes Battle it Out in Westport
Craughwell U15 Boys - Connacht Cross Country Bronze Medallists 2016
Westport House provided its familar tough cross country challege to athletes from the club in day 2 of the Connacht Chanpionships today. Mixed weather conditions made it a tough day for the athletes but nonetheless they battled to some brilliant performances.
Leading positions on the day went to Jack Miskella who placed 5th in the U19 Boys 6000m and sister Ailbhe who put in a splendid performance to place 6th in the U15 Girls 3500m, with Mathys Bocquet also placing 5th in the U11 Boys 2500m. Ailbhe's 6th place finish is just reward for the one of the most dedicated athletes in the club who has attended an incredible 42 training sessions this Autumn.
Two teams from the club finished in the medals with the U13 Boys and U15 Boys taking the accolades. And it was hard luck for 3 more teams who were just pipped for the top 3 places but still qualify in 4th place for the All-Irelands - particularly so for the U11 Boys who came 4th on countback to home club Westport.
The day got underway with the U11 Girls 1500m where we placed 7th with 167 points led home by Isabella Boland in 32nd place and followed by 35 Erin Doyle, 44 Sole Lopez, 49 Nicole Clarke, 50 Muireann Leen, 53 Claudia McGuinness, 56 Holly O'Boyle and 64 Jenny Cloonan. The U11 Boys 1500m was up next where the team scored 90 points to place 4th with 5 Mathys Bocquet, 14 Evan Moran, 34 Liam O'Connell, 37 Lucas Keane, 42 Cormac McFadden, 43 Adam Jordan, 53 Callum Brady and 66 Eamonn McGlynn. The boys were unlucky to just miss 3rd place, tying on 90 points with 3rd place Westport who took 3rd place by virtue of a higher place 4th finisher - the harsh rules of cross country.
In the U13 Girls 2500m, the team put in a marvellous performance to take 4th place with 3 of the team out of age. The team scored 80 points with Saoirse Moore and Clodagh O'Meara leading the way in 15th and 16th place, followed closely by Fauve Aylmer 22nd and Jade Moorhead 27th. In the U13 Boys 2500m, the team claimed a splendid bronze medal with 85 points led by Ross McGuinness in 11th and the rest of the team packing well with Eoin Byrne 23rd, Darragh McCartin 25th, Evan Hallinan 26th, Daniel Galvin 28th, Ben Brady 36th and Noah Keane 42nd.
The U15 Girls 3500m saw yet another 4th place finish for the club with the team scoring 75 points and led by Ailbhe Miskella 6th, Ciara Sheppard 21st, Asia Clarke 23rd and Sarah Woods 25th. In the U15 Boys 3500m, the club claimed their second team bronze of the day with 65 points with 11 Sean Cotter, 17 Finbar McFadden, 18 Kyle Moorhead, 19 Liam Leen and 40 James Furey - a fine performance with several of the team running out of age.
Full results are here:- 2016_Connacht_Uneven_Cross_Country_Results.pdf