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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! 

Timetable for the Connacht Indoors 23/24 Feb

The timetable for the Connacht Indoors is below. It applies to U12 and older athletes - U12s and U13s are on Sat 23rd and U14s to seniors on Sun 24th. The club will be holding its own event a week earlier on Sunday 17th Feb for younger athletes along with a training session for older athletes.

The Connacht secretary has asked us to note that times are for guidance only and the committee reserves the right to make changes as appropriate on the day.

The coodinators of each training group will be gathering details of what events each athlete wishes to partake it. We wish to request athletes to only enter events that they will definitely take part in as the entry fee of €5 per event is very expensive and the club is not in a position to be spending money on events that athletes don't do on the day.

Timetable: ConnachtIndoorsTimetable.pdf

Lotto Jackpot - Click on Picture To Play

Super Weekend at Scottish Indoors!

Some of the Craughwell AC gang in the Emirates Athletics Arena in Glasgow

The club enjoyed massive success at the second weekend of the Scottish Indoor Championships held Saturday and Sunday in the impressive Emirates Arena in Glasgow where the club came home with 5 medals – 2 Scottish titles, 1 silver and 2 bronze – the best performance ever since we started going to Glasgow all the way back in 2008 when the current crop of athletes who travelled were mostly aged between 6 months old and 3 years old!

Read more: Super Weekend at Scottish Indoors!

Kids Mid-Term Disco

Icy Toes and Warm Grins at South Connacht XC

(Note: I was only able to be there for about an hour, and results will be a while coming out, so will update this article with more details as they arrive - if you have pictures or details of any craughwell athletes that competed let me know and I'll update!!)

The conditions were baltic in Bushfield Loughrea today for the South Connacht Secondary Schools Cross Country championships.  Frozen sleety rain pelted the competitors and spectators alike but most people managed to stay in pretty good cheer!  The schools competition is not about clubs, but there is little doubt that Craughwell AC athletes did fantastically for their schools, with athletes winning many races and numbered among the top few in the others.

The day kicked off with the minor girls and Clodagh O'Meara had another exceptional run to come home in 2nd place.  This is another great performance from Clodagh following her recent personal best in the 800m.  

Mathys Bocquet representing Calsanctius Oranmore won his minor race using his old-school style of racing.  Similar to the great Steve Prefontaine, the 2018 National XC medallist's strategy is to start strong and keep building the pace from the front until his opponents fall off.  He took control of the race from about 500m and pushed on to a trademark dominant victory.  Not far behind Mathys, his club and schoolmate Cian Lavin ran a smart and brave race, holding 10th position all the way until the home straight where a great drive for home put him in about 7th or 8th overall.

Fauve Aylmer of Raphaels Loughrea took control of the Junior Girl's 1500m race in similar fashion to Mathys - the 2018 Connacht Champion taking the lead early and pushing home to a clear and confident victory.  Aoibhe Carr had a fantastic race and was not too far behind Fauve in second position and Jade Moorehead also made the top 10 to I believe cinch the team prize.

Evan Hallinan had a fine run in the Junior boys race - I didn't get his position but when asked about the race afterwards he summed it up as "hard!", but he looked to be running well when I arrived!.

Next up was the intermediate girls 2,500m race, and Emily Miskella from PCA got off to a fantastic start.  Young for the age group, she was sitting nicely in 3rd place and looking very strong, fresh and in control of her race.  Unfortunately there is a wide range of ability in the schools XC and the leaders quickly lapped and mingled with the chasing pack after the first lap, making for a confusing task for the poor frozen marshals.  In the melee athletes ended up taking several different routes at junctions.  This impacted the top 4 in particular - I'm not sure what the result will be at the end but the mixup was very unfortunate and regrettable.  Regardless of the result, Emily ran a super race and it was a fine performance which deserved a medal.

In the intermediate boy's 4,000m race, the team result was never going to be in doubt - the PCA team had 4 members of the very successful Craughwell 2018 U16/U17 XC teams (Ross McGunness, Kyle Moorehead, Luke Burke and Oisin Davis) and they duly won the first team place with ease for their school.  The 5th member of those Club teams, Sean Cotter of Calsanctius was back in the spikes after a rotten injury and in flying form.  In fact the leading pack of 6 or 7 pals were visibly enjoying themselves throughout the 4k run, running as a pack well clear of the field and in jovial spirits.  As the race entered the last kilometer, they broke with whatever unspoken pact they had and (led by Ross) ramped up the pace until an eventual surge for the line.  In the end 5 Craughwell athletes were in the top 7 -  Ross McGuinness was 2nd, Sean Cotter 3rd, Oisin Davis 4th, Kyle Moorehead 6th and Luke Burke 7th.  

The Senior girl's race featured Ailbhe Miskella representing PCA over a 1500m distance that is a little shorter than the Cross Country she is used to!  This time Ailbhe was very unlucky as she slipped on the increasingly muddy startline with a painful fall.  She bravely got up and ran the race out, but especially over the shorter distance she had little opportunity to get back her position - she still finished strongly well up the field.

Carrying a bad cold, Patrick Noonan had another brilliant race to finish second in the Senior boy's race running strongly all the way.  His brother Sean Noonan also had an exceptional run, the Canoe Ireland award winner was right at home in the wet and windy conditions and closed the race with his trademark kick in a fantastic 5th position.

Athletes Shine in Glasgow and Athlone

Sarah Finnegan (team captain), Arlene Earls and Ailbhe Miskella at the National Indoor League in Athlone

It was another busy weekend for Craughwell AC with athletes in action in Glasgow in the Scottish Indoors on Saturday, in Athlone in the National Indoor League also on Saturday and in Athlone on Sunday for the National Junior and U23 Championships.

At the Scottish Indoor Championships, Kyle Moorhead raced to a brilliant PB of 2:04.94 in the U17 Mens 800m, narrowly missing out on making the final by the slender margin of 0.18 seconds. Freya Bohan raced to a PB of 28.13s when placing 5th in the heats of the U17 Womens 200m while Ellie Cronin leaped a huge 1.58m to place 6th in the U17 Womens High Jump.

Meanwhile on Saturday in Athlone, Craughwell AC’s women’s team placed 7th in the National Indoor League following on from round 1 a fortnight ago. Round 1 saw strong performances from Sarah Finnegan 4th in the 60m hurdles in 11.27s and 7th in the long jump with 4.18m, Sinéad Gaffney 6th in the 800m in 2:24.35 and Tara McNally 6th in the shot putt with 6.54m and 7th in the 60m sprint in 8.61s. The team followed it up in round 2 with a 2nd place finish from Sarah Finnegan in the triple jump with a leap of 9.69m, 6th in the high jump with 1.25m and 8th in the 200m in 29.19s, Ailbhe Miskella 6th in the 1500m in 5:27.08 and Arlene Earls 6th in the 400m in 60.97s. In the absence of some key members of the team due to mock Leaving Cert and Junior Cert exams and due to the Scottish Indoors, team captain Sarah Finnegan really played the captain’s role when competing across 5 individual events over the 2 days.

Also in action on Saturday in Athlone, Gavin Cooney raced to a terrific PB of 2:00.36 in the senior men’s 800m, knocking almost a full second off his 2018 PB and coming ever so close to breaking the 2 minute barrier for the first time.

It was back to Athlone on Sunday for more action at the National Junior and U23 Indoor Championships, where Conor Duggan raced to a time of 7.32 in the heats of the U23 Mens 60m, not quite happy with his blocks start and later qualified for the finals of the 200m when almost equalling his PB of 22.59s; Jack Miskella raced to 7th place in the U23 Mens 800m in a time of 2:04.40 slightly down on his brilliant 2:00.87 recorded at the Offaly Indoors a week ago; Laura Cunningham placed 8th in a high quality U20 Womens High Jump, with a best of 1.50m and unlucky not to get the 1.55; and Luke Evans recorded 2:09.21 to place 7th in the heats of the U20 Mens 800m.

Full results of the aforementioned events are here.

Craughwell AC Juvenile AGM

Craughwell AC's Juvenile AGM will take place at 8.30 pm next Thursday 24th January in St Michael's Hall.

All parents and coaches are encouraged to attend as well as athletes aged 16 or older. The meeting will be limited to 1 hour so you can get in and out quickly.

So please come along to hear an update on the club's activities for last year and the club's facility development plans for the coming year. The picture above gives an overview of the facility plans that will be presented.