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Club trip to Scottish Indoors 2017
Some of the group on the first trip many years ago in 2008
Back row: Sue Joyce,Michael Tobin,Padraic Tobin,Cormac Dillon,Ruairi Finnegan,Niall Rooney,Cathal Coppinger,Triona Coppinger
Middle row: Julie Gallagher,PJ Kelly,Peter Treacy,Benny Gallagher,Ashley McDonnell,Orla McDaid,Laura Porter,Orla Ryan,Claire Ryder
Front row: Shaun Gallagher,Linda Porter,Debbie Kenny,Caoimhe Quill,Katie O'Donoghue
The club’s by now annual trip to the Scottish Indoors is going ahead in 2017. The event is spread over two weekends in Glasgow with
- U20s, U15s and U13s on Sat/Sun 11th and 12th February
- Seniors and U17s on Sat 28th January
Note the cut-off date for age groups in Scotland is different to Ireland – it is 1st September. This means that
- An athlete who is an u18 in Ireland next year but born on or after 1 Sept is an u17 in Scotland
- An athlete who is an u16 in Ireland next year but born on or after 1 Sept is an u15 n Scotland
- And an athlete who is an u14 in Ireland next year but born on or after 1 Sept is an u13 in Scotland
13 families have already booked Ryanair flights flying out on the 18:50 flight on the Friday and back on the 21:50 flight on the Sunday. You can read more on the most recent trip at:-
- http://www.craughwellac.com/site/index.php/juvenile-club-mainmenu-103/1618-fantastic-weekend-at-scottish-indoors
- http://www.craughwellac.com/site/index.php/juvenile-club-mainmenu-103/1633-terrific-weekend-two-in-glasgow
We are in process of block booking rooms in a hotel for the Friday/Saturday night so anyone going, let Michael or Tracy know asap together with events you are entering in. Its best just to do 1 or 2 events as the timetable may clash and also as it’s a National championships and an athlete will be too tired if too much events on same day.
The events available are:-
- U15, U17, U20, Senior: 60m,60mH,200m,300/400m,800m,1500m, Long Jump, Triple Jump, High Jump, Pole Vault, Shot Putt
- U13:60m,60mH,200m,800m,1500m, Long Jump, High Jump, Shot Putt
Ideally if going let me know asap as there are limits on the number of entries in each event.
To minimise costs of flights and hotels, its best to decide early if going or not.
The provisional timetable for each day is here:-
U15s:- http://events.scottishathletics.org.uk/events/19094-17209-scottishathletics-national-indoor-u15-championships
Craughwell NS Connacht Senior Champions!
Craughwell NS senior boys made history today in the shadow of Benbulben when winning the Connacht Primary Schools Cross Country title on the grounds of Sligo IT. While the school have featured on the winners podium many times in the last 15 years, this was the first time that the senior boys claimed the Connacht title, a feat achieved by the school’s senior girls on 3 occasions - 2003, 2006 and 2010. Previously the senior boys’ teams best performances were bronze team medals in 2007, 2014 and 2015.
Scoll down to the end of this article for the full results.
Craughwell NS Senior Boys - Connacht Champions 2016!
The boys were led home by an outstanding performance from Ross McGuinness with an 8th place finish – the joint highest position ever achieved by an athlete from the school (Kyle Moorhead in 2014). Ross was followed in with an incredible run by Robert Urquhart who had sprinted out of the starting chutes to take an early position in the leading group just behind Ross. For a sprinter to be in the leading group on a miserable day when the heavens rained down on the runners for the entire time we were there …. was a remarkable achievement and Robert hung on to place 18th in the race – a fantastic performance. And right on Robert’s heels, Eoin Byrne had the race of his life to take 19th place in the race. Having placed 42nd in the Galway finals, to place in the top 20 at the higher standard Connacht finals was amazing and one of the key improvements which brought the Connacht title to Craughwell. Next in came our 5th class heros Evan Hallinan 27th, Luke Flynn 33rd and Evan Moran 40th – another incredible set of performances from these young athletes in what is probably the toughest cross country race in Connacht.
And earlier in the girls’ races, Clodagh O’Meara, Jade Moorhead and Fauve Aylmer put in fine performances also to place 35th, 36th and 41st in the Senior Girls 1200m. Fantastic runs in a highly competitive field and again in absolutely drenching weather conditions. And also with an outstanding performance Sophie McIlrath placed 16th in the Junior Girls race, just missing out on the top 15 medallists. Eddie Silke had an impressive run also with 18th place in the Junior Boys 1000m.
And at the end of a wet but very very happy day, the cup made its way back to Craughwell in a black unmarked car under armed guard!!
Full results of the races are here:- Results_Con_Primary_Schools_2016.pdf
And read on below for a history of Craughwell NS performanes in these races in previous years - apologies to athletes from other schools in our club as I don't have the full history for all schools.
Craughwell AC In Form at The Claddagh!
The Claddagh was the venue for day 2 of the Galway Cross Country Championships and proved to be an excellent venue with the combination of gradual inclines towards the seafront and the border of the playing pitches providing almost the perfect cross country course. Perfect weather conditions also guaranteed an enjoyable experience for all participants and spectators and The Claddagh will surely feature again as a venue for cross country competition.
The day threw up a nice mix of results across the county with no less than 9 clubs in the medals during the day with Craughwell AC leading the way when featuring on the podium 21 times throughout the races with 7 golds, 7 silver and 7 bronze.
The day commenced with a fine individual victory for Amelie Bocquet in the U9 Girls 800m, a feat repeated by her brother Mathys in the U11 Boys 1500m – remarkable performances from a very talented family whose sister Shauna is our Paralympic track specialist. Jack Miskella (pictured across) also shined with victory in the U19 5000m in his final year as a juvenile, with sisters Ailbhe taking individual bronze in the U15 3500m and Emily placing 9th in the U13 2500m. Oisin Lyons completed the individual victories for Craughwell AC’s athletes with a fine gun-to-tape victory in the U17 5000m while William Fitzgerald stepped up an age to put in an outstanding run and claim bronze in the same race.
Catherine Noonan and Sinead Kennedy took silver and bronze in the U17 Girls 4000m while Saoirse Moore had a spectacular run to claim silver in the U13 Girls 2500m. Kelly Hallinan and Keelan Moorhead also took bronze in the U9 Girls and U9 Boys 800m – illustrating the strength in the club from U9 to U19!! Sean Cotter was in hard luck not to claim individual bronze in the U13 Boys 2500m with a turbo-charged finish over the last 300m which came up just short by 1 metre from claiming the individual bronze.
Craughwell AC's U17 Boys Cross Country Team - Galway Champions 2016
Oisin Lyons, Sean Noonan, Patrick Noonan, William Fitzgerald
In the team events, the club had tremendous success with teams making the winners podium in every race. There were Galway titles for the U17 Boys with 17 points (1 Oisin Lyons, 3 William Fitzgerald, 6 Patrick Noonan and 7 Sean Noonan, the U9 Girls with 27 points (1 Amelie Bocquet, 3 Kelly Hallinan, 10 Ciara O’Connor, Emma O’Donovan, 13 Keevagh Barry, 14 Lauren Morgan, 15 Abby Haugh, 19 Sophie Keenan, 21 Chloe Keane, 24 Amy Connaughton, 31 Maria Gorman, 36 Rebecca Doyle) and the U9 Boys with 18 points (3 Keelan Moorhead, 4 Paul Barry, 5 Caelan Coleman, 6 Ben Moran, 7 Declan O’Connell, 12 Gavin Clarke).
Craughwell AC's U15 Boys Cross Country Team - Galway Silver Medalists 2016
Craughwell AC's U13 Girls Cross Country Team - Galway Silver Medalists 2016
Five teams claimed the silver medals – the U15 Girls with 28 points (3 Ailbhe Miskella, 6 Ciara Sheppard, 8 Sarah Woods, 11 Asia Clarke), the U15 boys with 26 points (4 Sean Cotter, 5 Finbar McFadden, 7 Liam Leen, 10 Kyle Moorhead, 12 James Furey, 13 Oisin Davis, 14 Paschal Walsh), the U13 Girls with 33 points (2 Saoirse Moore, 9 Emily Miskella, 11 Clodagh O’Meara, 12 Jade Moorhead, 16 Rebekah Flynn, 17 Fauve Aylmer, 18 Abbie Rooney, 24 Leah Farrelly and 29 Grace Leen, the U13 Boys with 38 points (8 Daniel Galvin, 9 Cian Lavan, 10 Robert Urquhart, 11 Evan Hallinan, 12 Darragh McCartin, 15 Noah Keane, 17 Ben Brady), the U11 Boys with 34 points (1 Mathys Bocquet, 7 Liam O’Connell, 12 Lucas Keane, 14 Cormac McFadden, 16 Adam Jordan, 20 Callum Brady, 26 Gavin Keenan, 27 Alan Connaughton, 29 Christian Joyce, 33 Eamonn McGlynn).
And two teams claimed team bronze – the U11 Girls with 69 points (7 Isabella Boland, 17 Luiseach Conaghan, 22 Grace Lynch, 23 Holly O’Boyle, 24 Muireann Leen, 25 Erin Doyle, 31 Nicole Clarke, 32 Vivien Blaine, 33 Wendy Whiriske, 34 Aoibhe Donnellan, 43 Tara Molloy, 44 Carmel Conway) and the U9 Boys second team with 69 points (14 Diarmuid Kelleher, 16 Iarlaith Leen, 17 Sean McDonagh, 22 Paul Thornton, 23 James O’Sullivan, 25 Liam Egan, 28 Leo Molloy, 29 John Donnellan, 32 Donnacha Lawless).
Full results of the day are here:- GalwayCrossCountry-UnevenAges-FINALResults.pdf
Craughwell AC's U13 Boys Cross Country Team - Galway Silver Medalists 2016
Phase 2 Facility Work Almost Done!
We are nearing completion of phase 2 of our ambitious athletics facility plans with the final layer of tartan hopefully going on this week following by lane markings and then some final work on our carpark. As a politician might say, “a lot done and a lot more to do”.
Having kicked off our fundraising plans in January 2014 with €44,000 in the bank built up over the preceding 10 years primarily with the support of local businesses of our annual calendar, the club made massive progress during 2014 to raise an additional €210,000 in loans, donations and other fund-raising to fund the site purchase, a public roadway, entrance roadway and initial floodlighting to bring the 8-acre site into use.
Then in July 2015, we launched into the phase 2 of the development to provide a carpark, additional floodlights, a sprint runway, long jump pit and high jump area. Our target was to raise €250,000 for this work and we are nearly there – with €80,000 in additional loans, a grant of €100,000 and fundraising of over €38,000 in the space of little over a year.
By the end of this year, we will have outstanding loans of just over €200,000 but will have spent over €460,000 on the facility between site purchase and the 2 development phases. So that €460,000 spend was funded by €200,000 outstanding loans, a €100,000 sports capital grant, €44,000 of savings prior to 2014 and an incredible €116,000 of membership income and fundraising in the last 3 years! All thanks to our members, the community and local businesses and most importantly our hardworking coaches and committee.
And our membership is booming. We became the largest juvenile club in the country again at the end of September with more than 550 members. It’s wonderful to see the membership curve below – predominantly on the up and up and justifying the massive investment that the club is making.
However, we are still greatly in need of your support in order to complete phase 2 – something that we are very close to now. We need your support either by
- Support our lotto
- Sign up for our park membership
- Make a straight donation to the club
- Take up one of our advertising/sponsorship options
The facilities we are developing are for you our members and their parents and other members of the community who would like to use our running routes for exercise, be it walking jogging or racing.
And we are not for sitting still either. As soon as this phase is done and dusted, we hope to launch straight into the next phase which is the construction of a substantial indoor training building which will eventually house athletics facilities, a community gym and a multi-purpose indoor sports court. Additionally, we will be building a perimeter walkway for use for walking/jogging. It is hoped that much of the funding for this phase will come from grants and loans with 20% or so from fund-raising activities.
But we need your support. We have already received fantastic support from many families and we know many more are thinking about it. Well now is the time to put your thoughts into action! We need you and you need the facilities we are developing. These facilities are an investment in you and your family’s health – a place to exercise from 8am until late at night. A place for all the family to exercise. A safe floodlit environment and eventually a nice indoor arena to exercise on those dark and cold winter evenings.
So whether you are a long-standing member or a new recruit, please consider supporting us via one of the above options. The money is being ploughed directly and quickly into the facilities that you and your family are using – so you get to see the impact of your support almost immediately.
Thank you
Michael Tobin, Facility Development Officer
Tracy Moran, Fundraising Coordinator
Great Day at Galway XC Championships in Tuam
Caron Ryan, Galway U18 Champion 2016
The first day of the Galway club cross country championships got underway on Sunday at the Palace Grounds in Tuam with the highest number of participants ever in the juvenile races.
Craughwell’s U10 girls were first into action on their 1k loop with some fantastic performances which yielded the team title with a score of 33 points. The team were led home by Sophie McIlrath in 2nd place with Gillian Crowe 5th, Sara Craven 9th, Claudia McGuinness 17th, Kathlynn Walsh 20th, Orlaith Murphy 21st, Lillian Walsh 23rd, Aoife O’Meara 27th, Hannah Mangan 28th, Amelie Bocquet 29th, Chloe Keane 30th, Orna McNamna 31st, Clara Rooney 32nd, Oshini Maria 34th and Isobel Whyte 42nd. The U10 boys took silver medals in their 1k with 49 points led home by Luke O’Sullivan in 10th place, Fionn Higgins 11th, Daire Kelly 12th, Keelan Moorhead 16th, Sean Lavan 17th, Ben Moran 20th, Eoin Woods 30th and Matthew Coleman 33rd.
Craughwell AC's U12 Girls Cross Country Team at the Galway Championships in Tuam
Craughwell AC's U12 Boys Cross Country Team, Galway Champions 2016
In the U12 2000m, the Craughwell girls team just lost out on bronze when placing 4th with 62 points, tied with Ballinasloe but just losing on countback of 4th place position. Craughwell were led home by Clodagh O’Meara in 7th place, followed by Fauve Aylmer 13th, Jade Moorhead 14th, Abbie Rooney 28th, Erin Doyle 36th, Grace Leen 37th, Holly O’Boyle 38th and Rachel Kinane 39th. The Craughwell boys team had a strong run to take the gold medals with 27 points with Cian Lavan and Mathys Bocquet taking 2nd and 3rd place followed by Luke Flynn 10th, Evan Hallinan 12th, Cormac McFadden 19th, Lucas Keane 20th, Killian Walsh 21st, Alan Connaughton 24th and Michael Woods 28th.
In the U14 3000m, the Craughwell girls took the silver medals with 47 points led home by Ellie Cronin 10th, Rebekah Flynn 11th, Emma Jane Moran 12th, Asia Clarke 14th and Alisha Larkin 19th. While a strong boys team raced to the Galway title with 17 points where Sean Cotter took the club’s first individual gold medal of the day followed by Liam Leen in 3rd, Ross McGuinness 5th, Oisin Davis 8th, Paschal Walsh 12th, Dara McCartin 13th, James Furey 15th, Noah Keane 18th and Aoran Healey 20th.
Craughwell AC's U14Boys Cross Country Team, Galway Champions 2016
In the U16 girls 4000m, Catherine Noonan raced to individual bronze medal while Sarah Woods took 7th place. While in the boys 4000m, Ben Ryan and William Fitzgerald had fine runs to place 2nd and 3rd with Patrick Noonan 7th, Finbar McFadden 8th, Sean Noonan 9th, Kyle Moorhead 10th and Conor Murphy 15th. The team took the Galway title with 20 points. Caron Ryan took the Galway title in the U18 girls 4000m in fine style with Aoife Greene 7th.
In the Senior Men’s 8000m, Peter O’Sullivan placed 4th and in the process took the silver medal in the senior category, leading the Craughwell team to bronze medals with Ollie Mullins 8th, Johnny Lane 12th and Michael Walsh 22nd.
Full results of the day are here:-
Galway_Cross_Country_-_Even_ages_and_adults_PROVISIONAL_RESULTS.pdf
Craughwell AC's U14 Girls Cross Country Team, silver medallists in the Galway team championship 2016
Craughwell AC's U16 Boys Cross Country Team, Galway Champions 2016
Sean Noonan, Patrick Noonan, Conor Murphy, Ben Ryan, Finbar McFadden, Kyle Moorhead, William Fitzgerald
Craughwell NS Senior Boys Champions 2016
Craughwell NS Senior Boys - Galway Champions 2016
A strong Craughwell NS 5th/6th class boys team took the Galway title in the Primary Schools Cross Country Championships last Tuesday with a low points total of 68 points. Led home by a strong performance from Ross McGuinness in 4th place, Ross was followed by a super 16th place finish from Robert Urquhart more renowned for his sprinting exploits, Evan Hallinan 22nd, Darragh McCartin 26th, Luke Flynn 34th and Eoin Byrne 42nd. It is the 3rd time that the school have won the Galway senior title and the first time since 2008, a great achievement for the team! Check out here for results in previous years. Clarinbridge placed 9th and Killeeneen 10th in strong performance in a very high standard race.
In the 5th/6th class girls race, Clarinbridge’s Saoirse Moore had a fine run to take individual 6th place following closely by Craughwell NS’s Clodagh O’Meara in 7th and Jade Moorhead in 8th, with Coldwood’s Fauve Alymer also qualifying for the Connacht finals with a 14th place finish. The Craughwell team placed 5th with Clarinbridge 6th and Killeeneen 8th.
In the 3rd/4th class boys race, it was Killeeneen’s turn to shine with an amazing performance from their 2 teams when placing 2nd and 4th. Eddie Silke from Clarinbridge took individual 13th place while the Craughwell NS team placed 10th.
In the 3rd/4th class race, Craughwell NS’s Ella Farrelly took 6th place with Killeeneen’s Sophie McIlrath close behind in 8th place and the Craughwell team placed 5th overall, Killeeneen 6th and Ballymana 10th.
Full results are here.
Results of Galway Primary Schools XC Finals 2016
Provisional results of today's cross country finals are here. Any queries should be referred to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Well done to everyone who took part and a big thank you to all who helped. The top 15 individuals and top 3 teams in each age group go forward to the Connacht finals which take place in Sligo on Saturday 15th October in Sligo. I will publish more precise details on the venue and start time when it has been announced.
We make a mistake in the team results announced earlier at the event where in the 5th/6th class girls, a data entry error omitted a Claregalway NS runner and when corrected, Claregalway NS take the gold medals. We will order a new set of medals for Claregalway and the other teams can retain their medals and we will seek to put 4 teams through to the Connacht finals.
Also to the children who have taken part in the semifinals or finals of the primary schools cross country who are not already in an athletic club, you may be interested in the club competition that is coming up on the first 2 Sundays of October.
Day 1 of the Galway Club Cross Country Championships are on Sunday next 2nd October at 1pm in the Palace Grounds, Tuam. This is separate to the primary schools cross country and you do not have to have qualified for it.
There are races for:
- U10 1000m (born 2007/08)
- U12 2000m (born 2005/06)
- U14 3000m (born 2003/04)
- Older ages
And the 2nd day of the club championships takes place the following Sunday with races for U9 800m (born 2008/09), U11 1500m (born 2006/07) and U13 2500m (born 2004/05).
If your athlete enjoyed the primary schools cross country, is not already in the club and fancies taking up the sport, this is an ideal event to start in. You need to be a member of a club in order to take part. There is contact information for each club in Galway available at galwayathletics.com or contact myself at 087 6591879 if you need more information.
The Back Baller - Our Celebrity Gift!
And as a parting gift to our celebrity guests, the club presented a set of 10 Back Baller foam rollers to the celebrities and their experts to help them in their athletic pursuits.
The Back Baller is the invention of Shannon-based entreprenur Noel Marshall and comes highly recommended by the renowed Limerick physical therapist Gerard Hartmann and Ireland's leading female athlete Sonia O'Sullivan. It was recently launched in Shannon and by all accounts, is just flying out of the warehouse there. You can read more about it and the accompanying program of stretches developed by Gerard Hartmann at www.backballer.com.
If interested in ordering one, please do so via the club as Noel Marshall will sponsor the club in return for our help in advertising his product. Tracy who looks after our club merchandising amongst many other things, can take details of your order at 087 8810737 and you will be able to collect it from the club within a week.
Well Done Operation Transformation!
Lovely finale to the Celebrity Operation Transformation show with a lovely piece on the club and the activities last Saturday which capture perfectly the spirit of the club as a happy happy place for exercise and fun as well as developing your skills to the best of your ability. Well done Operation Transformation! And roll on Craughwell AC!!! ... things are just flying now ... new facilities almost complete ... massive publicity on national TV ... loads of new kids joining the club at all ages ... 40 senior infants starting ... at least 20 new teenagers joining ... and even more teenagers joining fit4youth ... more of our athletes sticking at the sport in college ... first US scholarship ... club currently 2nd largest in the country with 509 junior members ... and soon to be the largest I reckon with membership threatening to go close to 600 once all new members have registered. Way to go Craughwell AC!!
Operation Transformation team lead out our colour run ... the moment captured perfectly by Kevin Moore
Don't miss the big event ...
Don't miss the big event ... tonight 9:35pm RTE1 .... starring Craughwell AC with support from the celebs!!!!
RunIreland coloured the color run!
A massive thank you to Ray O'Connor who bailed us out in an emergency last Saturday. With Operation Transformation coming to town we were very concerned that we were not going to have enough paint for the extra numbers in the colour run and Ray very kindly loaned us boxes of powder that RunIreland had left over from a colour run earlier this year as well as loaning us the RunIreland race gantry for use as the finish line for the colour run.
For the adult runners amongst our members and the parents of of our juveniles, you should check out the superb Galway Bay races organised by Ray and his legendary Connemarathon races. The Galway Bay races are expected to sell out this weekend - click on the image below for more details if you are interested in taking part. Many notable athletes have graced this race and its predecessor the Galway Bay 10 in the past including runner 5297 in 2006 :-).
