Craughwell AC’s Kyle Moorhead who smashed the club’s 800m record at the weekend
in the Connacht Games in Athlone

Craughwell AC athletes participated in good numbers in the Connacht Outdoor Games which were held last weekend rather than the full Championships that take place each year. It was a historic occasion for the club’s new facility as it hosted its first ever official Connacht event with the holding of the long jump and shot putt on Saturday and the sprints and distance races held the following day in Athlone.

A big thank you to Amanda Hynes and Iain Shaw for organising the event .. it was super for the athletes to have some official Connachtr competitive action. Full results of the 2 days are here.

Leanagh Gilligan was the star of the show on Saturday with a massive 5.40m PB to claim gold in the U19 age group, only 5cm away from breaking Sinead Treacy’s club record for the event. Alisha Larkin was also in blistering form with a 5.09 PB to claim victory in the U18 Girls event while Laura Cunningham was unlucky to be a little behind the board on each jump when jumping a best of 4.89m to take victory in the senior event.

Sophie O’Brian placed 2nd in the U17 Girls long jump with an impressive 4.83 while Ella Lyons claimed 4th place in the U16 Girls long jump with 4.48 with Erin Kelly 6th with 4.29 and Leonore Church 7th with 4.11. Grace Keaveney took gold in the U15 Girls long jump with an impressive PB of 4.67m while Ella Farrelly won the U14 Girls long jump with a fine leap of 4.49m, with Isobel Schukat 3rd with 3.97 and Gillian and Beth Crowe in 4th and 5th place with 3.70 and 3.64. In the shot putt, Calvin Ryan placed 2nd in the U16 Boys event with an impressive 9.09m throw.

Lukas Schukat took 2nd place in the U17 Boys long jump with an impressive 5.36m. Evan Quinn took 2nd place in the U16 Boys age group with a best of 4.77m with Andrew Power 3rd with 4.28 while Darragh Kelly took victory in the U14 Boys long jump with a best of 4.48m.

On Sunday, Kyle Moorhead’s super season continued with a club-record-breaking 1:57.08 time to break Jack Miskella’s record of 1:57.47 set last year. Kyle took the victory in the U19 age group on a day which saw some of the fastest times at a Connacht track & field in years. Oisin Davis ran a big PB of 2:00.85 in the same race to take the victory in the U18 age group with Luke Burke 3rd U18 in 2:10.31.

Jack Miskella took victory in the senior 800m in 1:58.58 with Gavin Cooney 3rd in 2:00.16 and Luke Evans 4th in 2:06.04. Mathys Bocquet took 2nd place in the U15 Boys 800m in 2:13.72. In the women’s 800m, Sinead Gaffney raced to victory in a fine 2:20.57 with Leanne Freaney and Grainne McDaid making a long-awaited return to outdoor track & field when racing to times of 2:54.84 and 3:42.65 to place 6th and 7th in the same race. Jade Moorhead won the U16 Girls 800m in a time of 2:43.24 while Hannah Whelan was 5th in the U17 Girls in a time of 2:51.29 and Muireann Leen placed 7th in the U15 Girls in a time of 2:53.15.

In the 3000m, Emily Miskella took victory in the U17 race in a time of 10:59.60 while Emma Boyle placed 2nd in the U18 Girls event in 10:49.99. In the men’s race, William Fitzgerald won the U20 Mens race in 8:56.09 while Ross McGuinness did likewise in the U17 3000m in a time of 9:27.80 with Anthony Boyle 2nd in 9:50.33.

The 100m races also saw some fine performances with Ella Farrelly taking victory in the U14 Girls race in 13.64, Oliver Ginty 2nd in the U15 Boys 100m in 13.35, David Mulligan 5th in the Senior Mens 100m in 12.35 with Brian Malone 7th with 12.85.