Craughwell AC’s U16 Boys 4x200m team who won silver at the Connacht Indoors in Athlone IT
Evan Hallinan, Sean Cunningham, Ryan McDonnell, Evan Quinn

Another outstanding day of athletics action took place in Athlone IT for day 2 of the Connacht Championships where the U14 to U19 age groups were taking place. Highlights included a blistering 9.61 for Ella Farrelly to take gold in the U14 hurdles and fever pitch excitement in the relays where Craughwell AC’s U16 boys were pipped for the Connacht title by the tiny fraction of one-hundredth of a second and later in the day the Craughwell U15 Girls relay holding on to win the Connacht title by a similar margin.

Kyle Moorhead after his win in the 1500m in AIT and Ross McGuinness who ran 1500m (Silver) and 800m

In the older age groups, Kyle Moorhead controlled the field in the U19 1500m, finishing off a tactical race with three very fast laps to win in 4:25. Freya Bohan placed 5th in the U19 60m sprint in a swift 8.45 but had to withdraw from remaining events due to a recurrent knee problem.

Ellie Cronin leaped to the Connacht U18 high jump title with a 1.50m clearance before exiting at 1.55m. Despite struggling a little over the last few weeks with a knee injury, it was a good high jump performance from Ellie and one she followed up later in the day with bronze in the 60m hurdles in 10.21 – perfectly timing her dip (or was it a trip!) at the end to dive over the line and take the bronze by 0.02 of a second!

In the U18 800m, Oisin Davis ran well to win silver in 2.06.40. Alisha Larkin raced to bronze in the U18 Girls 60m in a time of 8.43 and later improved on this with a silver medal in the 200m in 28.32 and also adding silver in the long jump with a fine 4.68m leap.

Ellie Cronin, Connacht U18 High Jump Champion 2020 and 
Alisha Larkin who won triple medals in U18 60m. 200m and LJ

Saoirse Moore and Saoirse Pierce who won silver and gold in the U17 Girls High Jump

U18/19 athletes
Oisin Davis, Alicia Larkin,Freya Bohan and Ellie Cronin

In the U17 age group, Ross McGuinness kicked things off with a solid 4.33.99 to win silver is a strong U17 Boys 1500m field. In the U17 Girls 1500m, Emily Miskella, recently recovering from injury was 5th in a respectable 5.25.14. Saoirse Pierce won a fine Connacht High Jump title with a leap of 1.45, pipping her club-mate Saoirse Moore who won silver in the same event with 1.35m. Saoirse Pierce also won bronze in the 60m Hurdles later in the day in a time of 11.00. Ross McGuinness couldn’t quite shake off the earlier 1500m from his legs and ran 2.16.21 for 6th place in the 800m later in the day. Saoirse Moore ran bravely to come 4th in the U17 girls 800m in a time of 2:36.52. Lukas Schukat took silver in the high jump with a 1.65m clearance and bronze in the long jump with a leap of 4.60m.

Lukas Schukat who won silver and bronze in the U17 HJ and LJ

and Emily Miskella recovering from her 800m race in AIT

The U16s kicked off their day of action with some scintillating performances in the relays. First onto the track, the girls’ team of Aoibhe Donnellan, Jade Moorhead, Siofra Davis and Ella Lyons stormed to silver medals in their 4x200m in a time of 1:53.79 followed by the club’s second team in 5th place in a time of 2:02.67 which featured Leonore Church, Erin Kelly, Aoibhe Fahy and Clodagh O’Meara. The boy’s team ran a super race to lose out on the line just by one-hundredth of a second to a strong South Galway AC team, a team who routinely feature on the National podium. The Craughwell team were Ryan McDonnell, Sean Cunningham, Evan Hallinan and Evan Quinn and they took silver in an excellent time of 1:43.59.

U16 Girls 4x200m team who won silver in the relay
Jade Moorhead, Siofra Davis, Ella Lyons, Aouibhe Donnellan

U16 Girls 4x200m team who placed 5th in the relay
Clodagh O’Meara, Leonore Church, Aoibhe Fahy, Erin Kelly

Ryan McDonnell had a super sprinting day with silver in the 60m in 7.96 and 4th place in the 200m in 25.81 despite some confusion at the start of the 200m which gave him a slow start out of the blocks. Sean Cunningham powered to bronze in the 200m in an excellent 25.45, knocking 0.25s off his Galway time in the process.
Clodagh O’Meara was very impressive in the 800m with an excellent 2:37.39 and an electric last lap to take 4th place in 2:37.39, only a half-second off the bronze position. Alana Grogan took silver in the 1500m race walk in an excellent time of 9:16.29. Siofra Davis stormed to silver in the 60m hurdles in 10.15, edging closer and closer to the elite sub-10 mark with Leonore Church 4th in 11.20 and Ella Lyons 5th in 11.91.

Jade Moorhed, Connacht U16 High Jump Champion 2020
and Alana Grogan who won silver in the U16 Girls walk

Cian Lavin and Evan Hallinan
who won bronze and silver in the U16 Boys High Jump

Jade Moorhead took a fantastic gold in the girls high jump with first time clearances from 1.40m all the way up to 1.55m, with Siofra Davis 4th with 1.40 and Leonore Church and Erin Kelly in 5th and 6th with 1.30 and 1.25. Evan Hallinan took double silver in the U16 Boys long jump with 5.28m and in the high jump with a big clearance of 1.65m, with Cian Lavan 3rd in the high jump with 1.50m Evan Quinn placed 4th in the long jump with 4.68m with Cian Lavan 7th with 4.51, Calvin Ryan 11th with 4.02 and Andrew Power 12th with 3.89.

Ella Lyons was the leading Craughwell jumper in the U16 Girls long jump with a best of 4.21 to place 6th followed by Siofra Davis 7th with 4.17, Erin Kelly 8th with 4.12 and Aoibhe Fahy 10th with 3.97. In the boys shot putt, Calvin Ryan took silver with an impressive throw of 9.18m and in the girls, Aoibhe Fahy placed 4th with a best of 8.51m.

U15 Girls 4x200m team, Connacht Indoor Champions 2020!
Ella Farrelly, Grace Keaveney, Issy Fitzgerald, Tara Morgan

In the U15 age group, Aoibhe Donnellan raced to a brilliant PB of 8.33 to claim the Connacht title in the 60m, with Tara Morgan and Adara Salvo also racing to excellent times also of 9.22 and 9.64. Oliver Ginty place 8th in the boys 60m in an impressive 8.49 and went on later to take the silver medal in an excellent 2:19.30. Holly O’Boyle gave it her all in the 800m sticking in the leading group through 600m but lactic acid kicking in for the last 200m to place her 8th in a time of 2:44.47.

Grace Keaveney and Issy Fitzgerald
who won silver and gold in the U15 Girls Long Jump and High Jump

Aoibhe Donnellan and Tara Morgan
pictured after Aoibhe won the U15 Girls 60m Connacht title

In the jumps, Issy Fitzgerald took silver in the high jump with a 1.30m clearance while Grace Keaveney led the way with a super 4.41m leap to take the silver medal in the long jump. Sean Liston took bronze in the high jump with a comfortable 1.55m clearance and earlier ran 9.04 in the 60m sprint. Oliver Ginty placed 5th in the boys’ long jump with a leap of 4.43m while Tara Morgan placed 7th in the girls’ long jump with a 3.94m PB and Issy Fitzgerald 15th with 3.74m. Issy also placed 4th in the shot put with 7.27m, closely followed by Tara Morgan in 6th with 6.86m with Holly O’Boyle 9th with 4.32m.

The relays saw the U15 boys team place 4th in a time of 2:02.39 with Sean Lavan, Fionn Higgins, Sean Liston and Oliver Ginty while a fascinating finish saw the girls team claim the Connacht title in an excellent 1:57.79 with Ella Farrelly, Grace Keaveney, Issy Fitzgerald and Tara Morgan – Tara holding on in the last 200m to win by 0.01 of a second!

In the U14 grade, Ella Farrelly had a super day with triple Connacht titles and a bronze. Ella started her day with bronze in the 60m in 8.72 and following it up with triple Connacht titles in the hurdles in a fantastic time of 9.61 and in the long jump with an excellent 4.59 and later in the U15 relay to take the Connacht title. Amelie Grogan produced an incredible PB to take the silver medal in the long jump with 4.52m. Isabel Schukat took 4 place in the high jump with a 1.30m PB and placed 10th in the long jump with 3.82m. Alysso Salvo raced to a time of 9.50 in the 60m while Matthew Coleman placed 12th in the boys’ event with 9.16. Sean Lavin placed 8th in the boys’ 60m hurdles in a time of 12.15.

Craughwell U14 Girls 4x200m relay team
who placed 6th at the Connacht Championships

Keely and Amelie Grogan recorded times of 12.47 and 12.54 in the girls’ 60m hurdles with Keely leaping 3.59m in the long jump followed by Beth and Gillian Crowe with 3.39m and 3.34m. Sean Lavan took 4th place in the boy’s long jump with 3.78m with Fionn Higgins close behind in 5th place with 3.75m.

Darragh Kelly was very impressive in the high jump, claiming the Connacht title with a 1.50m leap off the opposite to what he is used to, switching sides due to an injury to his jumping foot and accomplishing an extremely rare ‘feet’ feat to be able to jump so well off either foot. Darragh also placed 6th in the shot with a throw of 6.89m with Sean Lavin 8th with 5.82m. In the relays, the U14 girls placed 6th in a time of 2:06.41 with Isabel Schukat, Keeley and Amelie Grogan, and Gillian and Beth Crowe).

Oisin Davis with his Connacht 800m Silver