The races got underway with the Junior Girls 800m, where Craughwell NS put in an outstanding performance with with 6 runners placing in the top 60 and 5 in the top 30 – which yielded a score of 96 points and the silver medals (21 Mia Waters, 22 Roisin Hansbury, 26 Jane Trehy, 27 Sarah McCartin, 28 Ailbhe Miskella, 59 Emma Urquhart and sub Beth Sullivan). It was a particularly strong run from Roisin who seems to be gaining strength with each successive race. Ballymana NS placed 9th with a score of 246 pts (30 Lenagh Gilligan, 51 Eva Kelly, 80 Caoimhe Gilligan, 85 Sinead Keane, 99 Ciara Horan, 105 Sarah Kelly) while Bryna Milton (Scoil Mhuire Clarinbridge) placed 35th.

The Craughwell NS medallists are pictured below after receiving their medals from Irish international athletes Maria McNamara and Claire Ryder.

The team performance of the day came from the Oranmore Boys NS team in the Junior Boys 800m race which they won with 3 runners placed in the top ten and a team score of 43 points (7 Alex Fearon, 8 Estavio Eilipe, 10 David Walsh, 18 Sean Cannon, 32 Conor Hughes, 97 Alan Green) with Craughwell NS finishing 6th with 137 pts (4 Finbar McFadden, 26 Darren Lyons, 49 Darragh O’Connor, 58 Kevin Molloy, 74 Kyle Moorhead, 75 Jack Walsh, Victor Costello). Rory Moran (Kilcolgan Educate Together) placed 23rd, with Cathal Walshe (Ardrahan NS) 37th and Ryan Gallagher (Ballymana NS) 63rd. This was Oranmore Boys’s 4th year in a row as far as I know to win this race – an incredible achievement. For Finbar McFadden, his achievement in finishing 4th in the Junior Boys race puts him as the highest placed boy from Craughwell NS over the years at Connacht level.

In the senior girls 1000m, Dearbhaile Walshe (Ardrahan NS) has a fantastic race to take 3rd place while Craughwell NS’s Erin Fitzpatrick also had a great performance to take individual 11th place. Ballymana NS placed 6th in the team event with a score of 204 points (30 Grace Whirskey, 50 Alice Whirskey, 62 Shonagh Gilligan, 63 Ciana Reidy, 68 Emma Waters, 73 Cliodhna Guilford), while Anita Moran, Scoil Mhuire Clarinbridge duo Anita Moran and Ciara O’Boyle placed 42nd and 51st. Erin’s 11th place finish puts her at number 2 on the all-time finishers list from Craughwell NS, amidst some notable names:-

Top individual performance of the day came form James Cahalane (Oranmore Boys NS) who won the individual title in the Senior Boys 1000m, leading his team to siliver with 83 points (15 Brendan Cummins, 27 Jim Crowley, 40 Cillian Doyle, 53 Sean Delaney, 90 Michael Hand). Liam Moran (Scoil Mhuire Clarinbridge) placed 8th in the Senior Boys event to led his school to a historic set of bronze medals with 99 points (23 Shane Ryan, 29 Conor Lee, 39 Jack Egan, 46 Ben Sharkey, 97 Jack Touhy). Craughwell NS placed 6th with 221 points (35 Ronan Nevin, 45 Conor Roche, 64 Eoin Fahy, 77 Alan Callanan, 81 Dean Callanan, 88 Cian Waters, Liam Gilligan) while Brian Loughnane (Kilnadeemna NS) placed 13th, Sam McArdle, (Killeeneen) placed 22nd and Dylan Finn (Ballymana NS) placed 61st.