The first weekend of the National Indoor Track and Field Championships took place on Saturday and there were some great results for Craughwell AC Athletes. The first weekend was mainly relays, but there were also some field events.  Craughwell AC got this years Nationals off to a fantastic start with TWO Gold Medals, ONE Silver and a host of top-6 performances.

Evan Hallinan won Gold with a fantastic 13.2m clearance in the Triple Jump.  Andrew Power was unlucky to finish in 4th with a spectacular leap of 11.4m. 

In the 4x200m relay, the U16 Boys team won against the very best in the country.  Conor Penney led it out in the heats, passing to Toyosi George and Kai Watters and Donnacha Lawless to win the heat in 1:38.10.  Unfortunately in his warm-up for the final, Toyosi felt a hamstring niggle but luckily Sean Hoade who was there spectating stepped forward and lined up, taking the 3rd leg.  Sean proved a worthy substitute as the team won a famous Gold in 1:38.16.  Crauighwell were second on the track and delighted with the result but Tallaght AC were disqualified for a lane infringement, hoisting Craughwell to Gold.

Our U13 team of Darragh O’Donnell, Sean Colleran, Ruairí Mc Nena, Lincoln King, Ciarán Mc Nena and Jamie O Reilly brought home Silver in a smashing run. They came home behind an outstanding South galway team to make for a very Galway-flavoured podium! The future is bright!

The u12 girls team of Lauren Kelly, Ruby Maher, Laoise Colleran, Reailtin Ward, Cerys Johnston and Lola Whitney-Mangan combined brilliantly to finish 5th.

The U14 Team of Oisín O’Donovan, Seán Cleare, Dáithí Lawless, Alan Hallinan and Zach Keane ran and won  a heart stopping heat to qualify for the final where they also took 5th place.

The u15 girls team of Rachel Warde, Aeveen Kelly, Beth Glynn and Katie Leen qualified in 2nd for the final but got an unlucky Lane 1 draw in the final and finished in 6th.