National Champions being interviewed by the press!

It was another incredible weekend of athletics for the club at the National indoor relay finals in Athlone IT. The mega highlight of the day was the amazing performance of our U19 boys 4x200m relay when they blasted to the National title with a breathtaking display of sprinting in an elite time of 1.31.83 only .58 of second from breaking the national record.

The U15 boys were also in flying form with an exceptional run to place 4th in the final of their 4x200m in an excellent time of 1.44.83 and equally so, the boys U12 4x100m team who placed 4th in the final in a time of 58.19. 

There were some fine performances also from our girls’ teams, most notably the U18 girls who took 5th place in their 4x200m in a new club record of 1.49.03. The team line-up was Sinead Treacy, Tara McNally, Ellen Fitzpatrick and Ciara Greene and they eclipsed the record of 1.49.73 that they set last year at the same venue. The U16 girls’ quartet of Eimear Loughnane, Aisling Keady-Cummins, Mary Dunphy and Dearbhaile Walshe were unlucky in their 4x200m to be disqualified for a zone fault. The U14 girls 4x200m of Caoimhe Allen, Tara Slattery, Finola Kelly and Rachael Hughes raced well to record a time of 2.02.19 in their heat. They were missing our leading U14 runner Siona Lawless who is out of action with injury. The U13 girls recorded an exceptional time of 57.49 to place 4th in their heat but unlucky not to make the final. Such a time has been good enough to take a medal in the past. The girls were Niamh Niland, Jane Trehy, Mia Waters, Eva Kelly and Caoimhe Gilligan.

U14 Girls 4x200m Relay Team

The U12 girls had to cope with running their heat twice with some issue in regard to runners incorrectly lined up in a zone resulting in a full rerun of the race. The team were Aoife Kelly, Aíne Kelly, Ava Finn, Ailbhe Doyle and Ciara Hughes. The girls ran a good time of 60.76s but didn’t make it into the final. However, they have the consolation of running the fastest ever 4x100m time for the club, just pipping the previous best ran in 2009 by Hannah Rabbitte, Grainne McDaid, Caoimhe Reidy and Tara McNally.

National U19 4x200m Champions 2014
John Cormican, Nicholas Sheehan, Aidan Conneely, Conor Duggan

But back to the boys and in particular the achievement of the U19 4x200m team. The team was comprised of 2 sprinters (Aidan Conneely and Conor Duggan) and 2 800m runners (John Cormican and Nicholas Sheehan) and to win in such style and with such an impressive time was incredible. The time is one of the fastest ever to be run by a junior men’s 4x200m team – only 1.26s from the national junior record. Given that the team had just 1 practice session for baton passes, who knows what a little practice might do to that record!

Their victory was a special moment of pride for the club particularly as the lads are doing the sport from a young age with Aidan joining the club in 2006 as an 8-year old, Nicholas as a 9-year the same year, Conor as a 10-year old in 2009 and John as a 14 year old in 2011. To run so close to the National record with a combination of sprinters and distance runners was unbelievable and augurs very well for the future of the club if the lads stick at the sport into their adulthood.

The U19s might need to be looking over their shoulder however as another incredible team is on the way up with the U15 boys is recording a very impressive time of 1.44.83 to place 4th in the U15 4x200m final. The team were Cian Waters, Oisin Lyons, Sean Delaney and Daniel Callanan-Forde. They eclipsed the club record for this age group by over 6 seconds – a record shared by none other than 2 of the current U19 team Aidan and Conor, and great encouragement for the U15s who have come close to National medals in the past but have just lost out on a number of occasions.

U15 Boys 4x200m Team
Ciaw Waters, Sean Delaney, Oisin Lyons, Daniel Callanan-Forde

The U12 boys 4x100m also had a fantastic performance when placing first in their heat in a time of 58.14. Controversy later ensued when officials declared a rerun due to some objections in regard to zone faults. With 3 faster times from the other heat, it was very unfair to have to run an extra race. The boys qualified in 2nd place in the rerun and went on to race heroically in the final to take 4th place in a time of 58.19 – repeating the feat of the U12 girls when setting a new club record for this age group. The team were Shaun Gilligan, Padraig Martyn, Sam O’Neill, Gavin Lee and Ben Lalor.

The U13 boys battled bravely in their heats to record a time of 57.90 but missed out on the final with their team of Ryan Gallagher, Alex Evans, Finbar McFadden, Kyle Moorhead and Cian Garman. The U14 boys ran a good time of 1.58.14 in their heat but didn’t make the final. The team were Luke Roberts, Oisin Shannon, Conor Hughes, Cathal Walsh and Jack O’Neill.

Overall it was a great indoors for the club. You can check out how we ranked against other clubs at the following website:-

http://www.arcurankings.com/irish-indoors-club-rankings.html

We’re up there at number 8 club in Ireland overall and the leading club in Connacht, which is a great achievement for everyone involved in the club!