Several athletes from the club put in some exceptional performances at the Connacht Secondary Schools Combined Events finals which took place last Friday in Athlone IT.

There was double glory for athletes from the club in the Minor age categories where Damien O’Boyle (representing Calasanctius Oranmore) taking the Connacht title in the boys event with 1495 points (75m hurdles 13.5, shot putt 8.06m, long jump 4.23m, 800m 2.26.9) and Sinead Treacy (St Raphael’s Loughrea) taking the title in the girls event with 1471 points (75m hurdles 14.8, shot putt 5.29m, long jump 4.17m, 800m 2.47.2). Ciara Greene (Bower Athlone) took 3rd place in the girls event with 1261 points (75m hurdles 15.1, shot putt 4.40m, long jump 3.67mm, 800m 2.40.8), with Ellen Treacy (Loughrea VS) taking 4th place with 1213 points (75m hurdles 14.8, shot putt 4.73m, long jump 3.70m, 800m 3.00.0) and Conor O’Donoghue (Pres Athenry) finishing with 1066 points in the boys event (75m hurdles 13.7, shot putt 6.36m, long jump 4.23m, 800m 3.01.7).

In the Junior Girls category, athletes from the club took a clean sweep of the honours with Maria McNamara (Pres Athenry) posting an exceptional 2524 points to take the Connacht title, Sinead Gaffney (Pres Athenry) putting in a big performance to rack up 2396 points to claim the silver medal and Ella Bryan (St Raphael’s Loughrea) also putting in an impressive performance to score 2089 points to take the bronze medal.

Maria’s score included 1.45m in the high jump, 4.85m in the long jump, 13.2 in the 75m hurdles, 2:45.9 in the 800m and a big PB of 7.74m in the shot putt). Sinead had a big PB of 1.35m in the high jump, 5.99m in the shot putt, 4.40m in the long jump, 13.3 in the 75m hurdles and 2:36.2 in the 800m. Ella put in a huge effort to take a fantastic 3rd place in the 800m (not her favourite distance!) in a time of 3.06.8, leaped 4.05m in the long jump, 1.35m in the high jump, 12.5 in the 75m hurdles and an impressive 7.71m in the shot putt. 

In the Intermediate Girls category, Katie O’Donoghue (Pres Athenry) put in a fine performance to finish in 5th place with a score of 2093 points, with 1.35m in the high jump, a good throw of the 4kg shot with 5.88m, 4.06m in the long jump, 14.7s in the 80m hurdles and victory in the 800m in a time of 2:38.0. Karen Roche (St Raphael’s Loughrea) competed impressively in the same age group, finishing in 6th place overall in her first time in a multi-event competition with a score of 1566 points (80m hurdles 15.6, high jump 1.30m, long jump 3.99m, shot putt 5.49m, 800m 3.22.9). Melissa Mullins (Gort CS) also battled bravely in the same category – also her first time in a multi-event competition where she leaped an impressive 4.25m in the long jump, 1.25m in the high jump, 20.2 in the 80m hurdles, 5.89m in the shot putt and 3.39.6 in the 800m.

Also in action, Diarmuid Prendergast (Loughrea VS) competed well in the Junior Boys age group – taking 3rd place in the high jump with a 1.40m leap and scoring 1534 points overall (80m hurdles 15.6, high jump 1.40m, long jump 3.76m, shot putt 8.71m, 200m 29.4, 800m 3.08.6); Shaun Gallagher (St Raphael’s Loughrea) resumed his athletics career, competing in the Intermediate Boys age group where he scored 1945 points (100m hurdles 19.2, long jump 4.71m, high jump 1.30m, 200m 25.5, shot putt 6.45m, 800m 2.36.3). Niall Rooney (Athenry VS) was close to the medals in the same age group when finishing in 5th place with 2533 points (100m hurdles 17.7, long jump 5.12m, high jump 1.60m, 200m 26.2, shot putt 8.89m, 800m 2.28.3).