Back to Dangan on Sunday for the 2nd day of the Galway track and field championships. This was the 2nd time in 5 days that most of these athletes were competing in Dangan, having competed at the Secondary Schools track and field earlier in the week. Thankfully the atrocious weather of last Wednesday did not rear its stormy head again and other than two short sharp showers, we escaped the punishment dished out on Wednesday. With over 80 athletes from the club taking part, there was a great buzz to the proceedings.

The day kicked off with the U12 4x100m relays where the girls A team stormed home to victory in a time of 61.2, with the B team unlucky not to take bronze. In the boys, a tight race to the line saw Craughwell just pipped for the silver medal on the line and had to settle for bronze in a time of 60.0. The U13 girls and boys team, fresh from the All-Ireland medal winning exploits in Maheraghfelt took the gold medals in their races in fine style in times of 58.5 and 55.9. The U14 girls took the silver medals and the boys team took bronze in times of 57.2 and 58.6.  

In the U15 age group, our boys team used to be the strongest in the country but has been decimated by conflicting commitments to other sports and sadly it looks like a few members of that team have given up the sport. But it gives some new members of the team a chance and they ran strongly today to take the silver medals behind GCH in a time of 56.2. In the girls U15, we have some super athletes who ran a fine relay in a good time of 56.2. Unfortunately however, we were up against other super teams here and had to settle for 4th place. In the U16s, a strong run by the girls’ team saw them take the gold medals in a time of 54.9 – very close to the club senior record of 54.5. The U17 girls ran an identical time in their race to take the silver medals. And possibly for the first time, we had an U18 girls team take part in the relays, taking silver medals in a time of 58.6 and possibly having had a chance of a club record were it not for a dropped baton on the final leg.

In the sprints, the club had plenty of success with 9 athletes featuring in the medals – U12 Girls 80m 1 Tara McNally (11.8), 3 Grainne McDaid (12.4); U13 Girls 80m 3 Sineád Treacy; U13 Boys 80m 1 Aidan Conneely (10.2); U14 Girls 80m 2 Claire Ryder (10.7); U14 Girls 200m 1 Claire Ryder (28.6); U14 Boys 200m 3 Cathal Reidy (29.9); U16/17 Boys 400m 1 Peadar Harvey (57.3). Aidan’s time of 10.2 in particular was outstanding and possibly the leading time in the country for this age group.

The hurdles also saw a strong showing from the club, particularly in the U13 boys where the club took all three medals :-  U13 Girls 60mh 2 Sineád Treacy (12.1); U13 Boys 60mh 1 Conor Duggan, 2 Conor O’Donoghue, 3 Jamie Spelman; U14 Boys 75mh 1 Christopher O’Connor (15.1); U15 Girls 80mh 3 Maria McNamara (15.3); U18/19 Girls 100mh 1 Rachel Finnegan, 2 Sophie Ralston; U15 Girls 250mh 1 Caoimhe Quill.

As usual the middle-distance races threw up their usual share of drama with Grainne McDaid battling all the way to the line to just miss out on the gold medal in the U12 girls 600m, Linda Porter pipping her regular rival Michelle Maher from GCH on the line in the U15 800m and Michelle getting her own back to win the 1500m, Ashley McDonnell returning to top form in the same 800m race to run a super time of 2.31.7 and miss out on the bronze by only a metre, Finn Stoneman and Paul Fitzpatrick battling it out in the U15 800m race but different age groups with Finn just shading it in the final 3 metres and Fitzie getting a huge PB, Damien O’Boyle in his first 600m ever almost taking a medal in a great battle with Jamie Spelman, Finn Stoneman and Conor Gillen having a super battle in the same 1500 race but different age groups with Finn shading it in a time of 4.57.8, Muireann Maloney racing to victory in the U14/15 girls 1500 and in the process beating some very accomplished GCH and Ballinasloe runners, and Peadar Harvey running a scintillating 800m in a time of 2.06.5 to win the gold in the U17 boys 800m. Medal winners were as follows in the middle distance races, with the full results later in this report.

Distance: U12 Girls 600m 2 Grainne McDaid (2.00.2); U12 Boys 600m 3 Oisin Doyle (1.55.7); U13 Girls 600m 2 Ellen Treacy (1.55.9); U13 Boys 600m 3 Jamie Spelman (1.53.5); U14 Boys 800m 1 Conor Gillen (2.25.4); U15 Boys 800m 1 Finn Stoneman (2.24.3), 2 Paul Fitzpatrick (2.24.7); U15 Girls 800m 2 Orla McDaid (2.40.0); U16/17 Girls 800m 1 Linda Porter (2.27.8); U16/17 Boys 800m 1 Peadar Harvey (2.06.5); U18/19 Boys 800m 2 Robert Neilson (2.36.0) U14 Boys 1500m 1 Conor Gillen (4.58.3); U15 Girls 1500m 1 Muireann Maloney (5.27.4), 3 Orla McDaid (5.53.8); U15 Boys 1500m 1 Finn Stoneman (4.54.8), 2 Paul Fitzpatrick (5.05.1), 3 Paul Joyce (5.14.9); U16/17 Girls 1500m 3 Linda Porter (5.43.2); U16 Boys 1500m 3 Jack Leahy (6.03.2).

In the long jump competition, the club excelled again featuring in the medals in 7 of the 10 long jump events and in fact taking 2 of the top 3 places in 6 of those events. Pride of place goes to Debi Kenny with a new PB of 4.58m in the U16/17 girls long jump and in fact on that attempt Debi’s jump was about 25cm further but she fell backwards slightly in the sand … a potential 4.83m jump!! Results of the medal winners were as follows: U12 Boys 2 Oisin Doyle (3.46), 3 Oisin Coppinger (3.44); U13 Girls 2 Ellen Fitzpatrick (3.68), 3 Sinéad Treacy (3.50); U13 Boys 1 Aidan Conneely (4.30), 3 Gavin O'Toole (3.92); U14 Girls 1 Claire Ryder (4.49), 2 Gabrielle Tobin (3.73); U15 Girls 1 Maireád McCan (4.59), 2 Marie McNamara (4.52); U16/17 Girls 2 Ashley McDonnell (4.59) , 3 Debi Kenny (4.58); U16/17 Boys 2 Tomas Keehan (5.38).

Continuing our good jumping form, the triple jump saw fantastic leaps from 3 athletes who were taking part in this event for the first time. Debi Kenny showed she was having a great day with a big jump of 8.98m on her 2nd attempt to win silver in her age group. Tomás Keehan showed huge potential in his first crack at this event, with a big 11.66m jump to win gold and Kelly O’Donoghue did the same in her age group, leaping 9.35m on her final attempt to claim gold. Results were:- U16/17 Girls 2 Debi Kenny (8.98); U16/17 Boys 1 Tomás Keehan (11.66), 3 Niall Rooney (11.34); U18/19 Girls 1 Kelly O'Donoghue (9.35), 2 Rachel Finnegan (9.12).

Star performer in the high jump was Oisin McNally with a big jump of 1.46m to win gold in the U14 boys event. As has become the norm for the club, it dominated the high jump winning 8 of the 11 age groups. U12 Girls 1 Tara McNally (1.20), 3 Hannah Rabbitte (1.10); U12 Boys 1 Oisin Coppinger (1.00); U13 Girls 1 Ellen Treacy (1.25), 2 Ellen Fitzpatrick (1.20); U13 Boys 3 Cillian McDaid (1.15); U14 Girls 1 Ella Bryan (1.35); U14 Boys 1 Oisin McNally (1.46); U15 Girls 1 Marie McNamara (1.45), 2 Caoimhe Quill (1.30); U16/17 Boys 1 Tomas Keehan (1.65), 2 Niall Rooney (1.65); U18/19 Girls 1 Sophie Ralston (1.35).

In the throwing events, the club are making significant progress – with 12 medals in the shot putt and 4 in the javelin. Highlight was Cathal Quill’s throw of 2.37m to take gold in his shot putt event. Results were: Shot Putt U12 Girls 1 Andrea Tobin (5.19), 2 Lisa Doran (4.80), 3 Erin McInerney (4.70); U12 Boys 2 Cathal O'Brien (6.77), 3 Oisin Coppinger (6.16); U12 Boys 1 Cathal Quill (2.37); U13 Girls 1 Siobhan Connolly (7.60), 2 Eimhear Flaherty (7.25); U13 Boys 3 Christopher McDonnell (7.74); U14 Girls 2 Ella Bryan (7.38), 3 Gabrielle Tobin (6.47); U18/19 Girls 2 Kelly O'Donoghue (7.32). Javelin: U13 Boys 2 Ciaran Nevin (19.29), 3 Christopher McDonnell (14.59); U14 Boys 1 Oisin McNally (28.40), 2 Conor Gillen (2.34).

I mentioned the 4x100m relays earlier. Details of the teams and times are U12 Girls 1st Leanne Freaney, Muireann Ni Cheallachain, Grainne McDaid, Tara McNally, Andrea Tobin (1.01.2); U12 Boys 3rd Eddie Madden, Niall Broderick, Oisin Coppinger, Ian Connolly, Oisin Doyle (1.00.0); U13 Girls 1st Katie Donoghue, Ellen Treacy, Ellen Fitzpatrick, Sineád Treacy, Siobhan Connolly (58.5); U13 Boys 2nd Conor Duggan, Gavin O’Toole, Jamie Spelman, Aidan Conneely, Conor O’Donoghue (55.9); U14 Girls 2nd Sarah Molloy, Claire Ryder, Gabrielle Tobin, Ella Bryan (57.2); U14 Boys 3rd Oisin McNally, Conor Gillen, Matthew Moran, Cathal Reidy (58.6); U15 Boys 2nd Cathal Reidy, Finn Stoneman, Paul Fitzpatrick, Brendan Gallagher (56.2); U16 Girls 1st Debi Kenny, Maireád McCan, Katie O’Donoghue, Linda Porter (54.9); U17 Girls 2nd Debi Kenny, Katie O’Donoghue, Shannen Freaney, Ashley McDonnell (54.9); U17 Boys 2nd Tomás Keehan, Niall Rooney, Shaun Gallagher, Peadar Harvey (51.1); U18 Girls 2nd Kelly O’Donoghue, Rachel Finnegan, Maeve Curley, Sophie Ralston (58.6).

Detailed results are at http://www.galwayathletics.com/dmdocuments/2009GalwayTFU12-19Results.pdf. Note unfortunately not all performances are listed for the track events – sprint finalists are listed and in some cases the top 5 or 6 in the middle-distance events.