Galway athletes sweep the boards at schools Track & Field championships

The Connacht Schools Track and Field finals held at a blustery Athlone IT Track last week saw almost 800 athletes compete, and produced some excellent medal winning performances from Galway athletes.

In the girls Minor (U-14) age group there were notable efforts from Aoife Walsh of Presentation Athenry who beat her fellow Galwegian Aine Quinn from St. Raphael’s Loughrea to the High Jump title, while Dearbhla Walsh of Seamount Kinvara showed her versatility, and speed, when picking up a bronze medal in the 200m, followed later by another bronze in the 1500m. Another speed merchant was Sally Ann O’Malley from Salerno who was just pipped for the gold in the 100m.

 In the Minor boys’ events, Galway athletes fared a little better, recording a number of gold-medal winning performances. Among the winners was Sean Kilmartin of St. Joseph’s College, who took 100m gold from Cillian Dolan of Pres. Athenry, with Will Smith of Clifden CS in third place.

Smith then followed up with a first place finish in the Long Jump, while Kilmartin anchored his St. Joseph’s team to second place in the relay. Other gold medals went to Conor Seoige of Carraroe CS in the Shot Putt, and Gerry Keary of St. Raphael’s in the High Jump, while Liam Boyle from HRC Mountbellew took third place in the 1500m.

In the Junior (U-15) girls competition, it was a successful day for Galway athletes. In the 100m, Michelle Duggan of Presentation Athenry showed a clean pair of heals to her competitors to win gold from Nicole King of St. Enda’s in second place. She then anchored her team to win the Gold in the relay. Her fellow Athenry athletes were not to be outdone however, as Shannon Lee took first place in the 800m ahead of her schoolmate Niamh Keane in third place.

Sinead Minihan of Taylor’s Hill took first place in the Long Jump, while Clare Keenan of Presentation Galway came second in the discus. However, star of the day was Sarah Ni Domhnaill of Coláiste na Coirbe as she recorded a brace of gold medals, winning the 200m and the 800m before winning a third medal as part of the bronze medal finishing relay squad.

St. Mary’s, Galway had the outstanding Junior Boys’ team, winning the Junior Shield. They had medal winning performers in Peter Francis, who took gold from his teammate Rory Owens in the Triple Jump, Seán O’Reilly, first in the javelin, and Dylan Tierney who took the silver medal in both the Discus and the Hammer.

Andre Ferreira won bronze in the 80m Hurdles while the relay team took second place, behind HRC Mountbellew. Other Galway medallists on the day included Oisin Doyle of Calasanctious Oranmore, silver in the 1500m, Conor Keady Taball, bronze in the Long Jump, Joe Tannion of Coláiste Iognáid, bronze in the 1500, and St. Joseph’s John Maher who finished third in the 800m.

Some real class was evident in the Intermediate (U-17) girls competition in the form of Dunmore CS student Laura Ann Costello, and Presentation Athenry’s Alannah Lally. Laura Ann showed a clean pair of heals to all-comers when taking the100m and 200m titles, while Lally ran sublimely to capture the 800m and 300m titles.

That was not the end of the gold medal haul however, as Maebh Brannigan from Coláiste Iognáid took first place in the 1500m, Tara McNally from Loughrea VS followed up on her third in the 100m with gold in the 80m Hurdles, and Sinead Treacy of St. Raphael’s took the premier ribbon for the Long Jump, adding to her silver medal in the 200m.

Other medallists included Elizabeth Maher of Salerno who won silver in the 800m, Megan Davoran of St. Enda’s who took silver in the 300m Hurdles, Shauna Naughton of Dunmore CS, silver in the Mile, Shauna Hynes of Mercy Tuam who won bronze in the Long Jump and Jessica Okeke, St. Enda’s, Nadine Connolly HRC Mountbellew, and Katie Donogue of Loughrea VS who all won silver medals in the Shot Putt, the Discus and the Javelin respectively.

Not to be outdone by the girls, the Inter boys also figured prominently. Calasanctious Oranmore featured with gold medal winning performances from Nicholas Sheehan in the 400 and 800m, Jamie Spelman in the 3000m, and Damien O’Boyle in the 1500m Steeplechase, following which he went on to win silver in the 1500m. The same school also impressively won the 4X100m relay and had a further medallist in Ayo Adeke, who finished second in the Triple Jump.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.