Galway City Harriers relay teams run riot in Tullamore

GALWAY City Harriers claimed five titles and set three new Irish records at the National Juvenile Relay Championships in Tullamore on Saturday last.

The U13 girls 4 x100m squad took gold in a time of 52.63, with the team of Sinead Duggan, Sarah Agboola, Emma Moore, Eimear Rowe and Chellene Trill – this same team broke the Irish indoor record earlier in the year.

GCH’s U19 boys 4 x100m quartet of Eoghan Dobey, Shane Trainor Canavan, Dylan Neary and Cillian Greene stormed home to victory in an Irish record time of 43.88, dominating the race from the start. The U18 boys were also impressive with Dobey, Sean Kilmartin, Trainor Canavan and Greene taking the honours and claiming a third record on the day for the city club, in a time of 43.53.

The U17 girls 4x100m race ended dramatically in a photo finish for the top three teams, but Sally Ann O’Malley’s dip on the line was enough to secure the gold for GCH and she was ably assisted by Lydia Doyle, Roisin Flynn and Laura Nally. The girls U16 squad of Eadaoin Langan, Laura Nally, Laoise Geraghty and Lydia Doyle also won their final in emphatic style in a great time of 50.29 to make it a fifth gold for GCH.

The club’s U18 girls were impressive too in taking silver and their squad members were Clodagh O’Hanlon, Roisin Flynn, Sarah McDonnell and Nicole King), while the  club’s U17 boys (Sean Kilmartin, Luke O’Shaughnessy, Casper Poniatowski and Darren Costello) claimed bronze in an exciting finish.

The GCH U12 girls pulled off a surprise bronze too in their race with Gillian McGrath, Hannah O’Grady, Emma Moore and Aoibhinn Costelloe running the race of their lives.

Also taking place on the day was the Juvenile ‘B’ competition where Kara McCleane of GCH won silver in the 600m in a time of 1.48,  with Joanna Healy in sixth. Hannah King finished 5th in the final of the 60m and Ava McCleane came third in her heat, narrowly missing the final.

Meanwhile, the Galway County ladies and GCH men’s teams competed in round two of the National Track and Field league in Athlone, with a top eight finish needed to make the League final.

Galway women’s team have made the final, with a fifth place overall finish. A quad comprising some of the county’s best talent put in an excellent all round performance to secure a place in next month’s decider.

Those competing included Maeve Curley, Sinead Treacy, Dearbhala Walsh, Sinead Gaffney, Aubree Piepmeier, Alanna Lally, Maebh Brannigan, Sarah McDonnell, and in the field, Mary Barrett and Sarah Finnegan, all of whom picked of valuable points for the Galway squad.

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