Local athletes dominate at the Connacht Schools Athletic Finals in Athlone

IT was a welcome return to tradition as the Connacht Schools Athletics finals were staged in Athlone for the first time since Covid intervened to postpone them since 2019.

The Senior (U19) boys and girls section saw Galway competitors first to strike gold. Representing the newly amalgamated Coláiste Muire Máthair, Galway (CMMG), Liam Murphy overcame his teammate Diarmuid Davoren on his last throw to take the hammer title

Fellow CMMG student Naoise Walsh showed top form to win both the shot putt and discus, finishing ahead of Coláiste Baile Chláir’s Rory Gaughan who took silver in the discus and bronze in the shot, with another CBC student Barry Forde taking the shot putt bronze. In the javelin, CMMG’s Riccardo Cattaneo was third.

On the track, there was further success for the Galway seniors. The windy conditions down the home straight did not make it an easy day for the sprinters, but Jack Kinnane from Calasanctious, Oranmore  took silver in the 100m, while Sean Chuka from St. Enda’s also won silver in the 200m.

Over one lap of the track, the Mannion brothers from Seamount College showed a clean pair of heels to all challengers as David just about beat his brother Stephen to the line in a hotly contested 400m race. Robert Urquhart from Presentation College Athenry (PCA) got his school’s account up and running by coming home third.

Moving into the middle-distance events, Daithi Kilcommins, better known for his exploits with Galway on the football fields,  came third in the 800m for CBC, just edging out Darcy Mbiajeu of CMMG.

Oisin Davis from Presentation Athenry was the convincing winner of the 1500m, finishing six seconds clear of Eoin Killen from St. Joseph’s, Galway. Another PCA student, Thomas Joyce, took bronze in the 5000m while Coláiste Muire Máthair students Mark Bradley and Liam Murphy took second and third places in the 2000m steeplechase.

Also, on the track, Dan Carey from Coláiste Muire Máthair was runner-up in the gruelling 3000m walk, while his teammate Ify Asogu took another gold for his school in the 110m hurdles. Further hurdles success for CMMG came in the form of silver and bronze medals for Hassan Diarrasouba and Riccardo Cattaneo in the 400m event.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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