National Juveniles - It was a hugely successful weekend for Galway Athletes at the 123.ie National Juvenile Track & Field Championships in Tullamore, with 30 medals won and several personal bests achieved over two days of top-level competition. In total, Galway clubs won 15 Gold, 9 Silver and 6 Bronze, with both the Tuam and Craughwell clubs accounting for 9 medals each. The full list of Galway athletes who earned podium finishes is:
On Day One, Saturday last Galway athletes excelled, with notable victories in the sprints for West Coast duo U18 Girls’ 100m – Angela Cielecka (West Coast) 1st and U16 Girls’ 100m – Michelle Nnadi (West Coast) 1st, while U19 Boys' 100m – Lemar Lucciano (West Coast) 2nd. Tuam Race walkers were in fine form with gold medal wins for Grofu Newell and Emma Howson in the U14 2km Walks , and a gold and bronze in the U15 Girls’ 2km Walk for Cuisle O’Callaghan and Teagan Rooney respectively. Ciarán Kelleher (South Galway) won a super silver in the U17 Boys 3km walk, as did Tuams Ciara Gilmore over the U19s 3km distance, and in the U18 Girls’ 3km Walk – Caoimhe Phelan (West Coast) secured bronze. In the field, Halle Feerick (Craughwell) was a standout, winning the U14 Boys High Jump, with clubmate Matiss Ozolins claiming U13 Bronze in the Long Jump, whilst in the U13 Boys’ Javelin – Aaron Burke (Craughwell) also secured bronze. Finally, on the track on day won, two medals were won over 400m. In the U18 Boys' 400m, Sean Hoade (Craughwell) won bronze and there was a silver medal win in the U19 Girls’ 400m by Danielle Moynihan (Tuam).
On Day Two, further medals were claimed by Noah Brady (Athenry) 1st, and Aaron Burke (Craughwell) 2nd in the U13 Boys' Shot Put, there was again a 1-2 in the U14 Girls’ High Jump with Lauren Kelly (Craughwell) winning gold, and Aoibheann O’Malley (Tuam) silver. Over hurdles, Conor Penney (Craughwell) set a new championship record to win the U18 Boys' 110m Hurdles, while clubmate Lauren Kilduff claimed the 100m Hurdles title. At the U19 Boys level, Darragh Kelly (Loughrea, pictured above with coach Mary Barrett) won gold in the 110m Hurdles. At U16 Girls' level over 80m Hurdles, Rachel Treacy (Tuam) continued her great form by winning gold, while in the U14 Girls’ 75m Hurdles, Lauren Kelly (Craughwell) won silver. In the U18 Boys’ Triple Jump, Daniel Sangodele (West Coast) claimed victory, whilst younger sibling Kevin won silver in the U16 Boys’ Triple Jump for Galway City Harriers. On the track, in the U17 Girls’ 800m, Claudia Coyle (South Galway) won bronze, whilst in the U18 Girls’ 2000m Steeplechase, Niamh McWalter (Tuam) won silver. Capping off a great weekend were Darragh Fahy (Loughrea)with a National record setting win in the U19 Boys Triple Jump with a huge 14.02 metre leap, and gold for Tom McHugh (Galway City Harriers) in the U19 Discus.
International News - Galway based athlete Finlay Daly, a University of Galway alumni, placed 4th in the European Team Championships 3000m Steeplechase race last weekend in Slovenia. The Irish squad placed a solid fifth overall in Division Two. Well done to Orlaith Mannion of South Galway AC, who set a new best of 13.97 seconds for 100m hurdles, competing for the Irish U20 team in Mannheim, Germany.
Fixtures - This weekend, on Saturday 5th July, sees 123.ie National U20 & U23 Track and Field Championships take place in Tullamore. Sunday 6th features the first round of the team-based National Track and Field League, with Galway City Harriers and Galway County fielding teams.
