Finn Valley's youngest members were in action at Templemore Sports Complex in Derry on Sunday at the Ulster Track & Field Championships for U/9 to U/13. As well as the Championship medals at stake there was also qualification for the All-Ireland Championships in Tullamore in July 96 first four to go through. It was a fantastic day's competition of the highest standard with huge numbers in every event and when all was tallied up at the end of the day we had no less than 32 qualifiers for Tullamore on the 20th July. Congratulations to all who competed.

We had one competitor in the U/9 girls 96 Niamh Gallen, grandaughter of Hugh Gallen, one of the founder members of Finn Valley A.C., and it was great to see Niamh on the winner's rostrum having won the Gold medal in the U/9 Ball Throw. We had two boys in the U/9 age group and both of them qualified Ryan Kelly won Gold in the Long Jump and Bronze in the 60m while Dean Bonner, younger brother of the infamous Shane, won Silver in the Long Jump and Silver in the Ball Throw.

Stephanie Connolly was 2nd in the U/10 Ball Throw narrowly beaten for the Gold. Madeline Penrose, who finished a very close 5th in the 60m, was joined by Michelle Gallagher, Rochelle Tourish and Leanne Shields in the U/10 4 x 100m relay and had a very exciting race to claim the silver medals and qualification for the All-Irelands. Andrew Gallagher jumped very well to win the Bronze medal in the U/10 Long Jump. Andrew, Kevin Smith, Dean Bonner and Ryan Kelly competed very well in the 4 x 100m relay but just failed to qualify.

In the U/11 girls Jodie Stewart easily won the Gold in the Long Jump and finished 5th in the 60m. Ciara Neary was 4th in the Long Jump. Matthew Kelly had a great day winning the Ball Throw with a massive 38.93m throw and then went on to win the Long Jump. Aaron McMenamin also jumped very well in this competition winning the Bronze medal. Jerry Boyle was 6th in the 60m final. Niall Doherty, Jerry Boyle, Matthew and Aaron combined to win the silver medals in the 4 x 100m relay. Cormac Gallen was 6th in the Ball Throw.

Laura Feely was a very impressive winner in the U/12 Ball Throw over 5 metres ahead of the silver medallist. Grainne Neary also threw very well winning the Bronze medal, Grainne was also 6th in the 600m. Paula Friel and Siobhan Gallagher shared 3rd place in the High Jump and Aoife Whelan held on in a very competitive 600m to get 4th position and qualify for the Nationals. Catherine Gallagher also ran very well in this race to finish 6th but unfortunately did not get through. Clive Heapes made his mark in his first ever Ulster Championships winning Gold in the Ball Throw with a huge throw of 43.70metres. Gavin Carlin was outstanding in the Long Jump and 60m winning Gold in both. Lorcan McMenamin was also very impressive winning the Silver in the Long Jump, Bronze in the High Jump and 5th in the 60m despite a terrible start. Pauric McLaughlin was way out on his own in the 600m from start to finish with newcomer Phillip Browne doing very well to finish 6th in a very large field. Others to do well in this age group were Donna McBride, Clara Dunnion, Christopher O'Leary, Karl Bradley, Michael Penrose, Kieran Gallagher, Michael McGee and Sean Breen.

In the U/13 girls Alicia Quigley was the Gold Medalist in the Long Jump and also qualified in the 80m. Laura Friel continues her good jumping form to win Silver in the High Jump and Ciara Gallen threw very well to secure Silver in the Ball Throw. Jacqueline Gibson was very close to qualifying in the 600m but just lost it with a few metres to go. Others to compete very well in this age group were Shauna Guthrie, Lauren McGee, Natasha Duffy, Denise Beirne, Ciara and Tara Hegarty, Laura McGinley, Catriona Martin, Aine Maxwell and Laura Diver.

Ryan McDaid once again was outstanding in the 600m U/13 winning the Gold medal with team-mate Ian Ward in Bronze medal position, Shane Bonner in 5th place and Aodhan Connolly 7th. Ryan also won the High Jump with Aodhan in Silver medal position. Shane was also 5th in the Long Jump. Gavin McCrudden, another newcomer to the club, won the Silver medal in the Javelin and Bronze in the Ball Throw. Mark Buchanan was 4th in the Javelin and also qualified for the Nationals. Others to compete very well in this age-group were Philip Heapes, Francois Baden Horst, Shane McCool and Paul Doherty.

Donegal Primary Schools Championships.

A very successful Donegal Primary Schools championships were held at Finn Valley last Thursday. Over 92 primary school were represented with 1300 children competing. Patsy McGonagle founder and main organizer of the event was delighted with the response of teachers but hopes that in future all schools will give the opportunity to children to compete. The Finn Valley club wish to thank everyone who help to run the event.

Ulster Senior and Veteran Championships.

The Ulster Veteran and Senior championships were held in Belfast last Saturday. Kieran Carlin was 3rd in the 5000m in a time of 15.28. Catriona McGranaghan was 5th in 1500m. Gesilda Pemrose won the 3000m Walk. Bosco Reid was 1st in Veteran Shot and 4th in Senior Hammer.

The club wish to extend congratulations to Geraldine Stewart of Tir Conaill who performed very well in the shot and is now selected on the Irish team which travels to Estonia in two weeks to compete in the European Cup. Valley's Patsy McGonagle is team Manager for this event. Best of luck to both Patsy and Geraldine.

Old Town Fair 5K.

A number of Finn Valley athletes competed last Sunday in the annual Old Town Fair 5K.

Charlie Gallagher won the race and Nancy McNamee was 1st lady. Bernary McCabe was 1st O40 and Anthony Murray 1st O50. Margaret Murray was 1st O45 and Mary Martin 2nd.

International Walks and National 20K Championships Phoenix Park Congratulations to club athletes Nikki Alcorn, Fionnuala Bruton and Maeve Culhane who will be on Irish Teams for the International Walks Competition to be held in the Phoenix Park on Saturday. James Gibbons, Gesilda Pemrose and Anne McGill will also be competing. Good luck to all.

Tailteann Games Selection.

Congratulations to Kevin Feely and Nikki Alcorn who have been selected on the Ulster Schools team to compete in the prestigious Tailteann Games on the 22nd June.