The All-Ireland individual Championships for the U/14 to U/19 age groups were held in Tullamore last weekend. The previous weekend our younger athletes had a fantastic Championships winning Four Gold, Two Silver and Four Bronze medals so the pressure was on the older juveniles to emulate their success. They certainly rose to the challenge winning no less than Two Gold, Three Silver and Three Bronze Championship medals.

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Saturday

The weekend got off to a very good start on Saturday with Charlene Kelly winning the Bronze medal in the U/14 2000m Walk in a new personal best of 11.57.2 with team-mate Fionnuala Bruton finishing 6th in the same race. Next on the track was Nikki Alcorn who also did very well winning the Bronze medal in the U/15 2000m Walk finishing off a very busy and successful season. Kieran McConnell had to wait all day for the final of the discus competition but it was well worth the wait winning the Gold Medal with a fantastic throw of 49.88 metres. Michael Reid finished 9th in the same competition with a throw of 35metres.

Pauric Feely and Matthew Larkin were in action in the long jump with Pauric finishing 4th in a new personal best of 5.62 metres and Matthew finishing 7th, just short of his personal best, with 5.33 metres. Emma O'Neill was very pleased with her new p.b. in the 200m recording 28.30 seconds in her heat but just failing to make the final. Grainne Nangle who is improving all the time in the javelin was also very happy with her throw of 25 metres. Jenna McDaid was last to compete on Day One in the U/19 Discus where she finished 5th.

Sunday

Day Two was very busy with a lot more of our athletes involved. Barry McGill had one of his best races ever putting pressure on Gabriel O'Donnell, the eventual winner, throughout the race and was rewarded with the Silver medal in the 5000m Walk. Kevin Feely, suffering from a bad shoulder injury, did very well to win the Silver medal with a very respectable distance of 13.85metres. Kevin later competed in the Hammer but his injury prevented him from using his usual technique and he finished in 4th place.

Pauric Feely and Matthew Larkin both competed in the Triple Jump in a very close competition with Pauric winning the Bronze medal with a jump of 11.60 metres, the Gold going to Patrick O'Donnell, Olympian A.C. 11.63 metres and the Silver won in 11.62 metres. Matthew finished in a very good 6th place with 10.44 metres. It's great to see two top class jumpers in the club in the same age group.

Jenna McDaid, coached by Bosco Reid, was next in action and won the Gold medal in the U/19 Hammer with a personal best throw of 21.15metres. Ciara Masterson, also coached by Bosco, performed very well winning the Silver medal in the U/17 Shot with a new personal best of 10.78 metres. Ciara will be back in Tullamore this weekend to compete in the Celtic Games and the club wish her the very best of luck.

Seamus McMenamin qualified for the final of the 250m Hurdles by winning his heat easily and shortly afterwards finished a very good 5th in the final in an excellent time of 36.68 seconds, a new p.b. Laura Reid finished in 5th place in the U/14 Javelin and 9th in the Discus. Laura's brother Michael finished 7th in the U/16 Javelin with a throw of 30.56 metres. Kylie Quinn and Frances Galbraith both competed very well in the U/15 High Jump with Kylie finishing 4th and Frances 5th.

The last event of the day for us was the U/16 boys 100m with Pauric Feely and Joe McGinley competing. Both these boys along with Matthew Larkin and Seamus McMenamin were part of the winning 4 x100m relay the previous week. Pauric who had earlier won the Bronze in the Triple Jump was feeling the effects in his legs and did not run to his usual standard and just failed to make the final. Joe went in Heat 2 and won comfortably in a time of 12.55 secs. In the final Joe had a poor start but came storming through at the end to finish in 5th place in a time of 12.44 secs. This will give Joe great confidence for the indoor season.

Thanks to the Team Managers/Coaches who travelled with the athletes at the weekend and parents who came to support- Seamus McGranaghan, George Gallen, Richard and Bernie Alcorn, Christine and Frank Feely, Anne and Michael McGill, Moya and Iggy Larkin, Packie and Sue McConnell. Congratulations to all the athletes The juvenile on a very well earned rest until the 3rd September.

Patsy McGonagle Once Again Leads Irish Team

Valley's chairman, Patsy McGonagle heads off to Munich on Saturday to manage the Irish team for the European Championships. Patsy who is well accomplished in management field, having managed in all major athletic championships will meet this challenge with zeal. All at Finn Valley AC wish Patsy and the team the best of luck at the championships.