Finn Valley had a number of competitors at Leamington Spa 10K Grand prix race walk. The star of the show was Valley's Yvonne Cassin who has returned to competitive race walking this year and finished in 2nd place behind Kyesti Tysse Plaetzei of Norway silver medallist in Sydney Olympics.

Yvonne started her race and was in forth position and 15 seconds behind south African Csitle Viljoen at the 5k mark in a time of 24.20. Yvonne stayed in control of her pace and rolled back her competitors to finished 2nd overall in a seasons best time of 48.18 behind Kyesti Tysse Plaetzei of Norway. Cstle Viljoen of South Africa finished 3rd in a time of 48.50. Yvonne was delighted with her improvement over the last few months and knows now the with this improvement is in contention for international selection. This was a dual success for the Cassin Couple as her husband Jeff who is a 50k walker competed in the men's 10k finishing 6th overall with a seasons best of 44.25.

Barry McGill competed in the Junior Boys 10K and finished 13th in a time of 51.25 a personal best time for Barry and a new experience in this level of competition. Anne McGill competed in the senior ladies 10k and finished in a disappointing time of 57.17. Giselda Penrose competed the Ireland v England veteran match and Giselda was delighted with her performance finished 2nd over 35 in the 3000m in a time of 21.35. Giselda's husband Micheal also competed in the 3000m men's race and was delighted with his first time effort.

Finn Valley will developing race walking in the club this year and hope to use the expertise of the Cassin's and others for a weekend coaching session.

Best of luck to Noeleen Porter who has been selected on an Irish team to compete in Swanea for a 10k race. Noeleen is the National 10k champion and had a great season this year.

Training for all juveniles and senior athletes is now back in full swing. The Primary Schools cross-country championships will be held on the 26th September and for Secondary Schools 1st, 2nd and 3rd year on 1st of October. Finn Valley will be hosting both competitions. Invitations have gone out to all schools.

Finn Valley wish to congratulate Karl and Beatrice McClafferty on their recent marriage. Karl is the son of Hughie who was former club chairman and continues to give strong support to the club.

Congratulations to Dominick Bonner who won the over 40 section in the Waterside half Marathon. Further results to be given next week.

The Donegal 5K will be held next Sunday in Letterkenny.

A very successful achievements night was held at the Valley centre to acknowledge the success of all their Juveniles over the past season. Thanks to all who organised the event and to all the parents who came along with their families.

Finn Valley Athletics Club Juvenile Award Winners for 2002

Thirty-five juvenile athletes won a total of seventy-one national championship medals during the past twelve months. Congratulations to them and all of our juvenile athletes who represented the club during the year; many of these are very close to achieving national medals. This has been Finn Valley's best ever performance in juvenile athletics. We are now the top ranked juvenile club in Ulster in cross-country, indoor, and track and field. At National level, we are ranked second in cross-country, twelfth indoors, and we have just learned that we are ranked second in the U/9 to U/13 track and field, and sixth in the U/9 to U/19 grouping, including relays.