Deep River Rock Meeting. Finn Valley Masters Honoured.

Fourteen of our young track & Field athletes travelled to the second Deep River Rock Meeting in Belfast on Thursday evening last and enjoyed the experience very much. The meeting run by Lagan Valley A.C. was very well organised with large fields in every event and although the very cold conditions were not conducive to fast times, heights etc. we had many excellent performances.

Karen Ferguson and Emily Murphy ran their first 1500m and despite some nerves about running the unfamiliar distance on track they put in suberb performances with Karen winning in an excellent 5.34.1 and Emily 3rd in 5.47.4. This will give both girls great confidence for the upcoming Ulster Championships.

Laura Friel put in her best High Jump performance with an excellent series of jumps clearing all her jumps up to and including 1.50m at the first attempt. Laura then went on to attempt a new p.b. of 1.55m and was very close indeed on two occasions. This was a very good victory for Laura and she will have also gained in confidence for the Ulster District Schools on Wednesday.

Jodie Stewart was also a winner in the Long Jump with a 4.29m jump and although well below her p.b. was nonetheless impressive in the conditions.

Ian Ward continues to impress with his excellent tactical running with a fine display of 1500m running winning the race in 4.26.7 with club-mate Darren McGlinchey also running very well taking 3rd place in 4.41.1.

Gavin McCrudden was another winner on the night winning the Javelin in 34.44m with club-mate Clive Heapes also in good form taking 3rd place with 26.56m.

Stewart McClean ran an excellent 200m battling to the line with Chris Quinn from Lagan Valley with Stewart just getting the victory, both athletes were awarded the same time of 24.2. This was a good sharpening race from Stewart who will be contesting the 400m in the Ulster District Schools on Wednesday.

Ciara Gallen competed very well in the javelin winning the silver medal with a fine throw of 20.56m. Kieran O’Grady also picked up a Silver medal in the discus throwing an excellent 30.30m. Kieran is a member of the very successful Letterkenny U16 Rugby team and congratulations to Kieran and fellow club-mate Brendan Culhane, who is also on the team, for their recent victory in the Ulster U16 Cup Final.

Lorcan McMenamin won a bronze medal in the High Jump 1.36m and also competed well in the 200m. Enda Doherty ran well in the 1500m finishing 5th in 4.32.3 and Geraldine Kelly competed in the triple jump but was unhappy with her performance jumping well below par.

Finn Valley Masters Celebration

Finn Valley held a successful function at their Stranorlar club centre to acknowledge the success of the Masters road and cross country teams in recent years at National level. Finn Valley have scored strongly on the road and cross country with their various teams dating back to 1991 when their women where the first Ulster Masters squad to win a national team title in that category in Dungarvan.

They have scored fourteen National successes in the interim period. It is notwothy that Dominic Bonner has scored on each of the successful mens winning teams. In his address club Chairman Patsy McGonagle outlined the history of the development of these squads from senior to masters competition. He indicated that this was a special period in the history of Donegal athletics. The presentation were made by group leader Neil Martin while Masters club captain Mark Connolly replying on behalf of the athletes thanked the club for the many opportunities afforded to the various squads. 300 euro was raised on the night and presented to club athlete Gloria Devenney who recently ran the London Marathon in aid of Foyle Hospice.

Finn Valley National Masters Team Champions

Women

Cross-Country.              Road 10km.             Road Relays.
1991  Dungarvan.            2000 Dundalk.          2001 Raheny.
13th Jean Harron,           1st Kay Byrne,         Rosemary Bogle,
14th Mary Martin,           2nd Noeleen Porter,    Noeleen Porter,
15th Noreen Mc Gonagle      3rd Rosemary Bogle.    Maeve Mc Elroy. 
16th Rosaleen Mc Gonagle.

2001 Rathfarnham.           2001 Stranorlar.
2nd  Noeleen Porter,        1st   Noeleen Porter,
3rd   Kay Byrne,            10th Maeve Mc Elroy, 
18th Rosemary Bogle,        13th Rosemary Bogle.
47th Nancy Mc Namee.

Men

Cross-Country               Road 10km              3000m Track
2002 Stranorlar.            2001 Stranorlar.       2004 Sligo.
7th   Seamus Kerr,          3rd  Pat Hegarty,      1st Dominic Bonar, 
8th   Dominic Bonar,        4th  Dominic Bonar,    5th Gerard Bogle,
10th Pat Hegarty,           14th Mark Connolly,    8th Pat Mc Elroy.
19th Mark Connolly.

2003 Phoenix Park.          2002 Navan.
2nd   Dominic Bonar,        3rd James Mc Mahon,
4th   Pat Hegarty,          4th Dominic Bonar,
19th Mark Connolly,         7th Seamus Kerr.
21st Seamus Kerr.

2004 Dungarvan.             2003 Stranorlar.
6th  Dominic Bonar,         2nd  Dominic Bonar,
7th  James Mc Mahon,        7th   Mark Connolly,
28th Mark Connolly,         10th Pat Mc Elroy.
33rd Joe Brennan.

2005 Tinryland.             2004 Sligo.
7th   Dominic Bonar,        2nd   James Mc Mahon,
8th   James Mc Mahon,       4th    Dominic Bonar,
14th Pat Hegarty,           21st  Joe Brennan.
35th Gerard Bogle.

Upcoming competition

The Ulster District Schools will be held in Antrim on Wednesday, good luck to all our athletes competing for their various schools.

The Donegal Track & Field Championships for U9 & U10 will be held at the Finn Valley Centre on Wednesday evening at 6.30 p.m and the Donegal Senior and uneven age group Championships will be held at the Finn Valley Centre on Sunday 15th May.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Brendan Alexander who won the Athletics Award at Letterkenny I.T. last Thursday night.

Newsletters by Bernie Alcorn, Club P.R.O.