Irish Schools Gold for Aoife Whelan

Irish Schools Track and Field Championships

The Irish Schools Track and Field Championships were held in Tullamore on Saturday and highlight of the day from a Finn Valley and Donegal point of view was Donegal's only Gold medallist Aoife Whelan. Aoife put in a great performance in the Junior Girls 1200m walk winning in great style by 10 seconds. This was a fantastic achievement for Aoife who is already the current indoor and outdoor walk champion in her age group in club athletics. Aoife was competing for St. Columba's College, Stranorlar and many thanks to Christine and Frank Feely for taking Aoife to the Irish Schools finals.

Breda McGinty was the 2nd St. Columbas athlete to win a medal with a very determined performance in the Intermediate 1500m and a very well deserved Bronze medal. Thanks to Patsy McGonagle for taking Breda and other St. Columbas athletes to Tullamore and giving them a chance to compete for their school.

Alan Cavanagh was competing for St. Eunan's College in Letterkenny and won his first National individual medal in the Senior boys 3000m with a very good final 200m to win the Bronze medal.

Laura Feely competed in the Junior Hammer and finished in an excellent 5th position with a 25 metre throw and a new p.b. Laura is eligible for this age group again next year. Fionnuala Bruton put in a good performance in the Intermediate girls walk finishing 5th. Clara Dunnion also did well in the Junior girls walk. Laura Friel and Aileen Brennan were both below their best in their respective high jumps and were disappointed with their performances but will no doubt bounce back for the upcoming Ulster Championships. Enda Doherty was also disappointed with his performance in the Intermediate 1500m.

Ulster Juvenile Track and Field Championships

Six Gold medallists at the U9 to U13 Ulster Championships

Finn Valley hosted the U9 to U13 Ulster Juvenile Championships which were very well run in excellent weather conditions. The top four athletes in each event qualified for the All Ireland Championships in Sligo in July. Our first Gold Medallist of the day was Justin Brown who won the U12 Shot (6.62m) in what is a new event for him. Aishling Gallagher had a terrific run in the final of the U11 60m and was delighted with her Gold medal, Aishling also qualified in the Long Jump.

In the U9 and U10 Childrens awards the young athletes have to compete in three events, the 60m, long jump and ball throw, and they must finish in the top five overall on points to win Gold and qualify for the All Irelands. Finn Valley had three athletes winning gold in these age groups, namely, Blaithnaid Patton, Caoimhe McMenamin and Peter Brown. Many congratulations to these young athletes who put in great all round performances to come out top in Ulster. Well done also to Shannon McLaughlin who won bronze.

Chantelle McAteer who is a new member of the club had a very good day winning the silver medal in the U13 Shot and Bronze in the High Jump. Tori Lafferty also did very well winning the silver medal in the U12 High Jump.

Bronze medals for Shannon Heapes in the U11 Ball Throw, Dean Bonner in the U12 Ball Throw and Ryan Bonner in the U11 600m. Athletes who finished in the top four in Ulster also qualify for Nationals and we had three athletes, Christopher Gallagher U13 Shot, Aoife Gallagher U13 600m and Ryan McNulty U13 600m, delighted to make it to Sligo.

We also had two excellent girls relay teams competing on Sunday with the U11 girls team of Megan Stewart, Cheyanne Griffin, Jacina Lynch and Aishling Gallagher winning Gold and the U10 girls team of Shauna Finn, Blaithnaid Patton, Shannon McLaughlin and Caomihe McMenamin taking the Bronze.

Bob Mullan 5K

Clodagh McCool was 1st in the Senior Women's race (17.39) and Frank Chaney was 3rd in the Senior Men's race (16.00) in the Bob Mullan 5K road race in Buncrana. Gerard Bogle was 1st veteran man (16.12) and his wife Rosemary was 1st in the veteran women's race in 19.28.

Newsletters by Bernie Alcorn, Club P.R.