Finn Valley members on international service

International service

Congratulations to Breda McGinty and Ian Ward who were selected for the Celtic Games in Wales last weekend and both competed well in their respective 1500m events.

Also on an International note congratulations and good luck to Patsy McGonagle who was selected as Irish Team Manager for the World Student Games which are currently been held in Izmir, Turkey.

National Masters Championships

The Finn Valley Masters athletes competed very well at the National Championships in Tullamore last Saturday.

Kathleen Merritt had a very successful day winning the V2 Javelin with a 22.66m throw and the Discus with 24.22. Kathleen also won the Silver medal in the Shot Putt (8.04m) and the Bronze in the Hammer (20.22). Bosco Reid also had a busy day winning the Hammer with a 31.71m throw, Silver in the Shot Putt (11.38m) and Bronze in the Discus (29.16m). Ann McGill also took Gold in the 3000m Walk in a time of 16.56.03. Jim Heinz won the V6 5000m in a time of 20.58.58 and also won silver in the 1500m in a time of 5.50.52. Donal Reid won the silver medal in the High Jump (1.55m) and Dominic Bonner won two Bronze medals firstly in the 5000m (16.10.72) and after a thrilling battle in the 1500m just pipped clubmate Gerard Bogle on the line in 4.27.17 with Gerard 4th in 4.27.72. Gerard also finished 6th in the 800m.

National League

On Sunday our very young men's team gave a great account of themselves contesting the 2nd round, Division 1, of the National League at Santry Stadium in Dublin. Finn Valley were competing in Pool 2 and finished 3rd overall with 51 points, Shercock were the winners on 56 points and City of Derry 2nd on 54 points. Well done also to Letterkenny A.C. who finished 4th with 42 points.

Pauric Feely scored the maximum 9 points winning the Triple Jump in 11.14m. James King and Brendan Boyce from Milford A.C. were guesting for Finn Valley and contributed very valuable points with James winning the 800m in 1.57.13 and Brendan finishing 2nd in the 3000m Walk in a time of 14minutes 40 seconds. Many thanks to both.

Kevin Feely although suffering from a stomach bug did very well to finish 2nd in the Hammer with a throw of 29.25m. Brendan Alexander took 3rd place in the Pole Vault with a new p.b. of 2.80m. Kieran O'Grady also finished in 3rd place in the Discus with a new p.b. of 26.02m. Paul Doherty also took 3rd place in the very demanding 400m Hurdles in 69.52. Stewart McClean continues his excellent season with yet another p.b.finishing 3rd in the 200m in a time of 23.31. Frank Chaney competed in the 5000m and finished 4th in 16.56.

The last event of the day, the 4 x 400m Relay, provided great excitement with Finn Valley just managing to hold of the fast finishing Shercock team to take 2nd place. Excellent running here from Stewart McClean who ran the first leg in a time of 51.09 passing it on to Pauric Feely who ran a very strong leg before passing on to Brendan Alexander, who had to step in at the last minute to cover for injured Joe McGinley. Brendan put in an excellent run to pass to James King who used his 800m strength to hold off a very fast finishing James Ruxton from Shercock. Well done to all. Well done to Shercock A.C. who finished top in Santry and good luck to them in the League Final.

Ramelton 5K

Clodagh McCool won the Ramelton 5K road race which was very well organised by club members Mary and Paddy Bond. Clodagh is having a very good season on the roads and won this race over a very demanding course in 18.03. Pat Hegarty won the Masters Mens race in 16.45, Kieran Carlin was 3rd in the men's race in a time of 16.00. Mary Martin won the V4 section in 23.17. Gloria Devenney was 2nd in the V3 section in 23.42 and Pat McCrudden was 3rd in the V3 section.

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