Triple Gold at National Indoors for Juveniles

The second half of the National Juvenile Indoor Championships took place in Nenagh at the weekend. This week it was the turn of the middle-distance athletes to shine and shine they did winning Three Gold, Two Silver and Two Bronze individual medals.

The first gold medal of the day came from Aoife Whelan retaining her National Indoor Title winning the U16 1500m Walk in a time of 7.55.80 a new p.b. Aoife displayed her usual excellent technique in this very demanding technical event with clubmate Clara Dunnion putting in a tremendous finish to lift the bronze medal in the same race.

Our second Gold medallist was Nikki Alcorn who had won the U18 Indoor Title last year and as this is Nikki’s final year in juvenile athletics she was determined to go out on a high as she competed in the U19 1500m Walk. Despite very limited training due to exam pressures Nikki was determined to go out with a victory. She employed very successful tactics and with her excellent technique and a lot of determination she won the gold over ten seconds ahead of the Silver medallist, Catherine Fennelly, St. Senans with Aoibheann Prendeville from Kerry in 3rd. This was also a nice way to celebrate her 18th birthday!

Our 3rd Gold medal came from the very talented Ian Ward winning his first indoor title in the U17 800m in an excellent new p.b. of 2.02. Ian having just finished his most successful cross-country season ever which culminated in his individual victory in the Celtic Cross Country International has shown that he can produce the goods on the track as well. Aiden Connolly also put in a great performance in this race finishing in 5th with a new p.b.

Our athletes also won two Silver Medals, the first one, from Shauna Guthrie in the U17 1500m Walk. Shauna really went for it with a very determined approach and should be well pleased with her silver medal and p.b. of 8.10.60.

Shane Bonner also won silver in the U17 1500m Walk with a very good display of race walking in what is a relatively new event for him. He took a massive 30 seconds of his p.b. finishing in a time of 7.16.45 and there is certainly a lot more to come from Shane in the outdoor season.

Breda McGinty who finished 4th last week in the 1500m made no mistakes this week going from the gun to run the fastest 800m of her life and was rewarded with the Bronze medal and an excellent p.b. of 2.15. All of the first three girls in this race broke the previous Championship Best Performance.

Fionnuala Bruton, in what was one of her best races ever, finished just outside the medals in 4th place in the U18 1500m walk but her strong performance earned her a new p.b. of 7.32.72 with clubmate Maeve Culhane finishing in 6th also with a new p.b.

Karen Ferguson just missed out on a qualifying spot in the final of the U15 800m but will have gained a lot from the experience. Madeline Penrose competed well in the U14 1000m Walk as did brother Michael in the U16 1500m walk finishing 7th and 6th respectively.

On Sunday we had two teams involved in the relays, the U12 girls in the 4 x 100m and the U17 Boys in the 4 x 200m.

The boys team of Paul Doherty, Aiden Connolly, Darren McGlinchey and Ian Ward ran in the heats and with only the top four fastest teams qualifying for the final the pressure was on but they all ran well and made it to the final. Ian Ward picked up an injury in the heats and Ryan McDaid replaced him in the final. All four boys put in a great effort in the final but had to settle for 4th place.

Roisin NiChuireann was our lead off runner in the U12 4 x 100m heats and ran a great leg handing over to Rebecca Ward who held on to 2nd spot and handed over to Cheyanne Griffin also running an excellent 100m to pass to Aishling Gallagher who brought the team home in 2nd place behind Ferrybank. Unfortunately they finished 5th fastest of all the teams in the heats and so just failed to make the final but they are certainly a team for the future.

This brings the indoor season to an end with our best ever performance over the two weekends winning thirteen individual medals - four Gold, five Silver and four Bronze National medals. Congratulations to all the athletes and their coaches and also to the parent who travelled to support.

Good luck next weekend to Ciara McGarvey and Nicole O’Leary who travel to Birmingham for the Sportshall finals.

Double Win in National Road Relays

At the Raheny hosted National Road Relays last Sunday, the day began on a really bright note as the womens team won gold in a most exciting manner. Catriona McGranaghan ran the fastest leg for one mile of the day and while Clodagh McCool was overhauled by by current Irish international Orla O'Mahoney; however Clodagh battled hard enabling Teresa McGloin to have a serious chance of getting her hands on her first ever gold national medal. The newcomer kept cool and battled back, and in an exciting finish pulled back 12 seconds to beat Raheny and clinch the gold.

The scene was set for the Masters men title, a big ask in Dublin, a title never won previously but the adrenalin was flowing and Gerard Bogle, Frank Chaney and Cieran Carlin stood up to the challenge to win narrowly again from Raheny. The excitement and joy was obvious as the now customary calls are made on mobile phone to friends and and supporters at home. Its been an excellent six months for Valley Masters men. Finn Valley have applied to host this event in 2007.

Dates for the annual primary school athletics are now set at May l7th and l9th. See website www.finnvalleyac.com.

Welcome home to Neil Martin who was Irelands team manager in Japan at the World Cross-country last weekend, a fitting reward for a dedicated man.

Finn Valley also wish to extend congratulations to Hugo Duggan on his People Of The Year award recently a timely morale boost for the Milford athletics man whom Valley are proud to say competed with distinction for us for many years. Newsletters by Niall McGonagle, Club P.R.O.