Valley Success at Ulster Track and Field Championships

Finn Valley had a busy weekend with the Senior track and Field Championships taking place at Mary Peters' track on Saturday while on Sunday their juveniles were in action in Derry.

James Gibbons was the star of the show in Belfast on Saturday were he took first spot in the Men's 3000m Walk. James took the lead from the start and after 3 laps of the 7 ½ lap event was the clear leader and was never in any difficulty. Valley Bosco Reid competed in the shot and hammer finishing 5th and 6th position and was very close to his personal best in the hammer which is the standing Donegal record. Barry Harron just missed out on medal position finishing 4th in the Men's 5000m in a time of 15.38.

Ulster Juvenile Championships

The younger juvenile athletes were in action at the Ulster Championships in Templemore on Sunday.

The under 9 and 10 age groups were involved in the new awards scheme where the children compete in three events and are awarded points in each event, the athletes best 2 results are counted with the children achieving the Gold Award qualifying for the National Awards Scheme. We had one athlete competing in the under 9 boys, Paul Smith, who did very well achieving the Silver Award. In the under 9 girls Aishling Gallagher achieved the Gold Award with Geraldine Gallagher, Erin McGranaghan and Shannon Heapes also receiving Silver Awards. Geraldine, Erin, Aisling and Caoimhe McMenamin later went on to win the Ulster Championship 4 x 50m relay and qualified for the All-Irelands in Tullamore on the 12th and 13th of July. Next up were the under 10 boys were we had two competitors namely Dean Bonner and Ryan Kelly who both achieved the Gold Award with excellent performances in the 60m, long jump and ball throw. In the under 10 girls Grainne McMenamin, Ciara McGarvey, Josephine O'Neill, Lauren Duffy, Nadine McBride and Niamh Gallen all achieved the Silver Award.

The under 11 boys and girls were involved in qualifying for the National Children's Games also to be held the same weekend. Stephanie Connolly won a silver medal in the Ball throw, Rachelle Tourish won the Silver in the long jump and Madeline Penrose just missed out in 5th place in the 600m. Ryan McNulty qualified in 4th place in the 600m with Andrew Gallagher just missing out. Kyle Tourish was 4th in the long jump. Andrew, Kyle, Ryan and Ryan Kelly combined to win the bronze medals in the 4 x 50m relay.

The under 12 boys got off to a great start with Aaron McMenamin winning the high jump, Aaron also got the bronze in the long jump and 4th in the 60m. Matthew Kelly won silver in the ball throw with a terrific 46m throw and 3rd in the 60m. Gerry Boyle battled hard in the 600m but just missed out in 5th position. Patrick Geary, Niall Doherty and Cormac Gallen also competed very well. Aileen Brennan was also a gold medal winner in the high jump with an impressive 1.25m jump. Jodie Stewart won the long jump gold with 3.99m. Niamh Doherty qualified in the 600m in 4th place with Iona Hennessey, Bronagh Marnie, Nicole Sharma also competing well.

Gavin Carlin was the star of the show in the under 13 boys winning the 60m Hurdles with ease, winning the long jump with a 4.69m jump and winning the silver medal in a very close finish in the 80m sprint. Pauric McLaughlin won the silver medal in the 600m and the bronze in the 60m Hurdles. Clive Heapes won the silver in the shot and bronze in the javelin with team-mate Brian Tague winning the bronze medal in the shot. Lorcan McMenamin won the bronze in the High jump and was 4th in both the long jump and 80m sprint. Martin Doherty and David Black qualified in the ball throw. Christopher O'Leary, Michael Penrose, Philip Browne and Karl Bradley all competed very well.

Laura Feely was also a double gold medalist winning the shot with a new p.b. of 9.80 metres and then going on the win the javelin with 20.60m. Christine O'Neill was a finalist in the 80m sprint with very good performances from Catherine Gallagher, Aoife Whelen, Clara Dunnion and Eilish Patton in the 600m, Siobhan Gallagher and Corinne Murphy in the shot and Natalie Harley and Donna McBride in the 80m.

Overall it was a very successful day for all the athletes and many thanks to the coaches and parents who helped out on the day. The under 14 and 15 age group will be competing next Saturday in Antrim with the Under 16, 17,18,19 & 20 competing next Sunday also in Antrim. Bus leaves the Finn Valley Centre both mornings at 7.00 a.m. Good luck to all.

Donegal Primary School Sports

Valley held their 33rd Donegal Primary Schools Sports on Wednesday and once again this was a very successful event. Ninety seven Primary Schools participated and Valley's Patsy McGonagle founder of the event was delighted to see new schools taking part. The event has been a great success over the years and gives children a great opportunity to take part in athletics. However a large number of schools still fail to take up the invitation to compete and this is sad, as the only real losers are the children who are not given the opportunity to compete. Finn Valley wish to thank all organisors and helpers who gave their time to make the day a success.

Results of Primary School Sports.

Neil Martin Heads to Latvia

All at Finn Valley wish Neil Martin and the Irish Team the best of luck in Latvia. Neil travels with the Irish squad as team coach. This is an early season competition for Irish athletes, which gives them an opportunity to achieve standards for upcoming international championships. The Irish will be taking part in two races. The first race is in the capital Riga on Thursday 12th followed on Saturday 14th by a race in Ventspils. These races are well organised meetings and are very important on the international calendar. Best of luck to all.

Finn Valley's 5k road race

Finn Valley are holding a 5k road race in conjunction with the Twin Towns Festival. The race will be held on Tuesday 17th June at 7.30pm. The race also coincides with the visit of the Special Olympics team Macau who will be staying in the Finn Valley area for four days before heading to Dublin. It is hoped that the race will attract a large number of participants. More information on this race next week.

Training continues at Finn Valley Valley every Tuesday and Thursday at 7.30pm and Sunday morning at 10.30am. It is important that all who have qualified for the All Ireland championships to attend all training sessions.