Finn Valley Win Seven Scottish Championship Indoor medals

Our juvenile athletes travelled to Glasgow last weekend to compete in the Scottish Indoor Championships and they did so with great success. They won a total of seven medals, One Gold, Four Silver and Two Bronze.

Saturday got off to a good start with Aileen Brennan having a brilliant competition in the U/13 High Jump with a new Championship Best Performance of 1.45m. Aileen struggled a bit in the earlier rounds of the competition but once she settled down and achieved a new personal best at 1.38m her confidence grew and she went on to set a new Scottish Championship best of 1.45m. Aileen easily cleared the height on her first attempt and indeed looks like she can go considerably higher. Jodie Stewart also competed in this competition finishing 6th with a jump of 1.32m. Jodie was also 6th in the final of the Long Jump and 4th in her heat of the 60m.

Laura Feely was next to compete in the U/13 Shot (2.72 Kg.) and Laura also set a new Championship Best Performance with 9.23m leading the competition going into the last round but was unfortunately overtaken by Clare Fitzgerald of Tralee Harriers. However, Laura should be well pleased with her Silver medal. Matthew Kelly, Laura's training partner in the shot, also had a great competition in the U13 Championship with another Silver medal with a putt of 7.63m (3.25Kg.). Great credit must go to their coach and Laura's mother Christine who has worked very hard with these two athletes over the winter.

Diarmuid Fullerton was our next medallist winning an excellent silver medal in the U/15 High Jump with a new p.b. of 1.60m. Diarmuid who had won the Ulster Championship High Jump the previous week in Derry will now concentrate on this event and has great potential to go a lot higher. Lorcan McMenamin who was also competing in this event, a year out of his age group, had a very good competition with a new p.b. of 1.50.

Ian Ward competed in the 1500m U/15 and what a race that turned out to be. The battle for the bronze medal was intense between Ian, Dan King from Milford and Craig Young from Clydesdale Harriers. Ian employed terrific tactics throughout the race and was rewarded with the bronze medal in an excellent time of 4.38.89. Shane Bonner finished 7th in this final in 4.53.77.

Paul Doherty won his heat of the 60m Hurdles very convincingly and looked a strong contender for a medal in the final. Unfortunately Paul had a very bad start in the final and although closing ground rapidly on his rivals had to make do with 4th place. Nevertheless this was an excellent performance from Paul who has improved greatly this year.

Breda McGinty also finished in the frustrating 4th position in the U15 1500m running below her best in a time of 5.09.24 but will no doubt bounce back to fight another day. Shauna Guthrie finished 9th just ahead of team-mate Maeve Culhane in 10th place.

Laura Friel finished joint 4th on height in the U/15 High jump and will have gained more experience from this competition.

Pauric McLaughlin finished 2nd in his heat of the 800m in 2.30.16 and improved to 2.28.23 in the final to finish also in the dreaded 4th position but he certainly gave it his all. Philip Browne finished 8th in this final with a good time of 2.36.70 in his heat. Gerry Boyle was 6th in his heat in 2.40.52 as was Christopher McBride in his heat in 2.41.05. Aaron McMenamin competed well in the Long and High jumps which unfortunately were held at the same time making life difficult for those involved in both.

Jackie Gibson ran very well in the U15 800m in 2.38.53 but just failed to make the final as did Tara Hegarty, Mairead McGill and Ciara Hegarty.

Ryan McDaid and Aiden Connolly competed well in the 800m U15 with Ryan also competing in the 200m. Lorcan McMenamin was 11th in the U15 Long Jump, Shane McCool, 17th and Shane Bonner 19th. Siobhan Gallagher was 17th in the U15 High Jump. Christopher O'Leary was 4th in his heat of the U/15 400m and Ciara Gallen was 5th in her heat of the 60m Hurdles U15.

Niamh Doherty had a very good run in the U13 800m in 2.46.14 as did Gemma Vance and Aoife Whelan but unfortunately did not make the final.

On Sunday the U/17 & U/20 Championships were held and our athletes had a lot of very encouraging performances. Pauric Feely had an outstanding competition in the U.20 Triple Jump with a new p.b. of 12.48m good enough for the silver medal. Pauric also competed well in the Long jump, 5.51m and the 60m 7.75 secs.

Stefan Connolly had a new p.b. in his heat of the 400m U/17 of 54.91 and followed it up with another p.b. in the final of 54.64 and an excellent and well deserved Bronze medal.

Geraldine Kelly suffering from a knee injury finished 4th in the U17 Triple Jump and was disappointed with her below par 10.16m jump but will have gained a lot from the experience of the competition.

Maurice Boyle ran very well in his heat of the 1500m to finish 3rd and qualify for the final in 4.34.1 a new p.b. Maurice later went on to finish 7th in his final and will be in this age group again next year. Brian Patton and Ronan McCabe finished 6th and 7th in their heat of the 1500m.

Kieran O'Grady and Brendan Culhane competed very well in the U17 Shot finishing 10th and 11th. Nikki Alcorn finished 6th in her heat of the 800m U17 and Brendan Alexander finished 9th in his heat in the 800m U20.

Mark McGlinchey competed well in the 60m 7.72 secs but had a very bad fall in his heat of the 400m but knows he was on for a very fast time. He will have to gain encouragement from that despite the disappointment.

Emma O'Neill finished 3rd in her heat of the 200m just failing to make the semi-finals and Declan Hennessey finished 4th in his heat of the 200m U17. Paula Gallagher finished 12th in the U17 High Jump 1.35m.

Well done to all and many thanks to the Finn Valley coaches who travelled with the athletes namely, Christine Feely, Ann Gallagher, Maureen Doherty, Brid McMenamin, Bernie Alcorn, Patsy Doherty and Sean Carlin.

Anne McGill

Congratulations to Anne McGill who won the 10k Walk at an international meet in the Isle of Man last weekend. Anne won the race in a time of 58 minutes 40 seconds which was faster for her time in the same race last year.

Bernie Alcorn, P.R.O.