Finn Valley Dominate Ulster/Northern Ireland Road Relays

The Finn Valley Senior and Master athletes were in action last weekend at the Ulster/Northern Ireland Road Relay Championships which were held in Letterkenny winning two Gold and two Silver sets of team medals out of the four Championship races. Continuing on from their brilliant Cross-Country season our Senior women's team won the 4 x 1 mile relay with Clodagh McCool recording the fastest lap time of the day in this race of 6.27, Catriona McGranaghan, 6.36, Kay Byrne 6.53 and Teresa McGloin 7.25 to record yet another victory. Not to be outdone our Masters women also took gold with Nancy McNamee, recording the fastest leg in this race, 7.41, Rosemary Bogle 8.02, Mary Martin 8.37 and Mary Bond 8.54.

Our Senior men's team took the Silver medals in the 4 x 2 mile Championship with Charlie Gallagher recording the fastest lap time in this race of 9.17, Kevin Holian 9.24, Kieran Carlin 9.40 and Conal McBride 9.52. Frank Chaney ran an individual leg in 9.49. Our Masters men's team also won the Silver medals with Dominic Bonner recording the fastest leg in this race 9.54, Gerard Bogle 10.02, Pat McCrudden 11.50 and Michael Kelly 12.23.

These athletes now look forward to the National Road Relays in Raheny on the 4th April.

Juvenile success at National Indoor Championships in Nenagh

Our juvenile athletes were competing at the first weekend of the National Indoor Championships in Nenagh. Laura Feely had a great Shot putt competition winning the bronze medal with a new personal best of 10.65m. Laura was delighted with her performance and is now aiming for the 11m mark.

Gavin Carlin U/14 who was affected by a chest infection competed well to finish 4th in both the long jump 4.72m and the 60m hurdles 9.96 but will no doubt soon be back to his winning ways. Lorcan McMenamin recorded a new personal best in the long jump U/14 of 4.69m to finish 5th and also finished 4th in the high jump. Lorcan's younger brother Aaron also had a very good weekend recording a new p.b. in the U13 Long jump of 4.27m, a massive 30cm better than his previous best. Aaron also just missed out on a medal in the high jump losing the bronze on countback but equaled his p.b. of 1.35m. Aileen Brennan and Jodie Stewart were also very unlucky in a very close U/13 high jump competition losing out on medals on countback. Jodie also finished 9th in the long jump, 4.02m. Ryan McNulty had a terrific run in the final of the 600m U/12 with a great last lap to bring him up to 5th in a time of 1.50.22. Niamh Doherty also had a great run in the final of the U13 600m just being pipped on the line for 5th place in an excellent time of 1.53.46.

Kieran O'Grady continues his excellent season with a new p.b. of 11.52m to finish 6th in the final of the U/16 shot. Brendan Culhane also had an excellent competition finishing in 8th in the U.17 Shot with 9.25m. Nikki Alcorn had a good run in the U/17 1500m final finishing 8th in 5.42.8. Laura Friel another flu victim finished 8th in the U/15 high jump 1.40m. Geraldine Kelly finished 8th in the U/18 long jump 4.63m and looks forward to her favourite event the triple jump on the 3rd April. Pauric Feely recovering from illness did very well to make the final of the 60m U/18 in 7.8 seconds and also looks forward to his triple jump on the 3rd. Mark McGlinchey ran very well in his heat of the U/19 400m finishing 3rd in a p.b. of 54.2 secs. Ciaran Brennan just failed to make the final of the U/12 60m by 1/10th of a second in 9.5 seconds but will have gained a lot from his first experience of indoor running. Siobhan Gallagher competed well in the U/14 High jump finishing 8th. Ronan McCabe also recorded a p.b. in the U/17 1500m of 5.25.2.

Sportshall

Congratulations to club athletes Laura Feely, Lorcan McMenamin and Shane Bonner who were all members of the successful Donegal Teams who made sporting history at the Valley Leisure Centre in Glengormley and have qualified for the Reebok Finals in Birmingham on the 18th April. This is the first time ever that four teams from the one area will represent Ulster at the Reebok finals. Laura won the gold in the U/13 Shot putt 10.31m while Lorcan and Shane were on the victorious circuit relay team in the U13 boys team. Lorcan also scored vital points in the high jump 1.35m. Congratulations to all concerned and indeed to our own Christine Feely, manager of the U/13 girls team.

World Cross-Country Championships

Congratulations to Patsy McGonagle who was Irish Team Manager last weekend for the World Cross-Country Championships in Brussels.

Training

Training continues at 7.30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and 10.30 on Sunday mornings. All athletes who are on relay teams for Nenagh must attend every training session. Training resumes for the younger juveniles who were on a break on Tuesday, 6th April.

Bernie Alcorn, P.R.O.