More success for Finn Valley at National Championships

The National Juvenile Indoor Championships were held in Nenagh last weekend. Individual events were held on Saturday with the relays held on Sunday. It was a very successful weekend with our juveniles winning two Gold, one Silver and four Bronze medals.

Saturday got off to a great start with a very exciting U18 triple jump competition involving Geraldine Kelly. Geraldine won the silver medal with a jump of 10.25m just an agonising 1cm from the Gold medal won by Christina Broderick from Belgooly A.C. with Jenny Curran, Craigavon 3rd in 10.07m.

Aoife Whelan was our next medallist on Saturday with a terrific performance in the U14 1000m Walk showing great determination throughout the race going from 4th to 1st in the last two laps finishing in an excellent time of 5.08.2 to win the Gold ahead of Carol Kaiser, St. Brendans in 5.11.1 and Sinead Holmes, Bilboa in 5.14.84. This was Aoife's first National Championship individual medal but will surely be the first of many for this very talented walker.

Shauna Guthrie showed her usual true grit in the U15 1000m Walk fighting her way through the field determined to get a top three position and was involved in a very exciting sprint finish to get the bronze medal in a time of 5.23.38 ahead of Leah Kenna, Celbridge in 5.23.92. Natasha Duffy also competed well in this race to finish in 10th position in a time of 6.39.14.

Nikki Alcorn was competing in the U17 1500m Walk and with the confidence gained from winning her first Senior National medal the previous week as part of the County relay Silver medal winning team set off with great determination. Nikki settled in behind the reigning indoor and outdoor Champion Aoibheann Prendiville, Lios Tuathail A.C. and a great tactical battle ensued with Nikki keeping the pressure on until 250m to go when she made the break and came away to win easily in 7.57.76 minutes with Aoibheann 2nd in 8.32.01 and Carol Flood, Glaslough 3rd in 9.23.46.

Breda McGinty competed in the U15 800m and was undoubtedly the unluckiest athlete of the day. Breda ran her heart out in the race and was holding on to 3rd position quite literally to an inch from the line and was devastated to be passed on the line by Sinead Donovan, Celbridge in a time of 2.28.50 with Breda 4th in 2.28.64.

Pauric Feely competed in the U18 Triple Jump and although still not at his best after recent illness did very well to finish in 5th position with a jump of 12.10m.

Pauric McLaughlin had a great run in the U14 800m doing everything right tactically in the race but lost out in the final run in finishing 5th.

Fionnuala Bruton competed in the U16 1500m Walk and finished 6th in a very high standard race in an excellent time of 7.49.10.

Diarmuid Fullerton competed in the U16 High Jump and although he did not achieve his personal best of 1.60 which won him the silver medal in the Scottish Indoors he finished 8th with a clearance of 1.55m. Diarmuid will improve a lot with training over the summer.

Brendan Alexander competed well finishing 8th in the final of the U19 800m in a race won by the very talented Colin Costello in a time of 1.58.38.

Laura Reid ran very well in the U16 800m just failing to make the final by 0.7 of a second with a time of 2.36.44.

Joe McGinley competed well finishing 2nd in his heat of the U18 200m in a time of 25.24 but unfortunately did not make the final.

Relay Championships

The relay Championships were held on Sunday and provided great excitement and tension throughout the day. Only 4 teams qualified for each final so making it through the heats was a very difficult task.

The U13 boys team of Matthew Kelly, Aaron McMenamin, Gerry Boyle and Christopher McBride put in a very good performance in their heat but unfortunately did not progress to the final.

The U15 boys team of Paul Doherty, Ian Ward, Shane Bonner and Ryan McDaid ran very well finishing 6th fastest overall but failed to make the final.

The U17 boys team were expected to challenge strongly for medals but first had to negotiate the heats and with Mark McGowan running a brilliant first leg handing over to Stefan Connolly who ran strongly passing to Declan Hennessey who handed over the baton to Ross Wherity who ran a superb last leg battling to the line with Ferrybank A.C. and secured a place for his team in the final. In the final Mark McGowan once again ran a terrific leg with Stefan Connolly running brilliantly to pass to Declan Hennessey who ran the race of his life to pass to Maurice Boyle in 2nd place but although Maurice tried his hardest he was unable to hold off the fast finishing Roundwood A.C. but held on for the Bronze medals.

The U19 boys team of Joe McGinley, Mark McGlinchey, Seamus McMenamin and Pauric Feely were unlucky with a poor baton change on one leg and then Seamus McMenamin was impeded by another athlete in the exchange zone and thus failed to make the final.

The U12 boys were next up and the team of Colm McLaughlin, Emmet Patterson, Ciaran Brennan and Ryan McNulty ran very well in their heats to progress to the final in 4th fastest position. The boys were determined to come home with medals and upped their performance in the final with outstanding runs from all four young athletes to win the bronze medals just 0.08 of a second from the silver.

The U14 boys of Lorcan McMenamin, Christopher O'Leary, Pauric McLaughlin and Philip Browne also ran very well but just failed to make the final.

The U14 Girls were our only female representatives in the relays and they put in a great performance in their heat to finish 2nd but did not qualify as one of the four fastest teams. However, the team of Aoife Whelan, Donna McBride, Gemma Vance and Christine O'Neill did us proud.

The U18 boys team were also serious medal contenders and in their age group the qualifying was 1st from each heat and the two fastest losers so they were determined to win their heat to secure their place. Joe McGinley ran a great first leg to hand to Pauric Feely who did a great job getting to the inside lane after the break and holding the lead to pass on to Seamus McMenamin who had a great run and with an excellent pass to Mark McGowan who held on to the lead and their place in the final secured. In the final Joe, Pauric and Seamus were joined by Stefan Connolly and with excellent runs from all four boys in a very exciting race they won the bronze medals.

National Senior and Masters Road Relays

Our Senior and Master athletes were in Dublin on Sunday competing in the National Road Relays and also achieved great results.

Our Senior women's team of Clodagh McCool who ran 5.20 for the 1 Lap, Catriona McGranaghan, 11.19 for the 2 lap and Kay Byrne for the final Lap, 5.35 won the Silver medals in a time of 22 minutes 14 seconds behind Tullamore Harriers.

Our Senior men's team were also successful winning the Bronze medals with Barry Harron running 10.00 for the 2 laps, Ciaran Carlin, 4.38 for the 1 lap, Charlie Gallagher, 15.12 for the 3 laps and Kevin Holian, 10.06 for the final 2 laps giving the team a total time of 39 minutes 56 seconds.

Our Masters men's A team of Gerard Bogle, 4.59 (fastest time of the race over 1 lap), Mark Connolly, 5.27 and Dominic Bonner, 10.31 for 2 laps also ran brilliantly to secure the bronze medals in a time of 20 minutes 57 seconds.

Drew Doherty, Bernard McCabe and Pat McCrudden were in the B team and all ran well to finish in 8th position in a time of 22 minutes 33 seconds.

Congratulations

Congratulations to club coach Seamus McGranaghan and his wife Mary on the birth of their daughter last Friday.

Training

Training continues over the Easter holidays on Tuesday and Thursday nights.

Bernie Alcorn, P.R.O.