Results from Ulster Schools Finals and Donegal Track and Field Championships

The Ulster schools finals took place at the Mary Peters track, Belfast on Friday evening and in Bangor on Saturday. On Friday Fionnuala Bruton and Shauna Guthrie qualified in the Junior girls walk while Nikki Alcorn and Charlene Kelly qualified in the intermediate girls walk. On Saturday, Michael Reid won the intermediate discus with a fine throw of 37.44m. Pauric Feely took the silver medal in the triple jump 12.37m.

Laura Friel won silver in the junior girls high jump (1.47m). Geraldine Kelly won the bronze in the intermediate triple jump and was a mere centimetre away from bronze in the long jump. Congratulations to all these athletes who have now qualified for the All-Ireland schools finals in Tullamore on the 5th of June.

Other club athletes to compete well were Mark McGowan and Stefan Connolly who both qualified for the final of the 400m with Mark running 54.4 sec’s in his heat which is a new P.B. Mark and Stefan also ran well in the 400m Hurdles final. Joe McGinley qualified for the final of the intermediate100m and Jackie Gibson ran well in the junior 800m final. Bronagh O Doherty (200m) and Brendan Alexander (400m) both competed well but failed to make their finals.

Donegal Track and Field Championships

The first round of the Donegal track and field juvenile, senior and masters championships were held at the Finn Valley centre on Sunday. There were many excellent performances from our juvenile athletes in particular.

Juveniles

Joe McGinley U/18 gold 100m, silver shot putt and bronze javelin. Geraldine Kelly U/18, Gold 100m, long jump, shot, javelin and silver 800m. Nikki Alcorn U/18, a Gold in 800m, 1500m Walk and silver in the 100m, long jump, shot and javelin. Aoife Whelan Gold in the U/14 1500m walk. Fionnuala Bruton, gold U/16 1500m walk, javelin and silver shot putt. Lorcan McMenamin U/14 gold in the high jump and bronze 100m.

Clive Heapes U/14 gold shot putt. Laura Feely U/14, gold shot putt and javelin. Breda McGinty U/16, gold 800m and bronze 100m. Ian Ward U/16, 800m gold. Kieran O Grady U/16, gold shot putt (12.55m). Ryan McDaid U/16, gold high jump. Kieran McNulty U/18, gold shot putt and javelin. Matthew Kelly U/14, gold javelin.

Silver medals for Christopher O'Leary in the U/14 100m, Clara Dunnion in the U/14 1500m walk and Maeve Culhane in the U/16 1500m walk. Ryan McNulty U/12, also had a silver in the 600m and a bronze in the long jump. Ciaran McGill had a double silver in the U/14 shot putt and javelin. Fionnuala Lindsey took a silver medal in the 800m. Catherine Gallagher took silver in the U14 Shot and Bronze in the Javelin. Aileen Brennan won silver in the U14 High Jump as did Andrew Gallagher in the U/12 High Jump. Ciara Gallen won the silver in the U16 Javelin as did Gavin McCrudden in the boys U16 Javelin. Kevin Beirne took the silver medal in the U12 Ball Throw.

Bronze medals for Shanna McCrudden in the U12 Ball Throw, Colm McLaughlin U12 80m, Aaron McMenamin U14 100m, Shauna Guthrie 1500m Walk U16, Pauric McLaughlin U14 800m, Jackie Gibson U16 800m, Bronagh O’Doherty U16 Long Jump and Brian Patton U18 Long Jump.

Masters

Dominic Bonner and George Gallen kept the flag flying in the masters with gold medals in the 3000m and Javelin respectively. Gerard Doherty won the silver in the Shot.

National Relays

The club will be involved this weekend in the National Track & Field Relay Championships with teams in the 5000m Team event, 3000m Masters, 3 x 800m Women, 2 x 56 for distance and athletes involved in two County Walk teams.

Welcome back from the States to Joe Byrne who we hope will be part of our 5000m team on Saturday.

Upcoming competitions

• National Track & Field Relays, Sligo 29th May;
• All-Ireland Schools, Tullamore 5th June;
• Donegal Championships,€2nd round, 6th June
• Primary Schools Finals, 9th June;
• Ulster Juvenile Championships, 13th June.

Training

Training continues 7.30 Tuesdays and Thursdays and Sunday mornings at 10.30 a.m. Owing to the very large numbers attending training at the moment it would be appreciated if any parents with an hour to spare would give a helping hand.

Bernie Alcorn, P.R.O.