Irish Team Selection for Four Valley Athletes

Congratulations to Kay Byrne, Noeleen Porter, James McMahon and Dominic Bonner who have been selected for the Irish Masters Team for the Cross-Country International in Croydon as a result of their great performances in the Gerry Farnan 5k in the Phoenix Park at the weekend. Kay was 4th and Noeleen one place behind her in 5th position. The Finn Valley Women's team battled it out with Raheny all the way and were just beaten by 1 point. 3rd Scorer for Finn Valley was Teresa McGloin. The club wishes a speedy recovery to women's team members Catriona McGranaghan who is ill at the moment and Clodagh McCool who is struggling with injury.

James McMahon who was 2nd in the over 40 age group, and Dominic Bonner also had excellent runs earning them their international selection. Mark Connolly has been named as reserve on the Irish team. Good running here also from Pat Hegarty. The Finn Valley Men's team of Barry Harron, who had an excellent run in 6th position, James McMahon 15th, Jamie Lewis 23rd, and Dominic Bonner 26th, finished 3rd in the team competition.

There were also good runs from Pat Hegarty, Charlie Gallagher, Mark Connolly who was named 1st reserve in the O/45 section and Jim Hynes who competed in O/60 category.

Joe Byrne

Joe Byrne who is at University in the U.S. won the Saluki Invitational Cross-Country Race recently and is the leading Cross-Country athlete for his University. Joe is preparing for the Conference Championships which will take place in a couple of weeks. Joe continues to stay in touch with the club and we look forward to seeing him compete in the club's Boxing Day race when he comes home for Christmas.

Joe Brennan

Congratulations and good luck to Joe Brennan who is off on his trek to Kilimanjaro. Joe is a key member of the club and is to be congratulated on his amazing efforts which have seen him raise in excess of 30,000 Euro for charity.

Training

It is all systems go now for the cross-country juvenile and novice athletes who will be competing in the Ulster Championships in Killybegs on Saturday 30th October. Training continues for all athletes at 7.30 Tuesdays and Thursdays and Sunday mornings at 10.30 a.m.

County Donegal Athletics Board

The A.G.M. of the Donegal Athletics board took place in Josie's Bar in Letterkenny on Monday night. Congratulations to Neil Martin who takes over as county chairman and Patsy McGonagle, who continues as records officer.

Bernie Alcorn, P.R.O.