Galway athletes produced a series of outstanding performances at the final weekend of the National Juvenile Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Tullamore, with competitors from Galway City Harriers, Craughwell, Athenry, South Galway, Castlegar and Clare River Harriers featuring prominently against the country's best young athletes.
The county's medal-winning performances were led by Craughwell AC and Galway City Harriers, while several other Galway clubs secured top-eight national finishes.
On Saturday's programme for U13-19s, the highlights for Galway City Harriers came through Adill Prochownik, who produced an excellent run to take silver in the U18 Boys 400m Hurdles, clocking 57.69 seconds, and from talented sprinter Elisa Jaime-Stapleton, who claimed a bronze medal in the U19 Girls 200m, finishing third in 26.55 seconds to secure a place on the national podium.
Craughwell AC earned double podium spots, in the U19 Girls 400m Hurdles, as Lauren Kilduff produced a superb run to take silver in 1:01.05, while teammate Emma O'Donovan secured bronze in 1:03.27. Earlier in the programme, middle-distance runner David Frazer claimed bronze in the U17 Boys 1500m, running 4:07.69 in a high-class race.
Athenry AC's Harry Melia produced one of the performances of the championships for Galway, taking silver in the U15 Boys 250m Hurdles in 34.56 seconds.
Although just outside the medals, Galway's depth was further highlighted by top six performances by Luke Walsh and Fionn Deutinger of South Galway in the 1500m and Shot Putt respectively, while clubmate Anthony Kenny also impressed by reaching the U15 Boys 200m final and finishing fourth.
For Athenry, Dominic Sury also reached the national final of the U15 Boys 200m, finishing sixth, while Rian Collins narrowly missed a medal with an excellent sixth place finish in the U19 Boys 1500m.
For Castlegar, Siún Ní Chonaill with a fast 4.46 and Orla Casey both impressed over 1500m, as did Patrick Lee (Clare River Harriers ) in the U16 Boys 1500m. GCH also saw strong runs Joshua Danker (fifth in hurdles ) and Hugo Lynagh (seventh in 200m ) also impressed in their track finals.
At the Juvenile Relays held last Sunday, Galway City Harriers secured multiple gold medal wins. The GCH Under 19 Mixed Team of Elisa Jaime-Stapleton, Keilah Murray, Óisín Maher, Adill Prochownik and Sean Danker became the first GCH team to win a National Mixed Relay title.
GCH U13 Girls broke the championship record to take the national title while the Under 19s Boys took gold in the Boys 4x100m relay.
The U19 boys added a great 4x400m team silver while their U18 equivalents claimed bronze making it five relay medals for the club.
At the Juvenile Bs Championships held on Sunday, West Coast AC saw superb national glory and a gold medal win for sprinter Jessica Lambart at the Bs finals. For GCH, at U 15 boys’ level, Benas Navickas won the High Jump with a huge 1.58m clearance and Luke Collins jumped brilliantly to take Bs silver with 4.89m.
Road Races
On the road, there were 5km races in the city on Saturday evening via Tribal Running with Abbas Adam Edris the overall winner and first lady home was Anne-Marie Connellan.
In sweltering conditions on Sunday in Abbeyknockmoy, Ger Hartnett of Tuam AC won the Half Marathon in 1 hour 25 mins, with Sinead Egan of GCH first lady and third overall in 1 hour 30.
Over 10km, race winners were Donal Farren of Letterkenny AC in 33.07 and Ellen Bermingham of South Galway in 38.40. In the 5km, Jack Doocey in 17.59 took the honours, with Aisling Joyce of GCH first lady in 18.42
Next Wednesday, July 22 sees the inaugural Mick Molloy 5K Road Race in Oughterard. This chip-timed event, hosted by Corrib AC and Oughterard GAA, takes runners along a scenic rural route through the beautiful Connemara countryside. With professional timing, refreshments, parking and a welcoming community atmosphere, the race is suitable for all. Race start is 7:30pm.
Registration and race HQ at Oughterard GAA Club.
