After fine National Senior Track and Field Championship performances from across the county, three Galway athletes have been confirmed as selected on the Irish team for the upcoming European Athletics Championships in Birmingham.
Relay places go to Lucas Fadden of Galway City Harriers in the men’s 4x100m relay, and 400m medallists Andrew Egan of GCH and Sean Doggett of Athenry AC in the men’s 4x400m relay.
Emma Moore, also of GCH, is provisionally selected over 800m pending finalisation of the top 32 ranked athletes in the 800m. A final announcement is due this Friday.
The European Athletics Championships will take place next month from August 10 to August 16.
Galway's athletes shine on the national stage
Galway's athletes delivered one of the county's strongest performances in recent years at the National Senior Track and Field Championships in Morton Stadium, returning home with six national medals, several finalists and a host of personal-best and season-best performances.
The biggest haul came on the track where Galway athletes claimed medals in both the men's and women's 400m and 800m finals.
Emma Moore (Galway City Harriers ) produced a superb run in the women's 800m final, taking silver medal position in 2:04.59, just behind champion Madison Mooney of Tullamore Harriers.
In the men's 400m final, Galway enjoyed a remarkable double podium success. Andrew Egan (Galway City Harriers ) stormed to silver in 46.16, while Sean Doggett (Athenry AC ) claimed bronze in 46.89, behind champion Jack Raftery, giving Galway two of the three medal positions in one of the championship's marquee events.
The county's field event medal came from Darragh Fahy (Loughrea AC ), who secured silver in the men's triple jump with a leap of 13.91m, finishing runner-up to Finn Valley's Joseph Gillespie.
Galway's fifth and sixth medals came through the outstanding West Coast AC Men's Relays squads. West Coast 4x100m Relay Team, raced to silver medals in 42.09 seconds, finishing second nationally behind Titans AC, with the squad comprising Reakwon Lucciano, Ben Edeh, Kamsi Okepegbuo, Leon Ewere, Christian Efeosa Ogbemudia and Nick Ukaga. On Sunday’s programme, West Coast AC completed a medal double in the men’s 4x400m relays via the quartet of Ben Edeh, Kamsi Okepegbuo, Leon Ewere and Oisin Phelan to make it to the national podium.
Over the weekend there were some excellent performances from University of Galway athletes and alumni. Alumni Finlay Daly, coached by Matt Lockett won steeplechase gold, while Fiona Everard also an alumni, won 5000m silver.
Athenry AC saw a strong field-events performance from Liam Shaw, who finished fourth in the senior men's shot put with 13.61m, and eighth in the men’s discus.
West Coast AC's sprint programme continues to thrive, as their relay medals were backed up by several notable individual performances via Reakwon Lucciano who won his 200m heat and reached the national final, where he finished sixth, while Ben Edeh ran 49.36 in the 400m. Multi medal winner over the years Caoimhe Phelan placed sixth in the women's 5000m walk.
While medals proved elusive, Craughwell AC once again underlined its reputation as one of the country's strongest all-round clubs with a series of impressive performances across the track programme.
In the women's sprint hurdles, Lauren Kilduff reached the national 400m hurdles final and placed superbly in fifth overall, while clubmate Emma O'Donovan also competed strongly in the event for seventh. In the flat 400m, Sinead Treacy ran an impressive 56.11 seconds against a quality national field.
Craughwell's middle-distance squad was also prominent throughout the championships. Kyle Moorhead produced a strong 1:55.40 in the men's 800m heats, while Oisín Davis and Jack Miskella impressed in the 1500m, clocking 3:54.16 and 3:57.13 respectively just missing final berths. The club also maintained a strong presence in the jumps with Darragh Kelly fifth in the high jump.
Also, for Galway City Harriers, Laura Ann Costello and Nicole Walsh both clocked strong heat times of 56.84 in the Women's 400m, while Oisin Maher and Barry Murphy went sub-two minutes over 800m.
Loughrea’s Aoibhin Farrell placed 10th in the women's triple jump, ensuring Loughrea athletes featured prominently in both horizontal jumping competitions.
Tuam AC fielded three athletes in the demanding women's 5,000m walk, with all three successfully completing the championship race.
Holly Shaughnessy led the club home in eighth place, followed by Ciara Gilmore in ninth and Baiba Varsberga in 10th. Their performances provided a strong representation for the club in one of athletics' most technically challenging disciplines.
South Galway AC enjoyed several noteworthy performances over the course of the championships. The highlight came from David Mannion, who produced a quality run of 48.24 seconds in the men's 400m.
Together with the medal-winning exploits of Galway City Harriers, Athenry, West Coast and Loughrea, the performances from Craughwell, Tuam, South Galway and East Galway demonstrated the remarkable breadth of athletics talent currently flourishing across County Galway.
The county finished the weekend with six national medals, highlighted by double silvers for Galway City Harriers, a bronze for Athenry, a field-event silver for Loughrea and relay medals for West Coast. Combined with numerous finalists and top-eight finishes from Craughwell, Tuam, South Galway and East Galway athletes, it was a championship weekend that showcased the strength and depth of athletics across Galway.
