Second place finish for GCH athletes clinches promotion to Premier Division for 2011

IN their second season fielding a club team in the national senior men’s track and field league, GCH finished second in the Division 1 final in Tullamore on Saturday to earn promotion to the Premier Division next year.

This achievement came despite the absence of some big point scorers such as Simon Callaghan, Ronan Dobey, Kevin Dooley, Gary Thorton, Brian Liddy, and Eanna Ó Catháin.

Harriers got off to a slow start as they did not have anyone in many of the early events such as the walk, long jump and pole vault. First points on the track were collected by Anthony Hebron, who has enjoyed a fantastic season the highlight of which was winning the Ireland schools 400m hurdles.

Against some concern from team management, Hebron was keen to not only compete in the 400m hurdles but also the much higher 110m hurdles. It proved a risk worth taking as he took 4th in the 110 event and followed that with second in the 400m hurdles.

Sprinter Daragh Whyte still has two years left at school, but he has been competitive throughout the season against the senior men. There was a strong field assembled in 200m but a PB of 23.04 took him to a respectable 5th.

He was given the given the benefit of the doubt over Clare County athlete Cormac Lynch but the order was reversed in the 100m with Whyte narrowly beaten into 5th by the Clare athlete.

Like Whyte, Ronan Kelly also has two more years at school but he is already competing well as a senior. He had been consistent all season and produced another second place in the 400m.

Kelly was joined in the sprint relay team by Whyte, Hebron and Sean Kyne. The GCH teamfaced their most competitive race of the year, but were a solid 5th place which, given that they are all still eligible for the juveniles, shows the promise of the sprint squads being developed by the club’s juvenile coaches.

Keith Fallon produced a PB and passed the landmark of a sub 4 minute 1500m when finishing fourth behind three established seniors and only lost touch slightly at the start of the final lap. If he copes with the transition from school to university level, he should be starting to compete with the best of the seniors over the next two years.

Eddie Costello, after being sidelined by injury, just got back into racing in time to chase a sub two minute 800m before the close of the season. On Saturday, he made a good attempt following the leading trio closely around the first 600m. The lack of race practice showed in the final 200m as the familiar foe of lactic acid came, reducing Costello’s speed drastically and taking him just outside two minutes but in a respectable 4th place.

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.