St. MaryÕs boys sweep the boards

GALWAY schools will be well represented at the All-Ireland Track and Field finals in Tullamore this weekend following some excellent performances at the Connacht Schools Athletic Association Finals in Athlone recently.

In the Senior boys events there were plenty of fine performances across the board, with Galway athletes very much to the fore. St. Enda’s proved to have the fastest young men in the province when they recorded a one-two in the Senior 100m.

Ben Cooney came home just in front of his schoolmate Ronan Dobey, and this pairing was the backbone behind the victorious 4 x 100m relay team in the final of the event of the day, just about holding off the brave challenge of HRC Mountbellew.

The 400m Hurdles event proved to be an excellent battle between two promising Galway athletes as St. Joseph’s Evan McGuire, fresh from having set the new Olympic Stadium 100m record, faced up to the reigning Irish 400m Hurdles champion Anthony Hebron from rival college St. Mary’s.

On the day McGuire just had the necessary speed to carry him across the line in first place, but it promises to be another titanic battle when they square up again in the All-Ireland final. Hebron went on to finish third in the 800m soon afterwards.

Another Galway winner on the track was Simon Callaghan from Presentation Headford, as he powered down the track to take the 110m hurdles title, while St. Mary’s recorded a victory in the 2000m Steeplechase as Paul Fahy from Claregalway was a convincing winner over last year’s champion, and fellow schoolmate, Gary O’Connell.

In the field events, Loughrea VS recorded a fine double in the Long Jump when Emmet Creaven finished marginally ahead of his teammate Janic Schultz. Creaven was also to the fore in the Triple Jump where he finished second behind former Irish sprint medallist Osaze Osagie from St. Mary’s College. The city school also scored well in the javelin with Patrick O’Connell and Paul Forde finishing second and third respectively, and these helped contribute to St.Mary’s winning the overall shield competition for best Senior School.

In the Senior girls, the outstanding Galway performer on the day was Katie O’Donoghue from Presentation Athenry. Katie recorded victories in the 100m and followed that with first place in the High Jump. Another Athenry athlete, Leticia Ryan-Collins, representing the Vocational School, was also to the fore, with a fine victory in the Triple Jump to add to her second place in the Long Jump.

Melissa Barrett from Loughrea VS was another double medal winner as she won the Discus and was second in the Javelin, while another Loughrea VS athlete Linda Porter was a convincing winner of the 800m race. Meanwhile, HRC Mountbellew struck gold in the Shot Putt when Hayley Sommers just out putted Hannah Kindregan from Pres Athenry.

The intermediate (U-17) girls competition proved to be another tough one, with a number of Galway girls featuring in the medals. The outstanding display came from Presentation Athenry’s Alanna Lally who recorded a championship best performance when winning the 800m from her teammate Sinead Gaffney, and then followed this up with victory in the 300m.

Indeed, it was a successful day for the Pres Athenry athletes as they also recorded victories in the Long Jump through Clare Ryder, the High Jump through Maria McNamara and the hammer through Emma Grady, while also recording second place finishes for Jessica Heneghan in the 200m, Eilish Whyte in the Discus, and Grady again in the Shot Putt. Victory in the relay sealed their victory in the Intermediate Best Inter Girls School Shield.

For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.