Irwin Gold medal the highlight of a really successful weekend for Sligo AC

A number of Sligo AC athletes made the very worthwhile trip up North this weekend to Magherafelt Co Derry for the National Juvenile All Ireland Indoor Championships. With an early start for the 60m heats there were great openers from both Kerrs, Graham and Stacey, and Ania Bednorz when all 3 athletes secured places in the 60m finals to be held later that day, Colm Bourke ran a fine race in his 60m heat just missing qualification for the final. Onto the finals, first up was Kevin McGlynn who went agonisingly close to a bronze medal in the u-19 boys 60m where he finished in 4th place but will have taken great confidence from his run, Ania Bednorz ran an excellent race where she mixed it all the way to the line to finish a close 7th in a new personal best time of 8.23 seconds. Both Kerrs went one after the other with Stacey first up and she flew out of the blocks and was involved in a blanket finish and resulted with a 5th place finish again with a new personal best of 8.25 seconds, Graham too can be really happy with his performance when he finished in a very close 5th place lowering his best to 8.39 seconds.
Onto our frst medal of the day, Zak Irwin (pictured no.458) drawn out on his own in lane 9 flew from the blocks and ran strong all the way to the line to win in fine style. Zak can be proud of his achievements as he is so new to sprinting at this level and has adopted to it in fine style. He will now concentrate on his 200m National bid in 2 weeks time.
Leo Doherty (pictured no 392) secured Sligo AC medal number 2 in the u-12 boys 600m, getting off to a slow start he quickly made up the ground going out onto the second lap of 2 and rounding into the home straight Leo took up the running only to be "collared" close to home by a young Donegal athlete. This was an amazing run by this fine young Sligo athlete and he can look forward to a very bright future. Colm Bourke did his confidence the world of good finishing a fine 6th in the boys u-18 triple jump as did Aishan Patil in the u-17 boys 1,500m where he too finished in 6th.
There was time for two more fine performances from Sligo athletes with first Sharon Hodgins running the most perfect race only to be pipped for 2nd place by a mere 0.2 of a second and had to settle for 4th place in a blanket finish - she held 2nd all the way up the straight until being pipped on the line. This is Sharons first indoor race so will learn so much from this. Then Killian O'Connor (pictured no.464) nearly pulled off the perfect run when he lead the boys u-19 1,500m all the way through the race, winding it up every lap and going out onto the final lap had kicked well clear, homing in on his first National title. However with 100m to go a Metro St Brigets athlete got onto his shoulder and out scrapped the gutsy O'Connor. But still a great performance and Killian came away with a brilliant silver medal.
Well done to all Sligo AC athletes and best of luck to all taking part in the second part of the National indoor programme in 2 weeks time in Nenagh.

Tubbercurry 10k Race Report

Tubbercurry's 38th Annual Road Race took place as usual on St. Patricks day and once again all participants were blessed with fine weather and great racing conditions. The added factor of this race being included in the new Credit Union Sligo Road Race Series added to the excitement before the event was underway. All local clubs were represented including Sligo AC, North Sligo, South Sligo, Mayo AC, Ballina AC and Tir Connaill and as such it promised to show a good battle for honours up front. Roger Barrett (Ballina AC) was the eventual victor crossing the line in 32.50 followed by road racing veteran John Byrne (Mayo AC) in second; 33.40. North Sligo's Phelim McGowan showed his obvious talent coming in third in a time of 34.12, a great result for this young athlete. Tir Connaill's Paul Ward closely followed hot on the heels of McGowan in a time of 34.19 and North Sligo's Thomas McBride took fifth place in a time of 34.41. A selection of the Sligo AC athletes that took part are as follows, Alan Kearins, Trevor Hunter, Rory Connor, Paul Deering, Willie Parke, Brendan Mullen, Dermot Cunningham, Deirdre Deering, Pauline Henry and Sheila Lehany. In the team event North Sligo took the mens honours whilst Sligo AC's female athletes took the womens title. This team was lead home by Rosanne Mitchell in a great time of 40.31 followed by Mari Johnson (41.21), Cindy McCarthy (43.55) and Corina Clarke (48.13). Deirdre Deering followed closely (48.18) ensuring the Sligo AC's womens had this title in the bag. Well done to them and to all club athletes who competed!

McGeough gets his first International call after his heroics in all Ireland Schools Cross Country

Sligo AC's James mcGeough (pictured) will get his first flavour of international duty when he represents Ireland for the first time on Saturday the 26th of March in Antrim. A student in Sligo Grammer school, James ran the perfect race to finish a close 4th place in the National schools competition. He started the race with some sense of purpose just sitting a couple of strides off the swift pace(4min 45secs for the first mile). On the final lap he still held his chance but was unable to get on terms with the eventual winner Sean Tobin of Clonmel. James lost absolutely nothing in defeat considering this was his first real competitive outing since his All Ireland winning display over 3,000m on the track last July. His training partner and close friend Anna Reddin (pictured) lost nothing in defeat also when with 150m to go she looked all over the winner but was unfortunately ran out of the medals it in the end to finish in a very close 6th place. Tommy Casey ran his best ever Cross Country race finishing in 4th place in the senior boys race which will give him huge boost as he sets off to the States for scholarship next year. There was a number of other fine performances from Sligo AC athletes in Killian OConnor, Dylan Carty, Orla Mulvihill, Sharon Hodgins, Laura Joyce and Aishan Patil. They can all hold their heads high and look forward to a great track season. Well done to all Sligo athletes who took part last weekend.

Sligo Road Race League 2011 gets underway!

The whole purpose of running the Sligo Credit Union Road Race League is to get as many people out as possible for as many races as possible, and to try to give acknowledgement to all the people who take part. The league, even though it will be competitive, should allow every person taking part to maximize their potential, and hopefully, see some improvement in their overall health and fitness as the league goes on. There are 30 prizes, of which each person will be only allowed to win one. If funds allow, more prizes may be added. The scoring system will hopefully make it accessible for as many people as possible, and will also make it competitive at the top, as there will be relatively little difference between coming first or second etc .
1. Tubbercurry - St. Patricks Day
2. Carney Lisadell 10k - Easter Monday
3. Maugherow 10k - Early June
4. Ransboro 10k - Late June
5. Horseshoe 10k - 5th August
6. Dromahaire 4 mile - Early September
7. Sligo AC 8k - 17th September
8. Grange 10k - 2nd October
The Sligo Credit Union Road Race League starts this Thursday in Tubbercurry.
Scoring: Top 50 men and top 50 women will receive points in each race i.e. 50 points for first, 49 for second etc all the way to 1 for 50th. Entry to the league will be included in the entry to each race - once you are in the individual race, you are in the league. When the final league table is calculated the prizes will be awarded as follows:
Men - 1st, 2nd, 3rd,
Women 1st, 2nd, 3rd,
O40 Men 1,2,3,
O40 Women 1,2,3,
O50 Men 1,2,3,
O50 Women 1,2,3
Sligo North Leitrim Runner not already in Prizes Male and Female 1,2,3,4,5,6.
Special Award for any person who completes all 8 races. Dates of birth for categories to be on the day of first race i.e. 17/3. Each competitor is eligible for only one prize in the race league - Prizes in individual races are completely separate from the league.
For details search facebook for SligoRoadRaceLeague or email sligoroadraceleague@gmail.com, or call Mel on 0868169126

Sligo Juveniles excel at Connaught indoor Championships in Nenagh

There was plenty of gold, a few silver, a few bronze and a number of fine performances by Sligo AC’s up and coming stars. First up were the sprints where Sligo AC vests were very prominent across all age groups.
Mary Stenson got the ball rolling with a fine 5th place finish in the girls u-13 60m final that was swiftly followed up with a bronze medal for Graham Kerr in the u-14 boys 60m final. Then came Stacey Kerr with a smashing silver medal in the u-15 girls 60m, immediately followed by an impressive gold medal for Zak Irwin in the boys u-16. After Zak followed another gold medal, this time his training partner Kevin McGlynn won the u-19 boys 60m very convincingly. Ita Connell can also be very proud of her fine 6th place finish in the girls u-16 60m final.
On the outer track the 1,500m races were taking place where Sligo AC scooped more success with Killian O’Connor showing his form ahead of the All Ireland schools this weekend with a gun to tape victory in magnificent style, he later followed this gold medal with a bloodless win in the 3,000m. There was also fine performances in the 1500m by Aishan Patil finishing a close 4th and Orla Mulvihill in 7th place in the u-17’s category.
Sligo also enjoyed great success in field events with Colm Bourke claiming double gold in the boys u-18 triple and long jump, Ania Bednorz scooped gold in the u-18 triple jump and followed that up with a silver in the u-17 long jump. And new senior jump sensation Ciaran White in only his second competition took gold in the long jump nearly breaking 6metres for the first time and that was his second medal of the day adding to his bronze in the senior 60m final. Orla Mulvihill, Leo Doherty, Liam Kerrigan, Philip Hunter, Laura Joyce and Lauren Cadden jumped well in their first ever indoor competition and will have learned a lot from their experience.
Eimear Joyce and Liam Kerrigan did really well in their shot putt competitions and again would have learned so much from their experience. There was better luck on track for the walkers as Sligo dominated the male section claiming gold with Robby Kelly in the u-14 and National Champion Dylan Carty strode to victory in the boys u-16, he later added an impressive bronze medal in the 800m. Orla Delahunt was desperately unlucky not to claim bronze in the u-14 girls walk showing her potential and look forward to great things come the outdoors.
Sligo AC enjoyed even more success in the 800m with the impressive Caelainn McGonigle dominating from gun to tape to stride to an impressive victory and this is a really nice return to form for Caelainn. Sligo nearly added to Caelainn and Dylan’s medal in the 800m with Thomas Delahunt, Aishan Patil, Claire Conlon, Mark Connolly, Philip Hunter and Niall Simon all running excellent races to finish in close prominent positions.
The medal haul didn’t finish there with 2 more medals to come. First Leo Doherty finished a very close 2nd place in the boys u-12 600m, he can look forward to Nationals where he will have a great chance to turn the tables on his conqueror. And second; Zak Irwin winning the u-16 boys 200m in fine style, showing fine speed to blow his rivals away.
A big well done to all Sligo AC athletes who took part over the weekend and good luck to all who made it to Nationals where the first weekend will take place in Magherafelt, co Derry in 2 weeks time.

Sligo AC News: Bundoran 10 miler & National 10k

Bundoran 10 mile Road Race: The first runner home in the excellent time of 50:18 seconds was Derry man Paddy Hamilton, who had over a two-minute advantage over his nearest rival, young sligoman Patrick Brennan (Letterkenny AC) in 52:56. Taking the third rung on the winners’ rostrum was Ferbane’s Paul Buckley in another respectable time of 54:14. 1st woman home across the line on the day to the beautiful coastline of Bundoran was Belfast's Breege Connolly in another excellent time of 59:23, followed home by Tir Chonaill AC’s Fiona Stack in 1:04:26 seconds and Sligo's Roseanne Mitchell in 1:07:40 in third. Well done to all the Sligo AC members members that competed, times are listed below;
Richard Gorman 58.52
Mel Casserly 60.50
John Whelan 65.26
Enda Dineen 66.31
Paul Deering 67.27
Rory Connor 67.29
Roseanne Mitchell 67.50
Fintan Whelan 72.01
Enda Whelan 72.09
Cindy McCarthy 72.54
Willie Parke 74.22
Carina Clarke 80.34
Deirdre Deering 80.39
Bernie Flynn 82.09
Hubert Beatty 82.52
Vanessa Foley 84.12
Dermot Cunningham 85.03
Sheila Lehany 86.35
Aisling Gillen 90.07
Jill Connor 97.24

National 10k Championships

Any club member wishing to run in the National 10k Road Race championships on the 10th April in the Phoenix Park, Dublin (in conjunction with the Great Ireland Run) should please contact Rory on 0872660372 by friday 11th march at the latest stating what category you wish to be entered in. Your club registration must be paid in order to run as a member of Sligo AC. Thanking you in advance for your time with this issue.