Sligo AC Fit4Life League: Race one results!

The first race in this seasons Fit4Life league was underway on Tuesday last 19th April in the Race course, Cleveragh. The race distance was 2 miles and once again a good turnout made the affair an exciting and enjoyable one for all concerned. Jason McMorrow recorded the fastest time of the evening in a time of 11.43 out of a total of 78 competitors. Top ten athletes are as follows;
1. devanney, sheila 16.02
2. mc guinness, gavin 15.19
3. heaney, mark 16.30
4. arey, ashling 19.42
5. thrumble, elaine 19.59
6. mahon, deborah 21.11
7. cashell, patricia 18.45
8. banks, avril 18.09
9. mc elroy, declan 14.58
10. smyth, michelle 17.34

Sligo AC News Update: Running Shoes

An agonising 12 seconds was the difference between Sligo Athletic Club men winning team medals and finishing 5th at last Sundays Athletics Ireland road relay championships at a sun drenched Raheny. The team of Martin Conroy, Dermot McDermott, David Kelly and Alberto Sanchez ran their hearts out and the time they ran would have been good enough for medals any other year. Twenty five clubs toed the line in this most competitive of national championships. Martin Conroy lead the team off and handed the baton to Dermot McDermott after running the first two mile leg, McDermott ran a good 1 mile leg and handed over to David Kelly to run the long three mile lap. Alberto Sanchez ran the final 2 mile leg and brought the team home in 5th place behind Raheny, Dundrum, Letterkenny and Tallaght. The fact that Sligo finished ahead of such illustrious clubs as Clonliffe Harriers, Rathfarnham and Ennis Track Club illustrates how well the lads ran. Sligo AC ladies team also got in on the action Sunday as for only the second time in its history they had a team in the ladies race. Sarah Hodgins led the team off on the first one mile leg and handed over to Anna Reddin for the 2 mile lap. Rachael Kilgallon ran the final one mile lap and brought the team home in 8th place out of the 15 starters. Considering that this team were all under 20 years of age it certainly augers very well for the future. So no medals for men or women but so many positives to take out of a truly enjoyable day of athletics. The road to the all Ireland schools track finals on the first Saturday in June started on Thursday last at the Sligo IT track. There were many fine performances by Sligo athletes in the Sligo Leitrim Mayo section. The Connaught finals will take place in Athlone on May 18th; all our top club athletes were in fine form. Tommy Casey in the senior 800mts and 1500mts particularly caught the eye. Other athletes to shine were Sharon Hodgins, James McGeogh, Stacey Kerr, Zak Irwin, Cian McBride and William Crowe. Some fine relay running also was noted on Thursday with the Summerhill college junior team looking particularly strong. A lot of training and competition will be held before anyone mounts the victory rostrum in Tullamore but I have a feeling we could see a record Sligo medal haul.
Well done to all athletes who limbered up for the Calry 5k road race held on Good Friday. This was a charity event in aid of Friends of Sligo General Hospital and started in perfect conditions at 5pm on the usual out and back loop. One of Sligo AC's young guns, James McGeough, took off in dramatic fashion and ran a blistering race to finish 1st in a huge personal best time of 15.33. Second place fell to another up and coming talent Killian O'Connor whilst veteran road racer Alan Kearins ran a great race finishing in 3rd place also with a PB over the distance.

Sligo FIT4LIFE Spring League 2011

Sligo FIT4LIFE Spring League 2011 is an event for all levels of runner/walker. 6 events will be ran on a handicap basis with slower walkers / runners starting ahead of faster competitors. Handicaps are continually adjusted to give every participant an equal chance. Date Time Distance Venue Tues 19 th April 6.30pm 2 mls Racecourse Tues 3rd May 6.30pm 2 mls Racecourse Wed 18th May 6.30PM 2K Riverside Tues 31st May 6.30pm 2 K Riverside Tues 14th june 6.30pm 2mls Cairns Hill Tues 21st june 6.30pm 2 mls Cairns Hill

• ENTRY FEE 2 EURO PER EVENT


• SCORING FIRST 1 PT, SECOND 2PTS DOWN TO LAST FINISHER OVERALL RESULT


• LOWEST POINTS WINS FOLLOWED BY NEXT LOWEST DOWN THE TO LAST


• MISS A RACE AND GET THE SCORE OF LAST FINISHER PLUS ONE


• PRIZES FOR TOP FIFTEEN AFTER SIX EVENTS

Registration between 6pm and 6.20pm.Absolutely no entries after 6.20pm

Sligo AC News Update: Running Shoes

A lot done, more to do. This was a famous, or is it now infamous, election slogan from one of our leading political parties some years ago. The same slogan could apply to our athletes as we look back on the cross country and indoor seasons that have just concluded. A cross country season that started with the primary schools county championships in Calry on a bright Saturday afternoon last October, ended in equally bright sunshine in a field in County Antrim on the last Saturday in March. On that day we took pride in watching two Sligo athletes, James McGeogh and William Crowe represent Ireland in an international match against Scotland , Wales and England . As these lads’ parents looked on and took pictures of them before during and after the races, I couldn’t help thinking how fortunate they were to be in a sport with an international outlet. The fact that they had avoided the clutches of the G.A.A. gave them the opportunity to compete internationally and I would imagine that this would be the first of many international opportunities for this duo. These two lads were only two of the many Sligo athletes who made a big impact on the cross country season. Tommy Casey picked his cross country races carefully and his fine performance in finishing 4th in the senior schools championships justified this. The glut of competition for juvenile athletes in the winter time is an ongoing concern and it is imperative that we in Athletics Ireland tackle this problem soon rather than later. The unluckiest Sligo athlete of the cross country season had to be Anna Reddin who led a couple of national championships but never got the result she deserved. Her time will come. The two most improved athletes of the season had to be Lea Doherty and Sharon Hodskins. Our senior cross country runners have had better seasons but a lot of this was down to injury and illness of our better runners. Mary Cullen was unlucky to get injured just as she looked set for a great season. Eimear O’Brien (pictured) kept the flag flying at national level with a bronze in the national novice. The indoor season started good with many medals at Connaught level and got better cumulating in two wonderful weekends at the national championships. Two gold medals for Zack Irwin in the 60 and 200 metres heralded his arrival on the national stage. Odran Gildea, William Crowe, Sinead Keogh, Lea Doherty and Kian McBride also got in on the medal winning act. Throw in Mary Cullen’s stunning performance in the national senior championships as well as her European qualification times achieved abroad and it will give some idea of the achievement of Sligo athletes this indoor season. Added to all that is an Irish under 15 relay indoor record set by the North Sligo boys. Of course, it’s not all about the medal winners and we had a host of personal best times recorded by athletes like Dermot McDermott and Tommy Casey as they reached finals of the national 800 metres and 3,000 metres . Alberto Sanchez also recorded a P.B. for 3,000 metres as he claimed a bronze medal in the university championships. Of course none of these achievements would be possible without the coaching input from the Sligo clubs.. A considerable number of new coaches have emerged in clubs in the past couple of years and this is now paying rich dividends for out sport here in Sligo . Yes, a lot has been done. More on the way.

Sligo AC Athletes compete in Spar Great Ireland Run!

A beautiful day and the humid conditions to go with it made Sundays 10k Great Ireland Run a great spectacle but tough on the competitors. Charlotte Purdue despite having ran the fastest five kilometres leg for her Aldershot club in the English National Road Relays the previous day, trounced her rivals when winning the womens race in a time of 32 minutes 42 seconds. Sligo's Mary Cullen, back after a short layoff, was disappointed with her time clocking 34.22 which was well short of her usual standard.

J.Espana produced a lethal finish in the final 1200 metres to clinch the men's title in a time of 29min 26sec ahead of Finland's Jussi Utriainen and Ireland's Martin Fagan. The Spaniard was content to follow the pace particularly when defending champion Fagan took charge in the second half of the race which saw the demise of the highly fancied Sergey Lebid of Ukraine and Portugal's Rui Silva. Sligo AC was well represented in both the mens and womens events with results listed below, well done to all who took part from all at the club!

Seamus Somers 00:36:33 Mel Casserly 00:37:22 Alan Kearns 00:38:42 Trevor Hunter 00:39:04 Jason Mc Morrow 00:39:07 Damien Kennedy 00:39:37 Enda Dineen 00:39:58 Declan Foley 00:40:41 Rory Connor 00:41:38 Aoife Quigley 00:44:13 Vanessa Foley 00:51:07 Linda Higgins 00:51:12 Fintan Conlon 00:51:46 Aishling Kennedy 00:53:02 Bernie Flynn 00:53:52 Sheila Lehany 00:53:56 Sharon Dineen 00:54:06 Rosie Friel 00:55:41 Aisling Gillen 00:55:49 Jill Connor 00:59:08

Connacht Development Squad, Sunday April 17th, Athlone IT, 12 noon

Athletes will not be notified individually of selection to the squad as per vote at congress. Notification will go through club or school only. Thus Sligo AC is now notifying Sligo athletes of their selection to Connacht Development Squad and their invitation to attend the above squad days. Sign in at 12 noon (in sports hall in AIT) Followed by presentation by guest speaker Coaching session from 1pm Wrap up at approx 2.30pm Please note final squad date for spring 2011 is Sunday May 22nd, venue TBC.

North Sligo AC Boys

Ben Roberts, Cian McBride, Feidhlim McGowan, Kevin McGlynn, Leigh Currid, Lorcan Roddy, William Crowe.

Sligo AC Boys

Boal Connell, Colm Bourke, David Lynch, Dylan Carty, Jack Roberts, James McGeough, Killian O'Connor, Shane Kilcawley, Tommy Casey.

North Sligo AC Girls

Rachel Oates, Sarah Oates, Sinead Keogh, Sorcha Fallon, Tory McGlynn.

Sligo AC Girls

Anna Reddin, Claire Conlon, Ennia Bedzoz, Rianne McHugh, Sarah McGeough, Stacey Kerr.