Sligo AC News: Juvenile athletes at National Team Event & Seniors in Belgium!

Sligo AC U9 teams travelled to Templemore, Co.Tipperary at the weekend to compete in the All Ireland Team Competition. Shane McGlone and Sean Kerrigan performed well in their 60m to finish 4th and 2nd in their heat to place 6th team overall. Sean Kerrigan and Eoin Carty ran the 300m and finished 5th and 6th in their heats. Next up was the relay team of Shane, Sean, Eoin and Richard Hunter to finish 4th in their heat. This was a very good performance from these young athletes in their first competition to qualify firstly from Co Sligo and then from Connaught competition to reach and compete in this National competition and are looking forward to 2011 already. Well done to these athletes from all at the club! Photograph shows Eoin Carty, Shane McGlone, Sean Kerrigan and Richard Hunter in good form just before their relay.
Meanwhile Sligo AC athlete Emmett Dunleavy travelled to Nivelles in Belgium for a 1500 metre track event. His time of 3:49.46 was the second fastest of his athletics career and with a closing lap of 58 seconds it suggests that this athlete is on top form at the moment. With another race in Belgium this weekend, this time a 3k in the city of Oordegem, we wish him the best of luck and hopefully a new club record for the distance.

Sligo AC News: Running school workshop tomorrow!

Running technique increasing performance, developing speed and reducing injuires.
Former Chelsea FC speed coach, Mike Antionades has opened the RUNNING SCHOOL & SPORTS INJURIES AND SPORTS MEDICINE CLNIC in Castlebar, Co Mayo. In conjunction with this the school is offering a free workshop to Sligo AC Athletes. If interested please contact Club Secretary Terry Hayes on 0872274622 asap. A small fee/charge may be required if a bus is hired to transport all interested athletes.
Workshop : Running technique increasing performance, developing speed reducing injuries.
Presenters :Mike Antionades and Martin Mc Intyre.
Time and Date : Tuesday 29th of June from 7-9
Venue : The Running School at the Sports Injuries and Sports Medicine Clinic, Unit 5c, N5 Business Park, Castlebar, Co. Mayo.
Price : Free

Sligo AC News: Ransboro 10k

Over 150 runners and walkers took part in the Ransboro 10k yesterday evening in what could be best described as balmy conditions. From the off a small group of runners broke free of the chasing pack with Letterkenny's Neil Faulkner pushing from the front. Faulkner kept the pace fast forcing Dunboyne AC's Derek Croal and Sligo AC's Ultan McNasser to work hard in order to close the gap. Sligo AC's Alan Kearins, Seamus Somers and Neil Walton followed closely. By the 5k mark Croal had taken the lead with McNasser moving into 2nd place where he remained until 9k until a determined Faulkner once again made a successful move for second. Croal had the win wrapped up at this stage having made a good gap between himself and his two pursuers, crossing the line in just over 35 minutes. 2nd and 3rd place came right down to the wire with McNasser forcing Faulkner into a sprint finish where the letterkenny athlete just held onto his place. Sligo AC's Lucy Brennan (pictured) ran a steady race throughout and was the leading lady once again, taking first with confident ease. With all proceeds going to the charity Aquired Brain Injury Ireland it was a very successful and well run event. Well done to all involved in the organising and all who competed! For full results, please email sligoac@gmail.com and we'll try and have them out to you asap.

Sligo AC Update: Sligo Athletes shine at graded meet!

Five Sligo athletes took part in graded meet number 5 in Irishtown, Dublin last night. There were 4 excellent pb's set by the up and coming youth of Sligo athletics. First up Connell Boal in the senior mens Javelin, picking up tips and advice from his competitors he threw an amazing 43.6m bettering his previous best by nearly a full metre. Next up, Ania Bednorz (pictured) in the senior ladys triple jump. She opened with a jump of 11m 20cm which was a new PB but still unsatisfied with that she went even further on her next jump although jumping well before the board. PB number 2 for the night 11m 36cm and this moves Sligo's 14yr old up to number 8 on the senior ranks and even closer to the European Youth Olympic standard of 12m, she still has 2 years to achieve this. Onto the 1,500m where Aisham Patil lined up in the B grade and All Ireland Schools champion Tommy Casey in the A grade. Aisham ran a super race to finish in a time of 4min 26.12 a huge new PB for this up and coming 14 year old taking nearly 7 seconds off his previous best. This time would have given him a bronze medal at the recent All Ireland schools. Up last for the juveniles stepped Tommy Casey (pictured), lining up against a very strong field. Casey bossed his way to the front in the opening 150m and just dropped himself in as the opeing lap unfolded. A group of 3 athletes had a gap back to Tommy at 800m of around 4 or 5 metres but Tommy was still going very well in himself. At 1,200m the gap had dwindled and he was now ready to pounce moving down the backstraight for the final time, he moved into second onto the shoulder of Eoin Flynn of Rathfarnham, rounding the top bend with 200m to go both athletes were pushing for the lead, into the home straight Casey edged clear but just a couple of strides from the line Raheny Shamrocks Richie Corceran just pipped Tommy for the victory. Never the less Casey went away smiling with a huge new PB of 3min 54.88sec nearly some 5 seconds of his previous best. Martin Conroy capped off the night in the grade A 5,000m with a solid performance, running 15min 32sec, this is nearly a full minute outside his personal best so just an off night for Martin. We definitely have a lot to look forward to this summer and for many years with this up and coming bunch of stars. Well done from all at the club!

Sligo AC News: Medal haul for club's athletes!

Sligo athletes made the trip to Galway to contest the Connaught Track & Field in Dangan. Within an hour of our arrival we had 2 gold and 3 silver medals with Stephen Reynolds throwing beyond 40m for the first time in the senior mens hammer to claim gold, Dylan Carty looked incredible, strolling to victory in the u-15 boys walk, Graham Kerr claimed the first of his 3 medals when claiming silver in the u-13 boys long jump, David Lynch claimed a silver in the u-15 boys hurdles and Ania Bernodz took her first of 4 medals when finishing second in the u-16 girls high jump. Up next were the sprints where Sligo claimed 3 titles. In the u-13 boys 80m Keelan Deering, Niall Gray and Lee Roper all ran fine races but it was their Sligo team mate Graham Kerr who stole the show streaking clear at the 40m and winning well to add his second medal of the day, next was his sister Stacey Kerr who, if keeps progressing the way she is, will be an unstoppable force in sprint races for many years to come. Stacey cruised through her heat in the girls u-14 80m but came up against All Ireland champion Laura Ann Costelloe, who boasts an unbeaten record in all Connaught competitions in her short career, with both girls neck and neck all the way Stacey dipped on the line to record an impressive victory in a hugely impressive time of 10.62 seconds. Sligo had yet another sprint title added to their tally with Ania blitzing the field in the u-16 girls 100m and adding another medal to her total. Keely Greene also ran a fine race in the u-13 girls 60m, just missing the final as did Orla Mulvihill (u-16 100m) & Thomas Delahunt in the boys u-15 100m. Dylan Carty got us off to a great start with a silver in the boys u-15, Aisham Patil ran a fine race in the u-16 boys 1,500m running 4.34 to finish 4th and Orla Mulvihill ran well in the u-16 girls equivilant. Next we moved onto the 200m events where after Staceys impressive display in the 80m went in a warm favourite. There were 2 heats with the fastest time from the heats to determine the winner, Stacey from lane 2 had the stagger made up withing 60m and demolished the field to win her heat in 26.7 in the following heat Costelloe of GCH had her own back by winning her heat in a slightly faster time, a mere .1 of a second. Nicola McGoldrick battled well in the girls u-16 200m to finish 4th in her final as did Thomas Delahunt in his 200m. Next up the middle distance where we got off to a sensational start with Caelinn McGonigle showing her true class by beating her All Ireland conquerer by 5 seconds, Caelinn recording a time of 1min 45seconds, solo and the gold medal. in the boys u-13 600m Lee Roper and Keelan Deering ran fine races and will gain a lot of experience from their days work. Onto the 800m, where Clare Conlon got us off to a flyer by finishing runner up to multiple National Champion Alanna Lally. Clare ran the perfect race, sitting in 4th place and kicking with 150m to go, this surprisingly was Clares first individual medal at a connaught event but no doubt she will claim many more over the years. Philip Hunter ran a great race in his u-14 800m, finishing not far outside his pb. Gavin Foye running in his first outdoor Championships ran a super race to finish 5th and running a superb new pb of 2.18 in the u-16 800m. His training partner Shane Kilcawley was next up in the u-17 800m. Shane sat in 4th spot, lurking and waiting to pounce throughout the race, with 200m to go he unleashed a deadly kick to claim 2nd place behind Westports All Ireland 800m Champion from last year Anthony Chambers. Shane not only claimed a silver medal but a huge pb of 2min 10 seconds. Tommy Casey won the u-19 boys 800m as he liked in a time of 1.58, which will set him up nicely for his up and coming races. Rianne McHugh ran two great races to win gold in the U19 400m and silver in 800m, moving up from her sprint events. Conal Boal also won the u-18 boys Javelin throwing 45m for the first time and other notable medallist was Colm Bourke in the u-17 boys triple and long jump. Sligo AC claimed many more medals in the relays at the end of the day. Well done to every athlete who took part in this excellent day for Sligo athletics. And good luck to all who qualified for the National Championships in July where we have a lot of serious medal contenders.

Sligo AC News: Calry 5k

Over sixty athletes turned out for the annual Calry 5k Road Race on friday evening last. This was a good turn-out considering a large amount of local athletes were already focused on the Mullaghmore Triathlon which was to take place the following morning. The evening remained warm as all participants toed the line and a stiff breeze blew against them on the opening kilometre. Runners who were familiar with the course knew that as much ground as possible needed to be made on the 1st half of the race (downhill) as a minute would be lost on the return leg. Sligo AC's Dermot McDermott simply ran away from the chasing pack although winning it in a slow, by his standards, 16 mins 39 seconds. Sligo AC's Ultan McNasser and Alan Kearins came in 2nd and 3rd respectively. All proceeds were destined for the North-West hospice & with over 600 euros collected it was a successful event for all concerned.