National Championships 2009

A record number of Sligo athletes will rub shoulders with the cream of Irish athletes this coming weekend at the Woodies DIY AAI National track and field athletics championships in Santry Dublin. With the world athletics championships in Berlin only three weeks away world class athletes like Paul Hession, Derval O’Rourke, Olive Loughnane, David Gillick and Robert Heffernan will be having their final races before departure for the final training camp prior to the games. Sligo athletes Martin Conroy, David Kelly, Tommy Carroll, Dermott McDermott, Emmett Dunleavy, Patrick Brennan, Darren Hough, Gary Hynes and David Burke represent the biggest Sligo entry to those championships for many years. If I was to put my neck on the line and predict if any of those athletes will win a medal for Sligo then I would have to say that Emmett Dunleavy represents our best chance. Entered in the 3000mts steeplechase, all Emmett’s training this year has been aimed towards taking a medal home here. If he can go with what is sure will be a strong early pace then he has a great chance. Of the other Sligo contingent David Kelly in the 10,000mts could be the surprise packet here. Free at last of the shackles of exams and injury Kelly has put together a couple of months of impressive training and is sure to be very competitive. Tommy Carroll is in the first year of senior athletics and with a recent personal best in the 800mts looks a good bet to reach the final of the blue ribbon event the 1500mts. His fellow North Sligo athlete Patrick Brennan will contest the same event and after a low key build up will also be hoping to reach the final. Dermott McDermott is well capable of reaching the 800mts final if he runs with the belief that he can achieve this. Martin Conroy won a medal over 3000mts at the AAI indoor championships last January and will be hoping to convert that form to 5000mts outdoors in Santry. Darren Hough is a Sligo athlete who has seen it all before and it’s great to see him return to big time athletics. The opposite is true of young lads Gary Hynes and David Burke who will contest their first senior championships and who will just be happy to be rubbing shoulders with Paul Hession and David Gillick in the 100mts and 400mts. Altogether it looks like one of the most exciting championships in a few years and wonderful that so many Sligo athletes will be taking part.