Sligo AC's league campaign off to a flyer!

A growing Sligo team made the trip to the AAI Club League in Tullamore on Sunday last looking to excel on the heights of their 5th place finish in last years competition. On the evidence shown they will certainly do that and more. Stephen Reynolds got the day off to a flyer with a new Pb in the hammer of 33 metres and claiming gold and more importantly maximum points, this was followed up by Kevin McGlynn braving the high hurdles to claim 4th and Aaron Murtagh matched that 4th place finish in the long jump, each claiming 5 points a piece. Martin Conroy was next, “fresh” from his race in Watford the night before and spending most of the night flying back to join up with his team mates. Martin did a great job for the team gaining two golds and 18 points in the 3km walk and the 3km steeplechase. Martin had already ran a 14.44 5k at 10pm the night before in the UK, well done Martin. Dermot McDermott got 3rd in the 1,500m as did Tommy Casey in the 800m. Casey ran a new personal best time of 1.55 and finished right on the heels of two of Irelands finest distant athletes.The 4x100m relay ran superbly to finish in 4th place, with Ciaran Collins leading them off, Kevin McGlynn building on a fine start then passing onto Ryan Monaghan who in turn passed onto Gary Hynes. Gary later finished 4th in the 200m as did Stephen Reynolds in his 2nd event, the shot putt. Conal Boal did an exceptional job in the Javelin against some well seasoned senior athletes as he threw just short of a Pb but never the less gaining a valuable 2nd place finish and 7 crucial points as Sligo were fighting it out with Ferrybank and Limerick County to claim top spot after day one. Next up was new boy Ciaran Collins who hasn't raced in over 2 years but has the calibre from all his National success as a juvenile. As 3 athletes swung into the straight to face the breeze, Ciaran being 1 of them, the writing was on the wall that he was going to get up and win and win he did, running a fine seasonal opener of 50.2 for the 400m gaining 9 valuable points for his new County of Sligo. David Heath threw big in the weight for distance and claimed a valuable 3rd place finish and 6 points for the team and Tony Druet ran a fine race in the 5,000m to claim a 2nd place finish and 7 points. Onto the last race of the day, the 4 x 400m where again as it was all day, Sligo, Limerick and Ferrybank were left to fight this out with Ferrybank coming out on top with Limerick 2nd and Sligo back in 3rd. Well done to the whole team who finished the day with 103 points which was well up on last year’s score of 65 points. We look forward to round two on the 18th of July where we welcome back athletes the calibre of Tommy Carroll and Emmet Dunleavy who will no doubt help push this growing Sligo team to the summit of team athletics in Ireland. Sligo also had 2 guests running in the League at the weekend in Anna Reddin in the 1,500m and Reanne McHugh in the 200m & 400m well done to both athletes who ran fine races. Also a big well done to 2 Sligo athletes abroad Sligo AC Martin Conroy showed his return to form finishing 7th in a BMC 5,000m race in Watford in a time of 14min and 44 seconds as did North Sligo's Tommy Carroll he finished a close 7th in the 1,500m at the same meet in a time of 3.49. This is Tommy's 2nd fastest time over the distance but shows great consistency. Tommy now has his eyes set on the AAA's championships this coming weekend before returning home for the National u-23's where he must enter the race as one of the favourites whether it's 800m or 1,500m he participates in.A number of Sligo juveniles will make the trip to Galway this coming Saturday for the Connaught track and field where Sligo will have great winning chances with the likes of Stacey Kerr, William Crowe, Cian McBride, Dylan Carty and Caelinn McGonigle to name a few. A reminder that the Calry 5k is on this coming Friday 18th of June at 7:30pm from Calry/Hazelwood Community playing fields, come early to avoid the rush!