National T & F Championships; 1st and 2nd August 2009

Sligo AC are planning to have the following entries in the National Championships which take place in Morton Stadium, Santry on the 1st and 2nd August 2009.

100ms/200ms: Darren Hough,
3k Steeplechase: Emmett Dunleavy
5k: Martin Conroy
10k: David Kelly.

These athletes have had very successful seasons so far and thus should do our club proud at the top level of Athletics in Ireland. Santry Stadium is very accessible via the Airport Road and is a 2hr 30 min journey from Sligo so a great day of Athletics is there to be enjoyed by all. If any members were interested a bus could be organised by club officials. For further information please email slyouthfootball@eircom.net

Sligo AC National League News

Last Sunday week (July 5th) in Athlone was a historical day for athletics in Sligo. For the first time a team from the county qualified for the national league final. However it took a mammoth performance from the squad to pull through and qualification hung in the balance right down to the last event of the day.

After Round 1 in Antrim, Sligo laid 10th overall in Division 1 with a tally of 76 points. This left a lot of work to be done in Round 2 in order to leap-frog the two squads between ourselves and a spot in the final. The Yeats County started positively with strong performances from David Burke in the hurdles and Martin Conroy in the walk. On the infield, the youthful bunch of throwers and jumpers were performing significantly better than Round 1. The 4 x 100m quartet scorched to a 3rd place finish and Dromore West man Gary Hynes was next to get in on the Sligo scoring frenzy, as he garnered a total of 10 points from the 100m and 200m.

Sligo has traditionally been a county of strong middle distance runners. Hence the distance squad really needed to bring their A game to proceedings and they didn’t disappoint. Tommy Carroll and Martin Conroy both chalked up second place finishes in the 800m and 1500m respectively. Sligo’s first win of the day came in the 3000m steeplechase and shortly afterwards, Dermot McDermott produced a withering kick to take Sligo’s second win and the full 9 points in the 5,000m.

So it all came down to the traditional finale, the 4x400m relay. David Burke led off with a very solid opening 400. By the end of the second leg Emmett Dunleavy had squeezed into the top 5, before “player- manager” Dermot McDermott took the baton. His sizzling 52 second split pushed the team into 3rd, before handing off to Tommy Carroll for an epic anchor leg. All credit to the St Mary’s student as he dug deep to haul Sligo into second place, just 8 hundredths of a second shy of Kerry and a mere 1 second outside the county record. More importantly the final points showed Sligo on 96.5. Third position on the day, 7th place overall and securely into the final.

Thoughts now turn to the final to be held in Tullamore on Saturday August 8th. Hopefully as many sports fans as possible from the county will come down to support, what will surely be another afternoon of close competition and high drama.

SUPER 3RD PLACE FINISHES FOR BURKE AND MCGONIGLE AT ALL IRELAND JUVENILES IN TULLAMORE LAST WEEKEND

Sligo AC sent a small but very talented group of youngsters to the National finals in Tullamore last weekend and they didnt disappoint. The day got off to a flyer with David Burke running a stormer in the final of the u-17 boys 400m hurdles, drawn in lane 6 he used the athletes outside him to draw away from the inside runners, rounding the final bend he was lying in joint 2nd just fading off the final hurdle to finish in an impressive 41.2 and bronze medal position.Next on the track was Caelinn McGonigle in the u-12 600m. Caelinn being a silver medallist from the National indoors earlier in the season had high hopes of repeating this feat and medalling once more. Getting off to a fast start she was always in the front ranks as she used her big long lobbing stride to put her competitors under pressure, with 200m to go she moved into 2nd place and was chasing down the leader but unfortunately the gap didnt close and Caelinn got caught on the line and finshed an 3rd place in a remarkable time for a 10 year old of 1 minute 47 seconds dead. Watch out for this girl over the next few years as she moves up in distance. Next on the track Was Darren Kilcawley in his his All Ireland debut, this lad only running 2 months ran a brilliant race to finish 8th in his heat of the u-14 boys 800m just missing the final by a couple of seconds and again keep an eye for this talented lad over the next few years. Nicola McGoldrick stepped up next in the girls u-15 800m final with a large field there was a fair bit of bumping early on for good positions and Nicola found herself at the back of the pack, gradually picking off runners she worked hard to get up into 8th place with 300m to go and not far off the main bunch, with all athletes now hitting lactic acid Nicola worked hard all the way to the line and finished 11th in her 1st All Ireland track final and again this won't be her last.While these exciting races were taking place on the track, Colm Bourke was competing in the u-16 long jump. He had an impressive jump of 5.01 which had him in 9th place and unfortunately the top 8 went through to jump in the final. Again watch out for this lad at this event next year as he has only took up the event in May.The day ended with Jack Roberts in the u-17 boys 800m, drawn in a very tough heat this unfazed Jack as after a tactically slow opening lap Jack kicked to the front at the bell and stretched the field to the 600m where they bunched and Jacks heels were clipped and he nearly hit the deck but he dragged himself up and kicked again and scrapped all the way to the line but narrowly missed out on a place in the final. A great run from a lad so new to the sport.Well done to all athletes who took part this weekend and good luck to all participating this weekend with Sligo AC's medal hopes lying with Anna Redding in the u-18 girls 1,500m and Dylan Carty in the u-14 boys walk.

Master's Track & Field: August 16th 2009

The Masters (over 35) track and field competition this year is on August 16th. Sligo Athletic Club intend entering 4 by 100ms and 4 by 400ms relay teams plus individuals. As our club has a large amount of masters athletes we ask as many as possible to attend training on tuesday (14th July) at the I.T Racetrack to decide on possible teams. Alternativley if you cannot attend but are interested in entering this competition, please contact terry at slyouthfootball@eircom.net

"The Fresh Air Fund is looking for runners and sponsors to join our Fresh Air Fund-Racers team for the NYC Half-Marathon on August 16th. I thought you would be interested in helping out by posting a mention of this exciting news on Sligo Athletic Club's Website" Please click on comments link below for more information.

Independence Day 10k: 4th July 2009

The Independence Day 10k was held in Calry last Saturday 4th July at 12 noon. A sizable field of over 60 athletes showed up on the day to test their indurance on this tough hilly course which was ideal preparation for Sligo's Warriors Run. The weather stayed fine for the duration of the race which on this occasion went in the opposite direction to last winters "turkey trot" 10k. Once again Calry Athletic Club's organisation was second to none with adequate marshals, accurate timing and plenty of tea and cake for all afterwards!

1st: Alan Maguire 36:02 2nd: Neal Faulkner 36:20 3rd: Patrick Touhy 37:44 1st vet: Karl Boyce 43:14 (pictured)

1st Lady: Roseanne Mitchell 45:002nd Lady: Cindy McCarthy 45:373rd Lady: Edel Carty 47:19 1st vet Lady: Rose Tully 48:05

Sligo Athletic Club News: 29th June 2009

The Inaugural Ransboro 10k Road Race and Walk got off to a fine start on a scorching saturday evening last. The charity event which raised money for a local Defibrillator unit had a huge turnout with more than 100 runners and 50 walkers taking part. Many participants used the run as a tune up for Strandhill’s Warriors run in August and though the undulating course wasn’t as challenging as the trek to Queen Maeve’s tomb , most participants found the heat made it a very tough workout. The temperatures were still in the low 20s as the gun went off at 630pm but this had little effect on Sligo’s Irish International runner David Kelly who scorched around the scenic course in a time of 32 mins and 32 seconds. Equally impressive and a future star in the making was 14 year old James McGeogh running a mature and measured race to see off a host of senior athletes to come second in 37 mins and 28 secs . Alan Kearins finished 3rd followed by a solid run by Oliver McGeeghan in 38mins and 4secs . A hot duel between club mates Trevor Hunter and Steve Finnegan saw Trevor just shade it at the finish for the veterans prize. In the Women’s race Lucy Brennan shows no let up after her recent Cork marathon win coming home 8th overall in 39 mins and 10 secs. 2nd woman home was Cindy McCarthy who won the first veteran prize followed by Roseanne Mitchell, Aisling Cawley and Mary Foye. Second veteran went to Ann Hunter . First local (Strandhill/Coolera) prizes went to Tony McCaul and Aisling Cawley. Dromahairs’s Tom Cullen was first walker home. (Click on comments link below for full results)
Elsewhere two Sligo AC Athletes made the trip to the Ballybofey 5k on Friday 26th June which was part of the Donegal Race Series. David Kearins had a fine run in his first ever race over this distance recording a time of 17.49secs whilst Ultan McNasser came 6th overall in 17 minutes flat. Once again well done to all athletes who raced over the weekend & we hope to have full results posted here shortly.
The Next local road race will be the Independence Day 10k run in Calry on Saturday 4th July at 12 noon. The tough hilly course makes it an ideal race in preparation for the Warriors Run in late August. Registration is in Marian Hall, Calry from 11am onwards & its hoped that a good number of local athletes will take part.