April 2006 Bosco Newsletter
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Donegal Girls 4th
in British Sportshall Athletics Finals
Donegal’s Under
13 Girls Sportshall team put in a magnificent team performance at the British
finals in the National Indoor Arena Birmingham on Sunday. Representing Ulster
and competing against thirteen regional teams from England, Scotland and Wales
the twelve girls team finished 4th after four hours of competition.
Aoife O’Connor,
from the St. John Bosco Athletic club was the outstanding individual of the
team. Following very competitive qualification heats she went on to win the 2
lap sprint race by the narrowest of margins. This makes Aoife the first Donegal
athlete to achieve such a ranking.
Later in the
afternoon the young Donegal Town athlete finished 6th in the High
Jump competition with a clearance of 1.40m. Aoifes clubmate Louise Harvey also
had a number of successes when she finished 4th in the 6 lap race, 7th
in the High Jump and teamed up with Catherine Wilkie from Letterkenny AC, to win
the exciting 8 lap Parlauf relay.
Finn Valley AC’s
Nicole O’Leary had an excellent Putt of 9.59m to finish 5th in the
Shot Putt competition. Sliabh Liag’s Amy O’Donnell also gained good points
in the shot putt competition. Catherine Wilkie added more valuable points, with
a 4th place finish in the 4 lap final. Gemma Haughey another of our
promising young Bosco athletes added to the team total with a good performance
in the vertical jump.
Relays are always exciting and three Donegal teams qualified for finals. The
Parlauf team of Wilkie & Harvey won their race and the 4 x 1 lap team of Amy
Brogan, Molly O’Gara and Mary O’Kennedy, from St John Bosco AC and Ciara
McGarvey from Finn Valley collected silver medals. The 4 x 2 lap team of Amy
Brogan, Aisling Cunningham, Killybegs AC, Aoife OConnor and Monica O’Connor,
Letterkenny AC won bronze in the last event of the day.
The St. John Bosco Athletic Club would like to congratulate the entire panel and
their Managers Vera Haughey and Louise McGettigan-Gillespie.
Result
Essex 1261 points,
Birmingham, 1161 points, Cheshire 1120 points, Donegal 1057 points.
National Indoor Juvenile
Championships - Nenagh week 2
Nenagh saw some fantastic
competition throughout the weekend of the 1st and 2nd of
April. On the Sunday St. john Bosco had six teams competing and fortunes as ever
were mixed.
The highlight of the day was the
girls under fifteen heats and finals where the St. John Bosco quartet of Aoife
O’Connor, Kitty O’ Kennedy, Amy Brogan and Louise Harvey went through to the
final as second fastest against a much favoured Riverstick/Kinsale team who were
marginally faster with a time of 1.53.65 sec.
The Bosco girls however proved too strong with Aoife O’ Connor coming out
fast from the blocks to give the Donegal Town girls a clear advantage. Kitty
O’Kennedy took up the challenge and went into a commanding lead at the break
to put Amy Brogan and Louise Harvey in a great position to hold out for the gold
medal. However it was in fact the girls from Doneen that mounted the strongest
challenge and were it not for some excellent relay running by Amy and Louise the
margin of victory might have been closer. The Donegal girls posted a superb time
of 1.52.14 sec.
Also competing for Donegal Town were the under seventeen men’s team of
Christopher Britton, Jarlath Ruane, Paul McIntyre and Ryan Brogan. Tragedy beset
the young men when coming into the last bend in the fastest heat the final
Donegal runner came crashing down onto the track and was lucky to escape a more
serious injury than a badly grazed arm.
In the Boys under 12 event the St.
John Bosco team of Kalvin McShane, Darren Doherty, Daire Quinn, Karl Griffin and
Emmet Doogan performed very well and although they did not make the final they
gave an great account of themselves.
Many of the younger teams parents traveled the long distance to see the
athletes perform and they could not have been disappointed. The girls under 13
team of Haley O’ Neill, Sarah Gallagher, Andrea Keaney, Leanne McInaw and
Felicia McHugh turned in an excellent performance of 63.01 sec on the day but
were denied a place in the final.
The under 13 boys team included Karl Griffin, Ben Sheridan, Ciaran Cornyn and
Gary Blain and success was not too be theirs on this particular morning, however
they posted a new personal best performance of 63.47 sec. All of the athletes
were a credit to their families and to their club and coaches, parents and
friends wish them well and applaud their success.
The final event of the day for St. John Bosco was the girls under 14 relay
where the seasoned Donegal foursome of Molly O’ Gara, Mary O’Kennedy, Louise
Harvey and Amy Brogan posted a time of 1.59.11 but failed to make the final.
The committee of the St. John Bosco Athletic Club would like to thank the
following team managers and coaches who traveled to the competition, Eamon
Harvey, Patricia Britton, David Doherty, Geraldine O’Connor, Jackie Harvey,
Paul O’ Gara and Michelle Harvey.
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