Athletics 2013-14

 All-Ireland T&F finals, Tullamore June 2014

Once again we travelled en masse to Tullamore on the first weekend in June and succeeded in getting on the medals podium…always a good feeling. Star of the day once again was fifth year student Sam Samson. We had travelled in high expectation that he would medal in the 400m hurdles, but a poor draw in the outside lane conspired against him as the medals went to lanes 1, 2 and 3, with Sam run out of it in the final few strides, eventually finishing fourth. That result was hugely disappointing, but he made up for it with a fantastic run in the flat 400m to take third place, and set a new personal best of 51.76 along the way.

There were also some excellent performances from our other team members on the day. Eimhin Mulkerrins performed brilliantly in the Junior 1200m Walk, finishing in fourth place, missing out on a medal by just over a second. Bryan Ndego also came extremely close when finishing in fourth place in the Inter High Jump, also setting a personal best of 1.70m. Andreeas Binder threw brilliantly in the Javelin, finishing up in sixth place. Sean O’Reilly, in the Inter Javelin, Antonio Lingurar and Husley Teraza (Junior Triple jump) are all under-age again next year and will have benefited greatly from this experience. Daniel Leporda came 8th in the Junior Discus and both Peter Francis and Henrique Nkolovata jumped really well in the Triple Jump but didn’t make an impact on the leader-board this time out. All in all, a good day’s competition, one that will certainly whet the appetite for next season. With the Tailteann Inter-provincial games still to come there may be a few more national medals out there for us yet.

Connacht Athletics Finals 2014

 

 

St. Mary’s Athletics Report 2014   

Aviva Connacht Schools Track and Field Athletics Finals report

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Track and Field 2014

With the track and Field season almost upon us we are busily trying to get our teams together for the South Connacht Finals in Dangan on April 30th. To facilitate this we are currently running trials for each event at lunchtimes, and our very succesful Junior sports day unearthed a few hidden and previously unknown talents amongst our first years, and a couple of the second years.

Junior Sports Day 2014

All-Ireland Finals, Cork IT March 8th 2014

The cross-country season came to a conclusion at the national finals in Cork on Saturday afternoon. 11 Mary’s athletes made the arduous journey down south, where they were met with a tough course, full of hills and mud! The minor boys found their first foray into this level of athletics a real baptism of fire but overall performed quite well, finishing in 9th place of the 12 teams entered, and improving their Connacht team performance from 3rd to 2nd. Stephen Flaherty was first home in 57th place, making hime the seventh Connacht finisher, followed closely by Husley Teraza two places back. This was a great run by Husley, improving his Connacht position from 31st to 8th. Not far back were the rest of the team, Shane Kyne, Taofeek Daouda-Adekola, Cian Costello and Mark O’Reilly. Connacht Champions Westport narrowly missed out on the team title, showing that the standard in Connacht is high, and with some hard work we can improve. The Junior boys found the going really tough. We had high hopes for Ryan Traynor, but a poor start ultimately cost him as he was unable to close the gap on the leaders. He eventually finished a disappointed 29th. However, this was an improvement of 16 places on last year’s performance, and he can take consolation in the fact that the Westport runner who narrowly beat him in the Connacht finals made the Irish international team when finishing in 6th place. This shows that Ryan is not too far off the pace, and belief and hard work can carry him onwards. The rest of the team, comprising, Henok Dems, Gabriel Dossen and  Eimhin Mulkerrins, battled hard in the conditions to complete the scoring as we eventually finished in 10th place. The Inter team unfortunately did not travel as they were depleted with injury, but they will come back strongly next year.

Connacht Cross Country, Sligo, February 25th 2014

Thirty-one St. Mary’s athletes boarded a bus and headed to Sligo for this year’s Connacht Cross-Country finals. On the way home each of those thirty- one had at least one Connacht medal, a phenomenal achievement! The course was mucky, wet and heavy, the weather was windy, wet and cold; however, this did not deter the hardy bunch of lads who represented the College brilliantly on the day. For some it was their first race representing their school, for others their last after years of service to the red and black. All deserve mention, and credit.

First into action were the Minor (U-14). Having missed the South Connacht finals, where his team won the title without him, Stephen Flaherty must have felt he had a point to prove. And prove it he did, running very strongly in the demanding conditions to finish an excellent 6^th place from a field of 108 runners. He was backed up ably by Kevin Hourigan (19^th), Shane Kyne (23^rd), Taofeek Daouda-Adekola (29^th), Husley Teraza (33^rd) Cian Costello and Mark O’Reilly. This performance was sufficient to see the team capture the Bronze medals, behind Rice Westport and, and taking great pleasure from beating local rivals the Bish into fourth place. The Junior (U-14) team also put in a sterling performance to place in the medals. Performance of the day went to Ryan Traynor-O’Toole, who backed up his outstanding run in the South Connacht’s with another powerful performance, eventually finishing as the third individual, and spearheading his team’s climb to the silver medal position. Backing up Ryan were Gabriel Dossen (23), followed by first year students Henok Dems (27^th) and Eimhin Mulkerrins (50^th). Indeed Henok had been very sick prior to the race and so his performance is highly commendable. Fiachra Mulkerrins, Ruari O’Connor, Paul Arrigan and Raoof Bazzazadegan  were the other members of the team. The Intermediate (U-17) team were hampered by the unfortunate injury to their top scorer in the South Connacht’s, Kamil Szymaszek, but still ran brilliantly to take second place in the team event. First home was Eoghan Kelly in 15^th place, followed closely by Diarmuid Mulkerrins. Rory Owens has yet to reach the heights of last year’s performances, but nevertheless ran solidly to finish 27^th. The final scoring member of the team, completely out of his medium in the mud was Sam Samson in 31^st place. This total fell just short of the Calasanctious Oranmore total, but with Kamil it may well have been a different story. Matthew Flaherty O’Connor, showing a slight return to form, and Gadzi Malaba made up the rest of the team. For the senior(U-19) lads it was a slog through the well ploughed course by the time they got going, and 6km through clinging muck is no easy fete! Nevertheless, as many of the team have done in the past, they knuckled down and got on with the job. A brilliant run from Seán Kelly saw him home in eight place, behind some excellent runners, four of whom are previous and current Irish Internationals. He was closely followed by Darragh Mulkerrins (18), Gabriel Garwe (22), Jack Davies (23) and Tomas Donovan (24). Their total of 71 points was sufficient to snatch the bronze medal. Moise Assogba, Jason Costello and Andreaas Binder made up the rest of the team. For many of these lads this was their final Connacht Cross Country race for the College, with most of them having previously won medals at all age groups. Well done lads, and thanks! Next up are the All-Ireland finals which are due to be held in Cork IT on Saturday March 8th

Congratulations

Well done to our former student Keith Fallon on his great success at the National Indoor Athletics finals. Keith won the U-23 800m and 1500m titles in Athlone while running for his club Galway City Harriers.

South Connacht Cross-Country Jan 29th  2014

Held in a sunny Loughrea the South Connacht’s proved a successful outing for the Mary’s athletes involved as we succeeded in qualifying each of our teams for the Connacht finals on February 25th. There were some surprising and outstanding performances on the day, and a sense of pride in that each of our 41 athletes competed to such a high level, and finished what was a tough demanding course without too much bother.

First into action were the Minor (U-14) lads. Composed of six first years making their competitive debut for St. Mary’s in championship racing they each gave a great account of themselves. In a field comprising 22 teams, and with an eventual 155 finishers the lads did their school proud, emerging as South Connacht Champions. First home was Shane Kyne in tenth position. Shane was in the leading group for the majority of the race but faded a bit towards the end. Following close on his heals were Kevin Hourigan and Husley Teraza, finishing 15th and 16th respectively, having both made their way gradually through the large field of runners. Completing the scoring was Taofeek Daouda-Adekola in 26th spot, giving us a total score of 67 points and a place in the top three teams. Cian Costello (33) and Mark O’Reilly (54) completed the scoring.

Next into action were the Junior (U-15) team. This race saw the best Mary’s performance of the day when second year student Ryan Traynor-O’Toole really put it up to the field with a powerful and forceful display of front running. Leading practically from the start Ryan dominated the field for the vast majority of the 3000m race, but was then unfortunately just pipped to the winners podium on the line as the fast finishing Ballinasloe runner just got his head in front at the last moment. Ryan’s terrific performance was backed up by two more impressive performances as first year students Henok Dems and Eimhin Mulkerrins staged their own  individual battle to finish 21st and 22nd respectively. And, with Gabriel Dossen

completing the story close behind in 25th spot it was enough to ensure that the team qualified in second place. A bit of hard training should pay dividends for the Connacht finals. Other members of the team were Jamie O’Neill, Ruari O’Connor, Fiachra Mulkerrins, Gadzi Malaba, Raoof Bazzazadegan and Paul Arrigan. A very young  Intermediate (U-17) team, short a couple of regulars, also performed bravely to finish in second place and so qualify as well. First home, recapturing the form of yesteryear, was Kamil Szymaszek in an excellent fourth place. He was followed by Eoghan Kelly in 9th and Diarmuid Mulkerrins in 10th, a short distance ahead of Connacht Junior Champion Rory Owens in 14th.  This tight packing

was sufficient to beat off the challenge of the other 16 teams entered. Eamon O’Brien was next home, showing great promise for the future, while Shane Traynor and Charlton Conroy were also close by.   The senior race, over 5km, was a virtual war of attrition against the course. Sean Kelly was first home in 8th place, followed by Gabriel Garwe in 16th, a great run from Jack Davies in 20th and the fast finishing Conor Noone in 21st. This scoring and teamwork was sufficient to see the team home in first place, and hopes are now high for a Connacht Senior title. Other finishers on the day were Michael Naughton, Jason Costello, Maoise Assogba, Andreas Binder, Dillon Browne and Henrique Nkolovata. Next up, the Connacht Finals in Sligo on February 25th.

St. Mary’s Invitational Cross Country, November 28th

A great day was had by all as our athletes, along with those from eight other Connacht schools, got to stretch their legs early in the season. Hopefully good things to come down the line Invitational Results 2013 Our 6th annual Cross-Country event will be taking place on Thursday November 28th. Details on the poster link below 2013 Invitational cross-country poster

 

 

All-Ireland Combined Events November 2013, Athlone

On Saturday November 16th, three students, Samuel Samson, Shane Traynor and Rory Owens represented St. Mary’s and Connacht at the Irish Multi-Events championships in Athlone. Although all three performed very well, the star of the show was Sam who, despite being a year underage,  finished with an outstanding bronze medal in the U-17 competition (there were 15 competitors) , and in doing so was picked to represent Ireland at the schools Multi-Events international to be held in Glasgow during December. Shane missed out on the Junior team by one place.

Connacht Combined Events Finals, Athlone, October 2013

A brilliant performance by every single member of the St. Mary’s Athletics team saw them bring home a total of five medals from the recent  Connacht Championships held at the fabulous new indoor athletics stadium in Athlone IT Fifteen athletes made the long trip down to the midlands, and, on the back of three hard weeks preparation and training, showed their mettle against some of the best athletes in Connacht. Combined events involves competing in six events over the day; 200m, 800m, Long Jump, 60m Hurdles, High Jump and Shot Putt, and demands athletes of exceptional quality and ability. In the minor (U-14) event 48 athletes from across the province competed and we had excellent performances from Gabriel Dossen, Raoof Bazzazadegan, Josh Pyne and Stephen Flaherty, which culminated in Gabriel winning the bronze medal. The Junior(U-15) boys on the day were outstanding. 42 athletes were entered and when the results were counted up at the end we had a new Connacht Champion in third year student Shane Traynor-Canavan, who beat fellow Mary’s athlete Rory Owens into second place. Unfortunately, long time leader Bryan Ndego threw away his chance of a medal when he was unable to complete the 800m. Eamon O’Brien, making his debut appearance in the Mary’s colours showed his considerable promise as he also finished in the top ten on the day. Not to be out done Sam Samson showed how talented he is when romping to victory in what was a very difficult inter (U-17) competition. he was the class athlete in the field, but at times faced stern opposition from his teammates Isaac Francis, Peter Francis and Colin O’Reilly Finally, in the senior (U-19) event we had another medallist when Gabriel Garwe performed steadily to capture the bronze medal. Moise Assogba was defending his title but was below par on the day, while former underage medallist Dylan Duffy was unable to make any headway against  stiff opposition Sam, Shane, Rory and Gabu now go on to compete at the All-Ireland finals which will be held in Athlone on Saturday November 16th. September

The athletics season kicked off in fine fashion with the visit to the College of World 800m record holder, and Olympic 2012 Champion David Rudisha. It was a pure privilege for us to meet with this brilliant athlete, and to marvel at how such a humble and unassuming man has risen to be the best in the world through, as he said himself ‘ not being a wheelbarrow!’ David spoke very well, as did his inspirational coach Br. Colm O’Connell.