2019 CARRICK-ON-SHANNON AC ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

AGM will be held in The Bush Hotel, Carrick-on-Shannon on Thursday, December 12, at 7.30 pm

We are delighted to announce that we will hold our annual general meeting for 2019 on Thursday, December 12, at 7.30pm in The Bush Hotel in Carrick-on-Shannon.

The meeting will hear reports from Secretary John Connolly, Treasurer Jenny Rayson and Adult Coordinator Graham Allen along with an address from Chairperson Mary O'Donnell.

All registered members over 16 years of age are eligible and, indeed welcome, to attend while parents of current Juvenile members are also welcome to attend. If your child is not a member of the club, unfortunately 

If there are any items our members wish to raise, motions they want to include for the AGM or nominations they wish to make, please send them to Club Secretary John Connolly at connollyjohnb@eircom.net before Tuesday, December 10, at 9pm. 

If you are nominating anyone for a position in the Club prior to the meeting, please ensure you have their consent before lodging the nomination. 

If you cannot make the meeting but still want to raise an issue, you must include the name of a person who will be at the AGM and has agreed to speak on your behalf.

The meeting will also discuss arrangements for the 2020 season.

We look forward to seeing you all there.

TEAMWEAR IRELAND CLUB SHOP

We've had more than a few enquiries about the Club shop after our recent order.

If you missed out and you want to get some Club gear before Christmas, simply click on the following link for Teamwear Ireland and that will take you direct to our Club shop. The link is as follows: https://www.teamwearireland.ie/carrick-on-shannon-2019-1340-c.asp

There are a few extra items in the club shop, including training vests, lycra leggings, etc - all in club colours and with club logo. Please note, however, that the vests are simply training tops and not the official club competition vests which can be ordered directly from Secretary John Connolly

You can check out what the gear looks like in the following images. Best of shopping!

HISTORIC TEAM GOLD FOR U13 BOYS

SUPERB RUN FOR CLARA DOHERTY IN U13 GIRLS RACE

Congratulations to our small but hardy band of athletes who made the journey to Ballina for a superbly organised Connacht Uneven Ages Cross-country at the Belleek Park - they may have been small in number but they were mighty in performance!

Leading the way was a superb team gold medal for our U13 Boys team who were crowned Connacht Champions with a great display. Declan Kennedy again led the team home in third place, showing great racing skills to ensure he got the individual bronze while his brother Patrick put in a great showing to finish seventh overall.

Close behind and defying his lack of racing, Cathal Enright literally ran himself into the ground to finish ninth, his first time in the top ten. Behind him, both Riaghan Guckian and Oran Butler made conservative starts but started coming through the field at pace, Riaghan eventually finishing 26th with Oran a matter of paces behind in 34th place.

With such a brilliant display, Carrick claimed gold in the team race with 46 points ahead of Tuam with 66 and hosts Moy Valley. Even better for Declan, Patrick, Cathal and Riaghan were in Leitrim's scoring six who took third in the inter-county race. Well done guys on a superb performance and great running for the team.

Clara Doherty followed up her 13th place from the U14 race with a brilliant sixth in her own age group, the U13 Girls. Clara hung back off the pace but showed great pace judgement to come through at pace and she held off a succession of runners, showing some brilliant in-built racing smarts, to take sixth and a place at the All-Irelands. A brilliant run for a girl in her first year at cross-country.

We had an international flavour in the U17 Boys when our Belgian import Justin Cornélis ran his first ever cross-country race in a pair of football boots but still managed to finished 13th, just one place off the Connacht team. It was a superb run from Justin who has really made himself part of his group during his team here with us in Carrick-on-Shannon.

Brendan Kennedy finished a good 21st in the U15 Boys race while Hugh McGovern was fourth scorer on the Leitrim team as he finished a good 63rd in a race with over one hundred finishers.

Many thanks to the parents who travelled over today and special thanks for the way they all supported each other during the races, particularly the Kennedys who waited for Justin's race after a long day.

The Qualifiers will run in the All-Irelands in Dunboyne on Sunday, December 15.

CONNACHT EVEN AGES CROSS-COUNTRY IN BALLINA

The Connacht Uneven Ages and Adult League Cross Country Championships (under 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, Seniors, Master’s) will take place in Belleek, Ballina this Sunday, November 10, with the first race to start at 12:00.

We have a small number of athletes travelling to the beautiful North Mayo town to take on the beautiful but challenging parkland course.

In the U11 Boys, we have Hugh McGovern in action while Clara Doherty will be in action in the U13 Girls. In the U13 Boys, Declan and Patrick Kennedy will lead teammates Riaghan Guckian, Oran Butler, Kyle Lannon and Cathal Enright while Brendan Kennedy (U14 Boys) and Justin Cornélis (U17 Boys) complete our line-up.

Moy Valley Athletic Club, in consultation with Ballina Municipal District, are encouraging all who will travel to the event to use the Council owned parking facilities in Ballina (especially at (1) the Market Square; (2) adjacent to Dunne’s Stores and LIDL; and (3) Bachelor’s Walk) and then make the relatively short walk to Belleek. 

The cross country course is best accessed via the historic Belleek Gatehouse (https://goo.gl/maps/soKb35e4vSN2 ). There will be both Garda and club stewards in the area to minimise traffic delays so please observe their directions.

REGISTRATION

The race Headquarters will be Ballina Town Football Club (https://goo.gl/maps/FwAMjpvH7hm)  but please note that race numbers will be given out in a designated tent on the cross country course itself until 11:30 am.

COURSE

The course will be laid out in two laps as detailed below. The small lap is 400m long and the blue lap is almost 1000m long with a run to the finish line of almost 100m. Where the 400m lap is required, athletes will run the shorter lap first. Therefore, the race distances will be covered as follows:

1500m = 1 small loop; 1 large loop

2500m = 1 small loop; 2 large loops

3500m = 1 small loop; 3 large loops

4000m = 4 large loops

5000m = 5 large loops

6000m = 6 large loops

8000m = 8 large loops

CLUB GEAR NIGHT - TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2019

Club Gear Sizing & Ordering Night on Tuesday October 8, 2019, in Carrick Sports Complex from 5.30 to 7.30 pm

Due to the popularity of the last event and the fact that a few people missed out, the Club are holding a Club gear sizing night in the Sports Complex next Tuesday, October 9, from 5.30pm to 7.30pm in association with Teamwear Ireland.

This is a great chance for members to get gear before Christmas and next year's Indoor season.

We'd also like to point out ordering Club is open to all members, their families and parents and indeed former club members if they wish - we'e all one big family and it's great to see Carrick AC gear on display around the country!

We have added a Race Rainjacket to the selection which proved very popular.

Members are encouraged to come before or after their usual training on Tuesday.

If you are unable to attend next Tuesday, why not check out sizes with a clubmate who has already ordered gear, then simply download the form below, print it out and return with the correct amount of cash to any club official before next Tuesday evening.

Cash only, payable on the night for any gear ordered.

Nobody is obliged to purchase any items

Please note, the club takes no responsibility for orders and sizes

All transactions are between the buyer and the seller

The club is only facilitating the sale

Prices of items as follows:

1. Crew III Shirt                     Kids: €15            Adults: €17

2. Crew III Half-Zip                Kids: €22            Adults: €25

3. Crew III Full-Zip                 Kids: €27            Adults: €32

4. Hobby II Polo                     Kids: €19            Adults: €23

5. Elba Skinny Pants               Kids: €20            Adults: €23

6. Diamond II backpack          €22

7. Travel Bag                         €22
8. Race Rainjacket                 Kids: €25             Adults: €30

Initials Embroidered on Top: €4.25 extra

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

Thanks to everyone who turned up last Friday evening for our first ever Club Event and Presentation in The Bush Hotel. The event was a great success and judging from the feedback we've been getting since, everyone seemed to really enjoy the occasion.

Special thanks to Philip Howard for his excellent talk on nutrition for sport, correct eating habits and fuelling for sport. It really was very informative and I know a lot of athletes, young and old, will have taken a lot from it. If anyone would like to contact Philip for further advice, he is contactable on Twitter at @philiphowardfit

We followed up with a wonderful Q&A session with our two Senior internationals Gerard O'Donnell and Eanna Madden and our special guest, 2016 Olympian Breege Connolly. It was a fascinating insight into the work that goes into reaching the top in our sport but the message from all three, from three very different events, is that there is no secret to performing your best, it takes lots and lots of hard work and dedication.

The Club would like to especially thank Breege Connolly for attending the event and giving us an insight in the life of a top class marathon runner. Breege took time off work to attend the event and we were delighted and privilaged to have her at our event.

The main reason for the event of course was to honour our five members who represented Ireland, a huge honour for our club and real privilage for us. The five members were:

Michelle Lannon - British & Irish Masters Cross-country International Swansea Wales 2018

Clive Glancy - European Police Marathon Championships Dublin 2018

Gerard O'Donnell - European Olympic Team Finals Minsk Belarus 2019, European Athletics Team Championships First Division Sandnes Norway 2019

Eanna Madden - European Athletics Team Championships First Division Sandnes Norway 2019

Alannah McGuinness - European U20 T&F Championships Boras Sweden, Youth Nations Cup Dublin 2019 & Youth International Mannheim Germany 2019

Congrats to all five athletes, we're extremely proud of your achievements.

Also it was a great thrill for club founder Michael O'Brien to be present with us on the night, none of us would have been in the Bush Hotel last Friday without Michael's great work down through the years.

See our Facebook page for more photos

WE'RE BACK! GET THOSE TRAINING SHOES ON!

We hope you've all enjoyed your break because Carrick-on-Shannon Athletic Club is delighted to announce that our Juvenile groups are returning to training next Tuesday, October 1, 2019.

Training for the Primary and Post Primary School groups will both return to action next Tuesday, October 1, at the following times:

PRIMARY SCHOOL GROUPSTuesday: 5 to 6 pm: Athletes aged 9 & 10 in 2019Tuesday: 6 to 7 pm: Athletes aged 11, 12 & over in 2019

POST PRIMARY SCHOOL GROUPTuesday: Outdoor session, meet at 6 pm at the Sports Complex (Session last 75-80 minutes)Wednesday: Gym & circuits session in Sports Complex at 6 pmFriday: Meet at 4 pm at Sports Complex

There is a weekly fee of €3 per week

New members, boys and girls of any age, are welcome for the Post Primary group provided they are Post Primary students. A membership fee of €15 (to cover Athletics Ireland registration costs) applies. 

However, we must stress that the Primary School groups nights are for existing 2019 members only as we are greatly restricted with the amount of space we have to accommodate our members.

Some space may become available at a later date but that will depend on how many members return to training.

Just to reiterate, we are not taking any new members in our Primary School Group until January 2020 when we will have a registration night. New members are welcome for the Post Primary (Secondary) School group.

TRAINING FOR EXISTING MEMBERS ONLY WILL RESUME ON TUESDAY OCTOBER 1, 2019 AT CARRICK SPORTS COMPLEX

REMEMBER THERE IS A €3 WEEKLY FEE

CLUB CELEBRATION/NUTRITION & Q&A -FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 27, 2019

Carrick-on-Shannon Athletic Club are delighted to announce details of a special event in the Bush Hotel on Friday, September 27, at which they will honour the club's five internationals from the past 12 months.

The event, which starts at 7 pm sharp, is chance for the club to recognise the achievements of Gerard O'Donnell, Eanna Madden, Clive Glancy, Michelle Lannon and Alannah McGuinness in representing Ireland.

Leitrim senior team nutritionist Philip Howard will give a talk to the club's post primary and senior athletes on nutrition and healthy eating and we would encourge the parents of our post primary athletes to also attend.

After the presentations, the evening will conclude with a chat followed by a Question & Answer sesssion with our own Irish Senior internationals Eanna Madden and Gerard O'Donnell with 2016 Olympian Breege Connolly joining us a special guest on the night.

This event is free of charge to all our members and we'd urge all our Post Primary members and Adult group members to attend the event.

We look forward to seeing everyone there!

Fast times in Waterford and Claremorris

Busy day for the club at two very different venues with our two Senior national champions in action in Waterford and Claremorris today.

Down in Waterford, Eanna Madden & Gerard O'Donnell flew the Carrick AC flag in the excellent Ton Le Gaoithe meeting at Waterford IT track. Eanna won the 200m with a superb 21.65 win in the 200m with a plus 0.3 m/s wind while he clocked 10.70 to finish second over 100m.

Gerard twice finished second in the 110m Hurdles to Crusaders Matthew Behan, clocking 14.11 in his second race at the end of a very busy week.

In Claremorris, we had a small crew in action in the North Connacht Schools Qualifiers and everybody made it through to next Thursday's Connacht Schools in Athlone. We don't have full results or times to hand yet but Carrick Community School won both Intermediate relay races with some superb sprinting.

Toyosi Fagbo left nobody in doubt of his talent when, in his first year as an intermediate, he won the 100m and 200m and running two exceptional races. Ellis Conway was a convincing winner in the Senior Girls 800m to follow up on her 2.16 clocking in Greystones last week while Oliver Kearney won his Minor Boys 200m event.

Alannah McGuinness, for Mohill Community College, made the best of a bad situation to finish a close second in the Senior 100m despite getting hit by cramp in the last 20 metres while Sophie McCabe (Inter 200m) was a strong third in her event.

Lauren Reynolds finished a good second in a rare outing over the Inter 800m while we had two debutants over 800m in Sean Brennan and Cian McKiernan who both qualified in the Inter event and will have learned so much from the experience.

Oisin Kearney qualified in both the Inter 200m and 400m,finishing third behind Toyosi and joined by Cian Mollohan in fourth in the longer sprint. Alanna Murray battled an hamstring strain to finish third in the Inter Girls 300m.

Fionn O'Brien dropped down to the Senior 1,500m for a workout and ran a new personal best so more congrats there.

Jack Keenehan was our sole field eventer and finished second in the Inter boys with a new personal best of 5.13m, congrats Jack.

The two relay teams were, for the girls, Aine McGwynne, Alanna Murray, Lauren Reynolds and Sophie McCabe with Oisin Kearney, Cian Mollohan, Sean Brennan and Toyosi Fagbo in action for the lads.

A few pictures will appear on Facebook.

Fast times in Athlone

Athlone was definitely the place to be last weekend as the Irish Univerisity Track & Field Championships were held at the outdoor track on Friday and Saturday and the Indoor Arena saw the last day of the National Juvenile Indoor Championships.

We had three members in action on Friday in the Varsities with Eanna Madden running a superb time of 21.67 to win his heat. 

With a slight twinge and very cold conditions, Eanna wisely decided to sit out the final but his time on Friday would have been good enough for a bronze medal.





Cathal McElgunn went out strongly in the Men's 400m, clocking a time of 53.64 to finish fifth in his heat while he also ran a strong first leg for UCD in the 4 x 400m final on Saturday.






Callum Whelan made a return to throwing and despite two marginal fouls in his first two effort, he threw 45.29 to finish ninth overall. Great to see the AIT student back in action.

On Saturday, the Juveniles saw our U12 boys team turn in an exceptional performance to finish seventh overall in the 4 x 200m. Set up by an incredible opening leg from Luke Charles, the team led or were second for most of the first heat before being pipped for third.

Luke's incredible opening leg put the lads in front, Riaghan Guckian was quickly passed but then stuck to the leader and was only a yard or two behind going into the change-over. Alexander Oates, making his debut in Athlone, stormed around the track to put us back in front while Nathan Casey ran a very strong leg and was right up with the winner all the way to the finish line.

To put into context their performance, the lads ran a high 2.09 in the Connacht Finals but ran 2.01.89, eight seconds faster here.

Jack Keenehan completed our weekend line-up as he competed in the U17 Long Jump. His best of 4.78m was down on his previous best but Jack will have learned a lot from the experience and will only get better.

Finally, our U17 Girls team were unable to take part as injury and illness meant we were unable to take to the track. We wish Aine McGwynne a very speedy recovery from her broken wrist and we hope to see her back in action very soon.

CLUB GEAR SIZING & ORDERING NIGHT - TUESDAY APRIL 2

Club Gear Sizing & Ordering Night on Tuesday April 2, in Carrick Sports Complex from 5.30 to 7.30 pm

The Club are holding a Club gear sizing night in the Sports Complex next Tuesday, April 2, from 5.30pm to 7.30pm in association with Teamwear Ireland.

Members are encouraged to come before or after their usual training on Tuesday

Cash only, payable on the night for any gear ordered

Nobody is obliged to purchase any items

Please note, the club takes no responsibility for orders and sizes

All transactions are between the buyer and the seller

The club is only facilitating the sale

Prices of items as follows:

1. Crew III Shirt                     Kids: €15                       €17

2. Crew III Half-Zip                Kids: €22                       €25

3. Crew III Full-Zip                 Kids: €27                      €32

4. Hobby II Polo                     Kids: €19                       €23

5. Elba Skinny Pants               Kids: €20                       €23

6. Diamond II backpack          €22

7. Travel Bag                         €22

Initials Embroidered on Top: €4.25 extra

CONNACHT INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS 2019

Hard to know where to begin after another very successful, tiring and long weekend for the club's athletes and officials at the Connacht Athletics Indoor Championships in Athlone.

With so many excellent performances in all age groups, it is hard to pick out one or two but we have to highlight two extraordinary runs from Toyosi Fagbo as he won the U16 60m and 200m.

His 60m performance was simply on another level as he sped to a new personal best of 7.45 seconds in the U16 60m, his winning margin of over half a second the largest winning margin in any of the sprints over the weekend. Not only that, Toyosi’s time was only beaten by two Senior athletes and equalled by the U18 winner as the 15-year-old went on to make light of a poor lane draw in the 200m, his time of 24.37 more than a second clear of the field.

Ellis Conway was another double winner as she won the U19 400m and 800m, winning the shorter race in 59.98 secs before going on to win the longer race in her debut in the event in a time of 2.27.29, two very composed and impressive performances from Ellis.

Unfortunately the 400m also saw one of our few low spots as Clodagh Sheerin suffered an horrendous hamstring tear midway through the race but she still finished in third place in one of the gutiest runs we've seen in a Carrick AC vest. Just in front of Ellis at the halfway point, Clodagh badly tore her hamstring but completed the entire race, finishing in agony in an incredible display of pain tolerance.

Our Masters athletes were also in superb form - International Michelle Lannon ran a superb 10.55.66 to finish fourth overall in the 3,000m and first master while Ann Wynne led Susanne O’Beirne in the 800m and 1,500m but both picked up golds in the W50 and W35 categories, Susanne also winning silver in the 400m. Our final masters athlete saw Ken Kennedy set a new personal best with an impressive 10.05.

His sons were in good form too as we had the unique honour of winning all three heats in the U13 600m. Declan won the first heat in 1.45.56, Patrick went slightly better with 1.44.60 to 1.46.56 before Cathal Enright won the final heat in 1.48.42, giving up first, third and fifth in the event.

A badly timed muscle strain during the week meant we didn't get to see the best of Alannah McGuinness in the U18 60m but she still ran her fourth fastest time ever of 7.88 despite never really getting going in any phase of the race, perhaps a sign of what she can do when fully fit.

Luke Charles followed his brothers Oliver and Patrick as Connacht medalists with a superb silver in the U12 60m in a time of 8.76 and he then teamed up with Riaghan Guckian, Nathan Casey, Eoin McGowan and Kyle Lannon to take third in the U12 relay, pipping Sligo AC for the bronze medal by one hundredth of a second, all four runners putting in amazing legs.

Our U17 Carrick girls team of Aine McGwynne, Alanna Murray, Lauren Reynolds and Sophie McCabe finally got their hands on a Connacht medal as they finished second in their event with a time of 1.53.85 with Aine still getting the baton to Alanna despite a spectacular dive at the line and Lauren doing another spectacular leg on the third leg.

Jack Keenehan produced the goods at the right time as he leapt to 5.01m to take a bronze medal in the U17 boys long jump.

That completed our medals for the weekend but there were some excellent displays over both days with Paul Lenehan and Cian Mollohan both fourth in their events while the U12, U13 and U14 Girls relay teams all put in very good performances. Emma Clarke also marked her Connacht debut with a fine eighth place in the U15 Girls 60m in a time of 8.69 seconds.

Thanks to all the parents who brought the athletes and really supported them on the day, to Jenny McCabe for looking after the numbers, to officials Siobhan Whelan, Siobhan Murtagh and John Connolly for their work on the day but especially to all our athletes who performed so well in the Carrick AC vest over the two days.

The full list of our performances are as follows: (Full Results are available here)

GIRLS

U12

60m: Amy Murtagh 9.60; Anna Keane 9.74 Heather McElhone 9.78; Katie McDermott 10.48

Hurdles: Anna Keane 7th 12.50

600m: PHoebe Lynott 2.20,84; Katie McDermott 2.28.25

Long Jump: Anna Keane 8th 3.27m; Phoebe Lynott 35th 3.01m

Shot: Phoebe Lynott 11th;v4.66m; Katie McDermott 13th 4.62m

Relay: 7th

U13

60m: Clare Doherty 9.63; Laura Faughnan 10.27

600m: Clara Doherty 8th 1.56.95

Long Jump: Laura Faughnan 2.98m, Caoimhe Gallagher 2.20m

U14

60m: Keelan Cronin 9.07; Zemyna Zasytyte 9.21; Jodie Fitzpatrick 9.31; Hannah Walsh 9.44; Valeria Karaceva 9.64

800m: Kayleigh Earley 2.57.75

Relay: 2.04.16 6th

Long Jump: Keelin Cronin 15th 3.52m, Faith Lynott 19th 3.36m; Hannah Walsh 26th 2.96m

Shot: Faith Lynott 8th 6.97m; Zemyna Zasytyte 14th 5.72m; Valeria Karaceva 15th 5.24m

U15

60m: Emma Clarke 8th 8.69

U16

60m: Sophie McCabe 9th 8.61; Aoibhinn O'Dowd 9.04

200m: Sophie MCCabe 6th 28.35; Aoibhinn O'Dowd 29.59

800m: Kirsty McHenry 9th 2.44.92

U17

60m: Aine McGwynne 7th 8.58

200m: Alanna Murray 29.40

1,500m: Lauren Reynolds 3rd 5.26.13

Relay: 2nd 1.53.85

U18

60m: Alannah McGuinness 2nd 7.88

200m: Laura Conlon 34.27

U19

400m: Ellis Conway 1st 59.98, Clodagh Sheerin 3rd 66.73

800m: Ellis Conway 3rd 2.27.29

Masters

400m: Susanne O'Beirne 1st 73.56

800m: Ann Wynne 1st 2.43.28; Susanne O'Beirne 1st 2.52.38

1,500m: Ann Wynne 1st 5.34.61; Susanne O'Beirne 1st 5.51.75

3,000m: Michelle Lannon 1st 10.55.66

BOYS

U12

60m: Luke Charles 2nd 8.76, Nathan Casey 9.75; Riaghan Guckian 9.86; Eoin McGowan 9.87; Kyle Lannon 10.52

Long Jump: Luke Charles 2.91m 27th; Nathan Casey 2.60m 35th

Relay: Luke Charles, Riaghan Guckian, Eoin McGowan, Nathan Casey 5th 2.09.33

U13

60m: Cathal Enright 9.17 secs 6th; Ben Clarke 10.34
600m: Patrick Kennedy 1st 1.44.60; Declan Kennedy 2nd 1.45.56; Cathal Enright 5th 1.48.42
Relay: Patrick Kennedy, Cathal Enright, Ben Clarke, Declan Kennedy 2.03.94 5th

U14

60m: Oliver Kearney 8.97

U15

800m: Brendan Kennedy 6th 2.31.70

U16

60m: Toyosi Fagbo 1st 7.45
200m: Toyosi Fagbo 1st 24.37; Cian Mollohan 4th 26.09

U17

200m: Jack Keenehan 6th 27.38
Long Jump: Jack Keenehan 3rd 5.01m

U18

60m: Paul Lenehan 8th 8.01
200m: Paul Lenehan 6th 25.98
Long Jump: 4th 4.46m

Masters

3,000m: Ken Kennedy 10.05