NORTH WEST INDOOR GAMES - SATURDAY DECEMBER 29

Cathal McElgunn after finishing his 400m at last year's North West Games - what better way to celebrate the Christmas!

While most of us may still be recovering after the turkey at Christmas, some of our members will be turning their minds to the fourth North West Indoor Games will be held at Athlone International Arena on Sunday December 29.

This superb open event, organised by the Donegal Athletics County Board, covers age groups from U12 right up to Masters with events in every age group. Entry fee is €3 per event for Juveniles and €5 per event for Seniors & Masters with relays €20 per team. 

All entries and fees must be received no later than Friday, December 14 and cheques should be made payable to Donegal County Board. Entries cannot be accepted on the day of competition.

As this is not a Provincial Club competition, entries are up to each individual athlete to organise and pay.

THERE IS ONE IMPORTANT RESTRICTION - ONLY THREE ATHLETES PER CLUB PER EVENT SO PLEASE CHECK WITH FELLOW CLUB ATHLETES IF THEY ARE ALSO COMPETING!

An added attraction this year is the awarding of the famed O’Duffy Cup to the Ulster or Connacht county team achieving the highest number of points in both male and female events. All Athletes - U18, junior, senior or masters - are eligible for this competition with the highest ranked athlete from each county scoring in the track and field events except in the case of Shot and Hurdles where only competitors who throw the 7.26 Kg shot and compete in the senior hurdles will count.

Other details to note: 

1. Athletes may step up one age and compete in a maximum of three events plus a relay
2. All track events are time trials, only three attempts allowed in Long and Triple Jumps and Shot
3. All athletes must wear club singlets
4. U12 athletes MAY use starting blocks, all other athletes MUST use blocks. IAAF false start rules will apply
5. Electronic timing will be in operation for all track events
6. First event will start at 10am detailed timetable and order of events will issue at a later date

For further information, contact Bernie O'Callaghan, 20 The Waterfront, Killybegs, Co Donegal at 087-2375899 or at bernieocallaghan@gmail.com


The full list of events is as follows:

U12 Boys & Girls: 60m, 60m Hurdles, 600m, 1,000m walk, shot, Long Jump, High Jump, 4 x 200m Relay

U14 Boys & Girls: 60m, 60m Hurdles, 800m 1,000m walk shot, Long Jump, High Jump, 4 x 200m Relay

U16 Boys & Girls: 60m, 60m Hurdles, 200m, 400, 800m, 1,500m, 1,000m Walk, Long Jump, High Jump, 4x 200m Relay

U18 Men & Women: 60m, 60m Hurdles, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1,000m Walk, 1,500m, Shot, Long Jump, High jump, Triple Jump, 4 x 200m Relay

Junior Men & Women: 60m, 60m hurdles, 200m, 400, 800m, 1,000m Walk, 1,500m, 3,000m, shot, long jump, triple jump, 4 x 200m Relay

Senior Men & Women: 60m, 60m hurdles, 200m, 400, 800m, 1,000m Walk, 1,500m, 3,000m, shot, long jump, triple jump, 4 x 200m Relay

Masters Men and Women: 60m, 60m hurdles, 200m, 400, 800m, 1,000m Walk, 1,500m, 3,000m, shot, long jump, triple jump, 4 x 200m Relay

DATE SET FOR ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Carrick-on-Shannon Athletic Club AGM will be held on Monday December 3, in The Bush Hotel at 7.30 pm

All Club members over 16 years of age or their parents are invited to attend the Annual General Meeting of Carrick-on-Shannon Athletic Club next Monday, December 3, at 7.30 pm in The Bush Hotel, Carrick-on-Shannon.

The meeting will review the past years which has seen great success at Senior, Masters and Juvenile level and will plan for the coming year, including the intake of new members for the Juvenile section, details of which will be announced after the meeting.

Chairperson Mary O'Brien Finn has indicated her intention to step down from the position while if there any nominations, motions or matters to be discussed, please send them to Secretary John Connolly at connollyjohnb@eircom.net before this Friday, November 30, at 9pm.

We look forward to seeing you all in The Bush Hotel next Monday.

BRILLIANT SILVER FOR DECLAN

Our U12 Boys team of Riaghan Guckian, Patrick and Declan Kennedy and Oran Butler

Patrick Kennedy finishes 16th in excellent display as U12 Boys team finish seventh

All-Ireland silver medalist Declan Kennedy

Congratulations to Declan Kennedy who produced a superb display to finish second in the Athletics Ireland Irish Life Health National U12 Cross-country Championships in Abbottstown on Sunday.

After a series of races that has seen him undefeated in Connacht, Declan, his twin Patrick and team-mates Oran Butler and Riaghan Guckian, both in their first ever All-Ireland, produced a superb display to finish seventh out of sixteen teams in the team race.

Fionn McNamara of Annalee started pushing the pace on the second of two 1 km laps but Declan was the only athlete able to chase. The Cavan runner stayed out in front to win with Declan showing great strength to hold off at least five athletes who had him in his sights.

Patrick also turned in a superb display as he finished 16th in a very tough race, despite being slightly under the weather. He got detached from Declan early in the race but was just outside the top 12 before the finish in what is still a superb run for Patrick - we don't have that many athletes who finished in the top 20 of an All-Ireland Juvenile cross-country championships. 

For Oran Butler and Riaghan Guckian, this was an introduction to one of the toughest events in the athletics calendar and they did superbly. Both are U11 and will run in Navan in three weeks time in their own age group and despite an understandable dose of nerves before the start, they fought every inch of the way and were sprinting all the way to the line as Oran was 144th and Riaghan 145th. 

When the scores of the four lads were added together, the Carrick lads finished seventh in the Inter-Club race - one of the best performances from our club teams ever and definitely a sign of potential for the future. 

Ellie O'Rourke got out strongly in a very competitive and incredibly high quality U16 Girls race. Unfortunately, it wasn't Ellie's day as she finished 64th, not a true reflection of a very dedicated athlete's ability, but nobody can doubt the effort she put in as she finished the race very light headed. 

Brendan Kennedy completed our line-up in the U14 Boys race and ran strongly to finish 108th. Brendan got swamped at the start but fought his way through the field and will take a lot from this race. 

A word of congratulations also to Kinlough natives Teresa Doherty and Breege Connolly who both had top ten finishes in the Senior Women's race. 

Teresa was just a week after winning the British & Irish Masters race in Swansea where our own Michelle Lannon was in action and she finished a superb seventh while Breege, who was a joint winner of the Senior category with our own Gerard O'Donnell at Saturday's Leitrim Sports Star Awards, showed incredible strength to come through for a superb 10th - great running from the two ladies.

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DECLAN DOES THE DOUBLE AS ELLIE & KEN IN THE MEDALS

Declan Kennedy wins U13 Connacht title to add to U12 crown

Connacht medals for Ellie O'Rourke, Patrick Kennedy, Riaghan Guckian, Oran Butler and Ken Kennedy

Another great day at the Western Region Cross-country last Sunday, this time in Belleek Park in Ballina at the Uneven Ages Championships with some superb performances from our athletes.

Top of the pile was Declan Kennedy who added the U13 title to the U12 he won in Sligo the week before, a harder run against older opposition but a fine performance with his brother Patrick also turning in an excellent display in eighth place.

The two lads teamed up with four Ballinamore AC runners to take third in the Inter County race.

Ellie O'Rourke turned in a superb performance to take second in the U17 Girls race, a big improvement on Sligo and showing what she is capable of.

Riaghan Guckian also made a big breakthrough as he qualified for his first ever Connacht team when he finished ninth in the U11 age group. A superb run from Riaghan who always produced strong performances. Oran Butler finished 20th in the same race, unfortunate to slip on the steep hill twice but a strong display nonetheless. The two lads combined with four other Leitrim runners to take home bronze medals in the Inter County race.

Our newest Connacht medalist is probably one of our oldest first timers - Ken Kennedy showed that Declan & Patrick didn't lick it off the ground as he finished third overall in the Masters Section of the Adult Cross-country League, another strong performance seeing him grab the bronze by a point but also just one point off the joint winners.

Ken was 16th across the line and seventh Master in Ballina. Michael Keane was also in action as he finished 28th overall in Ballina and in the series, he was 17th overall, a great result considering his results were hampered by not getting to run in the first leg. Well done lads

Emily Reynolds and Kirsty McHenry both put in strong displays to finish 34th and 22nd respectively in the U13 and U15 Girls races respectively, two very intense races.

Susanne O'Beirne completed our line-up in Ballina as she finished 19th overall and tenth Senior athlete, giving her fifth overall in the League.

Emily Reynolds was the only Leitrim competitor in the U13 Girls race as she finished 34th while in the U15 event Kirsty McHenry finishing 22nd.

Thanks to all the parents who travelled with athletes to Ballina and for sending us back a few photos that you can see on Facebook.

KENNEDYS GO ONE-TWO AGAIN AND BRONZE FOR U12 LADS

Superb 4th place finish for Eoghan Farrell as Ellie O'Rourke & Kirsty Henry also take home Connacht medals

New Irish Masters International Michelle Lannon performs well again

Congratulations to all our members who competed in the Western Region Cross-country at Sligo Racecourse, a very well organised event on a tough course that tested every aspect of the cross-country runner.

Pride of place once again goes to the Kennedy twins who finished first and second in the U12 Boys race, Declan finishing the stronger over the final big hill to take the gold ahead of his brother Patrick. Both lads held back a bit at the start and it paid dividends as they moved into the lead after 700m and were never threatened after that.

Behind them we had three lads making their Connacht debuts and what debuts they were - Oran Butler and Riaghan Guckian are both a year out of their own age group but produced brilliant runs to finish 23rd and 26th while Ben Clarke showed great strength to come through the field and finish strongly.

With the great runs of the lads, they all brought home two medals - we claimed third in the team competition while Declan, Patrick, Oran & Riaghan were part of the scoring six with Mark & Niall Ahern that finished third in the Inter-county race. A great day out.

Eoghan Farrell may have gone home without a medal but he produced a breakthrough performance - running out of his age group in the U18 6,000m, Eoghan stormed through the field and was so full of running that, reminscent of the way his uncle Padraig used to attacks hills, he was closing on the bronze medal all the way to the finish line.

Unfortunately, Eoghan ran out of room but took a good many scalps in an excellent performance that anyone who has seen him training over the last few months knew was coming.

Ellie O'Rourke and Kirsty McHenry also won Connacht bronze medals as part of the Leitrim team who finished third in the Inter-County race. Ellie started strongly and was well up. She, as she admits herself, went through a bad patch but rallied strongly to finish 11th in the race run with U18 & U20 Girls.

Kirsty McHenry started a bit more cautiously but again showed that strength that we all see at training over the second half to come through for 15th place and a great run ahead of her own age group next Sunday in Ballina.

Unfortunately for the third of our gang in the race, it wasn't a good day as a recurrance of a back injury meant Lauren Reynolds had to drop out and anyone who knows or has trained with this tough athlete, it takes a lot to stop Lauren from finishing a race. She'll be back flying soon.

Brendan Kennedy produced a superb performance as well to finish ninth in the U14 Boys race. Left a little on the line when the field took off on "on your marks", Brendan worked his way through the field to qualify strongly for the All-Ireland Finals.

Emily Reynolds was our last Juvenile in action and despite feeling unwell before the start, she ran strongly in the U14 race, a good preparation for next Sunday's U13 race in Ballina.

In the Adult races, Michelle Lannon and Susanne O'Beirne competed strongly in the Women's race while Ken Kennedy and Michael Keane produced two excellent runs in the Men's race - although we're wondering if Michael will agree to Ken's suggestion again of a nice cross-country run.

Thanks to all our athletes for their efforts today, even more special thanks to the parents who came along to cheer on each and every one of them especially Lorna Kennedy, Paddy Guckian, Paula Butler, James, Ann & Hannah Farrell and Ronnie Clarke.
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ATHLETICS FIXTURES 2018-2019

As we get ready to start back to training next week after the Summer break, we thought we'd let you have an idea of what the year ahead entails with the most recent Athletics Fixtures list for cross-country and Track & Field events for clubs and schools.

Please remember that the dates and times are all subject to change and that we do not have dates for events like the North Connacht and Connacht Schools Cross-country or Track & Field events. Likewise, there are no dates for local, county or national community games events.

Leitrim events are in black - for our Roscommon members, as the Club is registered in Leitrim, we compete in the Leitrim Championships.

A reminder too about entries for Connacht and National events. All entries for Juvenile members MUST go through the Club - you can contact the Club Secretary John Connolly with queries.

Entries for Seniors/Masters for Connacht events must go through the Club - entries for National events can be done by the athlete themselves through the Athletics Ireland website.

All entries MUST be paid for before the completed entry form is submitted.

Finally, the best of luck to all our members racing over the next 15 months!

2018

Wednesday October 3: Leitrim Primary Schools Cross-country in Leitrim Gaels Community Field 10.30

Wednesday October 10: Clonliffe Schools Cross-country 12.00 (PS), 1.00 SS)

Saturday October 13: Connacht Primary Schools Cross-country - Galway 12.00

October 20/21: Leitrim Cross-country Championships

Sunday October 21: Autumn Open Cross Country Festival

Sunday November 4: Connacht Even Ages Cross-country - Sligo 12.00

Sunday November 11: Connacht Uneven Ages Cross-country - Mayo 12.00

Sunday November 25: AAI Senior, Junior & Juvenile Even Age CC - Abbottstown

Sunday December 16: AAI Novice & Juvenile Uneven Age CC - TBC

Saturday December 29: North West Games - Athlone

2019

Saturday January 12: AAI National Indoor League RD1 - TBC

Sunday January 20: Leitrim Juvenile Indoors - 12.00

Saturday January 26: AAI National Indoor League RD2 - Athlone

Sunday January 27: Irish Life Health Junior and U23 Indoors - Athlone

Saturday February 2: AAI Indoor Games - Abbottstown

Sunday February 3: Irish Life Health National Inter/Master, Juv B & Relays XC

Wednesday February 13: AIT International - Athlone

February 16 & 17: Irish Life Health Senior Indoors - Abbottstown

February 23 & 24: Connacht Indoors - Athlone

Saturday March 9: Irish Life Health All Ireland Schools Cross Country

Sunday March 10: Irish Life Health Masters Indoors - Athlone

Saturday March 23: SIAB Schools Cross Country International Dublin

March 30/31: Irish Life Health Juvenile Indoors Day 1 & 2 - Athlone

Saturday April 6: Irish Life Health Juvenile Indoors Day 3 - Athlone

Wednesday May 1: Dublin Graded T&F Meet 1 (TBC)

Sunday May 12: Leitrim Primary Schools T&F - Manorhamilton 6.00

Wednesday May 15: Leitrim Team Finals (Juvenile) - Sligo; Dublin Graded T&F Meet 2 (TBC)

Thursday May 16: Connacht Schools T&F (Provisional)

Sunday May 19: AAI National Outdoor League Rd 1

Wednesday May 22: Leitrim Track & Field Championships - Sligo 6.00

Wednesday May 29: Dublin Graded T&F Meet 3 (TBC)

Saturday June 1: Irish Life Health All Ireland Schools T&F - Tullamore

Saturday June 8: Connacht Track & Field - Galway

Wednesday June 12: Dublin Graded T&F Meet 4 (TBC)

Saturday June 15: Connacht Track & Field - Sligo

Saturday June 22: AAI Games; Irish Life Health Tailteann Games - Santry

Wednesday June 26: Dublin Graded T&F Meet 5 (TBC)

Saturday June 29: AAI Childrens Games & Limited U12-13 Events - Tullamore

Sunday June 30: AAI National Outdoor League Rd 2

July 3-14: World University Games - Portugal

Saturday July 6: Irish Life Health Junior and U23 Outdoors

Sunday July 7: Irish Life Health Juvenile Outdoors Day 1 - Tullamore

Wednesday July 10: Dublin Graded T&F Meet 6 (TBC)

July 14 & 15: Irish Life Health Juvenile Outdoors Day 2 & 3 - Tullamore

Saturday July 20: AAI National Outdoor League Final - Tullamore; SIAB Schools Track and Field - Swansea

Sunday July 21: Irish Life Health Juvenile B’s & Relays - Tullamore

Wednesday July 24: Dublin Graded T&F Meet 7 (TBC)

July 27 & 28: Irish Life Health National Seniors - Santry

Wednesday August 7: Dublin Graded T&F Meet 8 (TBC)

Sunday August 18:  Irish Life Health Masters T&F - Tullamore

Wednesday August 21: Morton Games - Santry

September 7-17: European Masters T&F - Italy

September 28-October 6: World Championships - Qatar

Saturday October 12: Connacht Primary Schools Cross-country

Sunday October 20: Autumn Open Cross Country Festival

Sunday November 3: Connacht Even Ages Cross-country

Sunday November 10: Connacht Uneven Ages Cross-country

Sunday November 24: AAI Senior, Junior & Juvenile Even Age CC - Abbottstown

Sunday December 15: AAI Novice & Juvenile Uneven Age CC - TBC

2018-2019 SEASON - JUVENILE TRAINING

As we get ready to return to training in the first week of October, we want to outline a few changes for the coming year.

With an increase in Athletics Ireland Registration fees for all age groups due to come into effect from January 1, we have taken the decision to change our membership year from September to January.

This means that we will not be taking any new members in the PRIMARY SCHOOL GROUP until January 2019 when we will be taking new members in those age groups.

Existing members (members who joined in September 2017) are all paid up until the end of this year but will renew their membership at the end of this year.

New members will be taken in the Post Primary (Secondary School) group as there is not as big a restriction on space with these age groups. However, new members will pay only the Athletics Ireland Registration Fee and not the full membership fee until January.

Just to reiterate, we are not taking any new members in our Primary School Group until January 2019 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 2, 2018 AT CARRICK SPORTS COMPLEX

REMEMBER THERE IS A €3 WEEKLY FEE