Both of the Finn Valley AC teams will compete in finals of the National League after a fine day off action in Tullamore on Saturday.
The Finn Valley AC women ended up in fifth spot, on a combined 170 points, and will take their spot in the Premier League final while the men’s team will go to the Division 1 final.
Amy Greene was second in the 1500m, clocking 4:44.76 and beaten only by St Abbans AC’s Emily O’Shea, who won in 4:40.84.
Amy Timoney won her 100m hurdles heat in 14.65 seconds and was the second quickest in the event. Timoney was also fifth in her 100m heat in 12.59 seconds.
In the 1500m walk, Leah O’Gara – who has already qualified for the European U18s – also gained 15 points after coming home in second. O’Gara clocked 6:51.41 and was beaten by Dundrum South Dublin’s Ciara Wilson Bowen, who won in 6:34.85.
Bridget McDyer threw to 6.17m to come second in the weight for distance and McDyer also placed fourth in the shot, throwing to a best distance of 9.04m.
In the long jump, Katie Louise McMonagle touched the sand at 5.07m for third overall.
Sally McMenamin took third spot in the 2000m steeplechase, going 7:41.62.
Nuala Bose, who represented Finn Valley earlier in the year at the European Champion Clubs Cup Cross Country in Portugal, was fourth in the 3000m in 10:20.55.
Jacqueline Heaps threw to 15.40 for sixth in the hammer while she went to 6.83m for 12th in the javelin.
In the 400m hurdles, Erin Sproule was fifth in her heat in 1:16.23 to take 10 points for her team.
The Finn Valley AC women placed sixth in their 4x100m relay heat as Amy Timoney, Katie Louise McMonagle, Erin Sproule and Sally McMenamin finished in 53.94 seconds.
In the high jump, the returning-to-action Laura Doherty got over at 1.25m to add valuable points to the tally and Doherty also competed in the discus, reaching 14.72m to finish eighth.
It was a sixth-place finish for the Finn Valley AC men’s team, who amassed 163.5 points.The men’s side was led by a superb showing by Oisin Toye. Dogged, determined and gutsy, Oisin took victory – and maximum 17 points – in the men’s 5000m, finishing in 15:06.00.
Oisin had to show all of his might to stave off Ben Guiden from Clonliffe who was just 0.73 of a second behind in second as the pair crossed the finish line.
Not long in competitive action, John O’Connor Donoghue came second in the 1500m walk, finishing in 8:24.41. Conor Breslin was third in the hammer, going out to 42.28. Ciaran McCarroll was third in his heat and fifth fastest overall in the 800m, finishing in 1:54.82.
Paraic McGettigan was sixth in the 3000m steeplechase, crossing the line in 10:44.15, and Gradie Luhuta jumped 5.70m for sixth in the long jump.
Luhuta also competed in the high jump, clearing 1.65m to come joint seventh.
The men’s 4x400m team of Odhran Rodgers, Mark Kearns, Odhran McBrearty and Ciaran McCarroll clocked 3:30.72 for fourth in their heat.
The men’s 4x100m team came fifth in their heat with Ace Rodriguez, Noah Beales, Gracie Luhuta and Cormac Canning going around in 46.62 seconds.
Noah Beales was fourth in his 200m heat in 23.70 seconds. Mark Kearns finished the 1500m in 4:07.71 to come ninth in the race and add eight points to the FV total.
Odhran Rodgers was fourth in his 400m heat in 53.51 seconds while Ace Rodriguez was seventh in his 100m in 11.81 seconds.
In the javelin, Clive Heaps had a best of 35.28m for an eight-place finish and he threw to 9.39m to come 11th in the shot.
Gerard Doherty was 10th in the weight for distance, going to 3.86m and 11th in the discus, firing out to 18.34m.
A massive thank you and well done to all athletes who donned the blue and white vest.
Finn Valley AC athlete Arlene Crossan was in Spain in the middle of last week.
Arlene won the 400m at Meeting Internacional Ciudad de Málaga, clocking 53.18 seconds – just outside of her FVAC club record of 53.11. That comes just a few days after Arlene lowered the Donegal 200m record when finishing in 24.11 seconds in Belfast.
Well done to Finn Valley AC athlete Ella Brennan who competed at the prestigious Tailteann Games in Carlow at the weekend. In the intermediate girls 200m, Ella – who is a student at Loreto Secondary School in Letterkenny – placed seventh in 26.55 seconds.
There was delight for some Finn Valley AC athletes at the National Children’s Games in Tullamore.
Finn Valley AC boys won gold in the U9 relay. Congrats to Senan Healy, Donagh Cunningham, Louie Martin, Adam McHugh with subs Eoghan McFadden and Caeden McGinty.
There was also gold for Rhea Moy and Malia Griffin, who won the u10 girls 500m.
Eoin Callaghan and Jude Martin finished second in the 60m and Louie Martin and Senan Healy won bronze in the U9 long jump.
Finn Valley AC duo Lara Coulter and Eva Henderson came sixth in turbo javelin.
There was double delight on Sunday at the Jog For Joe 5k. Finn Valley AC athlete Gerard Gallagher was the outright winner of the race. Gerard clocked 16:14 for victory. His partner Leoni Cooke, who is also a FVAC athlete, was the first woman home in 18:15.
Finn Valley AC athlete Roisin Flanagan was in action in the early hours of Monday in the USA.
In the women’s 5000m at the Portland Track Festival, Roisin placed third in 15:45.76.
Finn Valley AC’s Oisín Ó Gailín competed in the BAA 10k in Boston. On a warm morning in Boston, Oisín finished in 29:58.
Finn Valley AC lad Shay McHugh was the first junior at Sunday’s Strabane 5k, going a personal best of 19:44.