Letterkenny Athletic Club Notes



The tremendous form shown by Letterkenny AC athletes, since the start of the cross country season 6 weeks ago, was shown again on Sunday in the Uster Novice Cross Country Championship. The LAC men’s team made light work of the heavy mud at the Finn Valley Centre. They picked up team gold. Dan King was 3rd overall and the 1st LAC counter. He showed his loyalty to the club by making the long trip from Dublin, where he now lives and works. Club captain, Raymond Birch, whose hard work on behalf of the club had been recognised at the Awards’ night on Friday, had an excellent run and finished 4th. Marathon specialist, Ciaran McGonagle, was 5th. Gerard McGranaghan had a fine run and his 9th place gave the 4 man counting team a total of 21 points, which ensured victory.
Pauric Breslin, Kevin McGee and the evergreen James McBride played an important role, giving superb back up to the 4 counters.
Deirdre Diver had a very strong run in the women’s Novice race and earned a top 10 finish. The winner of the men’s race was Monaghan Town’s Eskander Turki, with Eniskillen’s Edel Monaghan taking the honours in the women’s race.
Paul Toner continued his consistent form in the Letterkeny parkrun. He finished in 3rd place in Saturday’s 5K in a time of 20.00. Paul was 1st in the M40 category. Cathal Roarty’s time of 25.01 earned him 2nd place in the M50 age group. Peter McLean, running the event for the 57th time, ran 26.25 to finish 4th in the M55 category. Jimmy Gildea was the first runner in the M65 age group in 33.55.
Irish long distance racing legend, John Treacy, was the guest speaker at Friday night’s Annual Awards’ Dinner in Arena 7. The MC on the night, Martin Gormley, did an excellent job of interviewing John Treacy and eliciting some very interesting responses. He outlined some key events in his highly successful career. Treacy specifically mentioned the 1979 World Cross Country Championship in Limerick, which he won. He said he felt pressure as the race was in Ireland. In addition, he was the defending champion, having emerged victorious 12 months earlier on a notoriously difficult, mud splattered course in Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park.
The award winners were:
Male Cross Country. Karol Duggan
Male Track. Danny Mooney
Male Road. Eoghain McGinley
Male Athlete of the Year. Danny Mooney.
Most Improved Male. Eoin Hughes
Masters’ Male. Ciaran Doherty
Female Cross Country. Nakita Burke/Noeleen Scanlan
Female Track. Annmarie McGlynn
Female Road. Catriona Jennings
Female Athlete of the Year. Annmarie McGlynn
Most Improved Female. Nakita Burke
Masters’ Female. Fionnuala Diver
Best Newcomer. Ciaran McGonagle
‘Nifty at 50’. Martin Gormley
Performance of the Year. Annmarie McGlynn, winner of women’s 10K in Dublin in June. Annmarie was the first of 33,000 runners in a time of 33.55.
Captain’s Award. Men’s 10K team who won bronze medals in the National 10K- Danny Mooney, Eoghain McGinley, Darren McBrearty, Ivan Toner.
Team of the Year. National Road Relay Team that won gold in the women’s masters’ relay race in Raheny. The team, which comprised Monica McGranaghan, Irene McFadden and Monica McGranaghan, set a new course record.
Junior Award. Donal Farren
Club Person of the Year. Raymond Birch.
Louise Finnegan announced during the week that the magnificent sum of €7,227.30 had been raised, in memory of her husband Leo, for the Donegal Hospice. Louise expressed her thanks to “everyone who participated in the 5K and to everyone who donated food on the night, to LAC who came out in huge numbers and to Terence Diver and his team from Hyundai.”
                                      Hugh Gallagher.
                                            LAC PRO.


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