Athletics Intervarsities & Thomond Games

By Eleanor Whyte

UL AC had a very successful outdoor intervarsities campaign. The hugely anticipated event was hosted by University of Ulster at the Mary Peters Track in Belfast. Standards had been set very high following a thrilling indoor intervarsities competition earlier in the year.

In the women’s event UL finished overall in second place with medals coming from Amy O’ Donoghue in the 1500m, Maeve Curley in the walk, Jessica Sheehan in the long jump and triple jump and Alana Fratteroli in the shot putt. There was also a large number of other notable performances which earned UL valuable points.

The men’s team also completed the competition in second place. Medals were picked up by Eanna Madden in the 100m and 200m, Evan Lynch in the walk, the 4x100m relay squad, the 4x400m relay squad, PJ Galvin in the high jump, Shane Howard in the triple jump and Thomas Barr in the 400m hurdles, who also set a new IUAA record in the process. Again, there were many other athletes who added points to the tally.

UL finished the intervarsities overall in second position which the whole team was extremely pleased with.

UL AC hosted the annual Thomond Games on Saturday the 25^th of April. The competition was held at the university track and was a huge success. The day’s events went very smoothly which was due to a huge amount of organising. Over 100 athletes from across the country arrived to compete. There was some magnificent performances, including those from UL AC’s own athletes. A big thank you to all who helped in sponsoring, organising etc.

This year has been massively successful for the athletics club. The information below really shows how the exceptionally hard training the athletes are putting in is certainly paying off:

– 2nd Place overall, 2nd place in men’s and 2nd place women’s teams in IUAA Indoor Varsities

– 4th Place overall, 4th place in men’s and 5th place women’s teams in IUAA Cross Country

– 5th place in men’s and 4th place women’s teams in IUAA Road Relays

– 9 UL records broken by UL athletes this year in indoor and outdoor championships

– 4 IUAA records broken by UL athletes this year in indoor and outdoor championships

– 10 Golds, 6 Silver & 8 Bronze medals won in individual performances by UL athletes this year in indoor and outdoor championships