Congratulations to Amy Greene who was awarded the Northern Ireland & Ulster u17 Mountain Running Athlete of the Year 2019.
Congratulations also to Helen McCready who secured a National Senior Medal when she represented Donegal at the Irish Life National Senior Inter Counties, which is the top national cross country race.
Helen had an outstanding race and get herself inside the top 30 of the best runners in the country and not only that but make herself a scoring member of the Donegal team of Teresa McGloin, Nikita Burke & Claire McGuigan in getting Team Bronze for Donegal at the National Senior 8k XC.
We had 5 Juveniles competing in Dublin at the Irish Life Juvenile Even Age Cross Country at Sport Ireland Campus at Abbottstown with strong performances from all.
First up in the U12 Girls was Faela Houston competing out of her age group but representing Donegal. Faela showed why she received the Junior Athlete of the Year when she finished middle of the field in a very large field.
In the U12 Boys Leighton Greene who was also out of his age group but representing Donegal and on the back of receiving his club award ran a smart race and performed better than expected finishing 68th out of large field of 172 to be the 4th counter for the Donegal team again just missing out on medals.
In the U14 Boys Tiernan Rodgers continues to improve and get better with every race as he has really dug into training and achieved results way beyond expectation this year.
In the U16 Girls Amy Green went toe to toe with the best across Ireland and was to again show that she continues to improve and is now considered among the top athletes in her age group. Amy was to mix with the leaders in the early stages of the 4000m race and while the top 3 separated there was a real battle behind and Amy ensures she claimed a top 10 place and secured a top 12 All Ireland medal as well as claiming a gold medal as a scorer for the Ulster team in the provincial competition.
In the U18 Boys Kieran Glackin was the surprise package to make the Donegal team having only really started training in late August but has shown that through hard work you can achieve your goals. In front of his proud parents Kieran got to experience the magnificence of having the honour to represent your county at the All Ireland’s and stuck to his strategy to start steady and work through the field.
The club were also fortunate to have had two coaches acting as county managers with Michael Logue looking after the u12 girls and Ben McGonagle looking after the u16 girls. Well done to all the athletes who took part in the Donegal U13 & U15 Sportshall trials at Aura Letterkenny. Another trial is due to be held potentially on Friday evening December 13th.
The club recently held it Juveniles Presentation Night and after a hugely successful year for our juveniles it was time to party and give out some awards and medals to recognise the great improvements and successes made by the club in 2019.
The club has gone from strength to strength and that comes primarily from the athletes, parents and coaches buying into what the club is trying to achieve. It was brilliant to see 100+ Juveniles taking to the dance floor along with coaches and parents – great friendships and great memories.
DJ Jack Frost kept the floor hopping in between the coaches handing out awards. Well done to all the winners of awards and medals on the night and also to the overall winners of the athletes of the year.
A special mention to all our coaches who were recognised and our Coach of the Year winner – Kathleen McGonagle. The night was rounded off by recognising the contributions of Leanne Sharkey over many years.
