GARETH Crawford of Lifford-Strabane AC broke the Donegal record to take bronze at the Manchester International – where Donegal athletes returned four medals.
Eleven Donegal athletes were a part of the NI & Ulster team competing with Sommer Lecky of Finn Valley AC taking gold and bronze collected by Crawford, Ryan Canning (Letterkenny AC) and Cara Laverty (Finn Valley AC).
Crawford took the bronze in the men’s javelin, setting a new PB and Donegal record of 67.46m at the Manchester Regional Arena.
The event was won by Daniel Bainbridge’s 73.53m throw with the silver going to Joe Dunderdale, who had a best of 72.58m
In late July, Crawford went beyond 67m for the first time in winning the Ulster Senior title. His 67.20m throw in Belfast represented a significant new mark.
However, Crawford bested that record again today and his graph continues to go upwards.
Lecky returned to winning ways to take gold in the women’s high jump.
The former World U20 silver medalist got over for a season’s best of 1.78m.
The Finn Valley AC woman staved off old foe Pippa Rogan, who had a best of 1.75m with Zara Tyas third (1.72m).
Letterkenny AC’s Canning stormed to third in the U20 400m hurdles.
Canning was the Irish U19 gold medalist earlier this month, took a fine bronze in 58.75 seconds.
Ryan Canning with his bronze medal in Manchester
The race was won by George Seary with Onyekachukwu Okoh in second.
Laverty was the bronze medalist in the U20 800m.
Laverty was a double gold medalist in the 800m and 1500 and the Irish Juvenile Championships and the Finn Valley AC woman took third in Manchester, coming with a strong finish to cross the line in 2:12.47.
Laverty recently broke Noelle Harron’s 1988 Finn Valley AC record over 800m when she ran 2:09.30 in Belfast.
Her finish here might have been higher had she not got caught in a roadblock midway through the race.
Ryan Canning, Sean McGinley, Hannah Murray and Cara Laverty in Manchester
Lifford-Strabane AC duo Adrienne Gallen and Cormac O’Donnell had fourth-placed finished in their respective hammer events.
Gallen went out to 50.77m in the U20 women’s grade, while O’Donnell had a furthest throw of 50.79m in the U20 men’s competition.
Finn Valley’s James Kelly was fourth in the senior men’s shot, a best of 16.69m not enough to get among the medals, with the bronze going the way of Youcef Zatat (17.13m)
Brendan O’Donnell reached out to a best of 58.62m in the senior event to finish fifth and Finn Valley’s Lauren Callaghan was fifth in the U20 long jump, leaping to a best of 5.35m.
Lifford-Strabane AC duo Cormac O’Donnell and Adrienne Gallen in Belfast
Sean McGinley bagged three golds at the Irish Juveniles, winning 800m, 1500m and 3000m steeplechase in the last couple of weeks. In Manchester, a strong charge in the U20 1500m looked as if it might yield a medal, but he was edged out of the medal positions, finishing sixth in 4:09.50.
There was a team bronze for the NI&Ulster 4x400m relay team, which included Finn Valley’s Hannah Murray.
Finn Valley AC’s John Rogan was also with the Ni & Ulster team as a coach.
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