March 13th - Weekend Roundup

Noel Carroll had one of his best runs over the country to date when he powered through the closing stages of the Irish Univerities Championships in Cork to finish in eighth place on Saturday. Noel held back during the early stages and was lying 15th at the halfway point, however he made a series of attacks over the closing kilometers and moved up to a group of three athletes battling for sixth place. Despite losing out in the sprint finish, Noel was justifiably delighted with his position, which made him second finisher for the University of Ulster, helping the team to the silver medals behind DCU. This brings Noel's cross country season to a conclusion and he now intends to prepare for the upcoming track season when he intends to tackle the 5000m.

New Coaches: Congratulations to three new coaches from the club - Niamh Lynch, Annmarie Burns and Maeve Cassidy, who completed the Assistant Coaching Course which was held in Shercock on Saturday under the direction of Athletics Ireland Regional Development Officer Eamon Harvey.

March 7th - Cavan Spring League in Shercock

The first stage of the Cavan Spring League was held for the first time on the new tartan track in Shercock today. The clubs athletes across all age groups turned out to enjoy the competition on a cool but sunny day.

RESULTS

March 6th - James Treanor Qualifies for Youth Olympics!

16 year old James Treanor made his debut in the 10km walk at the Manx Harriers Open Meet today and put in a great effort to win the race in an impressive time of 46:27 minutes. This is well inside the qualifying mark for the European Youth Olympics which are due to be held in Moscow in May. James kept a very even pace over the first 9km of the race, sticking closely to his raceplan, and then powered home on the closing lap to dip inside 46:30 at the finish. After such a promising debut at 10km, James can look forward to reducing his time further over the coming months as he prepares for the big day in Moscow. There was further cause for celebration for the Irish racewalk contingent in the Isle of Man when Kerry's Emma Prendeville also qualified for the Youth Olympics with an impressive performance in the 5km event. James and Emma are pictured below following their races.

February 27th - Ulster Juvenile Championships, Magherafelt

Shercock athletes were in top form today when the second stage of the Ulster juvenile indoor championships were held at the magnificent Meadowbank Arena in Magherafelt. Highlights on the day included gold medal winning performances by James Treanor (left, walk), Shane Duffy (60m) and Liam Kiernan (high jump). The 1500m races saw two impressive runs as both Edel Kieran and Niall Clerkin secured bronze. Blaithin Hughes won silver in the 60m hurdles while fourth place finishes were achieved by Celine Clerkin (300m) and Blaithin Hughes (60m). The day concluded with some very exciting relay events and Shercock were to the fore once again with the under 16 boys taking silver (Niall Clerkin, Senan McGeever, Ciaran O'Reilly and Ryan Rogers), the under 16 girls won bronze (Edel Kieran, Emma Duffy, Kelly Colton and Jessica Drohan) while the under 18 boys and under 12 boys finished just outside the medals in fifth and fourth respectively.

February 25th - Noel Carroll had a positive run in the Armagh International 5k today - finishing inside his personal best with a time of 15:22 for the distance.

Scottish Indoor Championships: Two Shercock athletes were in action in the Scottish juvenile indoo championships. Ryan Rogers set a personal best of 1.58m to finish fourth in the high jump. Padraig Donagh progressed to the final of the under 15 800m where he finished in fifth place.

February 13th - Irish Universities Indoor Championships

Pictured at the Irish Univerisiies Indoor Championships in Nenagh are Shercock athletes Richard Tsang and Noel Carroll (University of Ulster), Matthew O'Reilly (Carlow IT), Paul Fitzpatrick (Dundalk IT), John McGeever (coach), James Ruxton (Dublin City University), Hugh Fitzpatrick (Trinity College Dublin) and Craig Lynch (Dublin City University).

A number of Shercock athletes were in action at the Universities Indoor Championships in Nenagh at the weekend. Paul Fitzpatrick (Dundalk IT) made a return to competition after a layoff due to illness and successfully defended his indoor title, winning the 2k walk comfortably in a time of 8:52. Richard Tsang had a busy day, beginning with the triple jump where a best effort of 12.04m left him in third place. Richard also went on to finish 8th in the long jump and helped his University of Ulster team to third place in the relay. Matthew O'Reilly (Carlow IT) threw well in the shot put competition, finishing fourth with a best effort of 11.70m. James Ruxton (DCU) made it to the final of the 400m where he finished fourth in a close finish. Craig Lynch (DCU) achieved the same result in the 60m final. Noel Carroll (UU) found himself up against a strong field in the 3000m, however a very fast closing lap saw him overtake several positions to finish fifth behind race winner Liam Reale. Noel was also rewarded with a new indoor personal best of 8:53 for the distance. Hugh Fitzpatrick was in action in the weight for distance for TCD, finishing seventh with a best throw of 7.63m