Fintan Walsh's weekly blog

Five All Ireland titles won in Athlone.

A small but select number of athletes from Ferrybank AC and West
Waterford AC travelled to Athlone on Sunday last for the All Ireland
junior and u 23 Indoor Championships and they came away with five
titles, four for Ferrybank AC and one for West Waterford AC.  Three of
the Ferrybank winners were in the under 23 grade and Thomas Barr
excelled in winning a very competitive 400 metres in a personal best
of 47.41 seconds, the race was one of the best of the championships,
Sean Archer captured the triple jump with a distance of 13.44 metres
and Shane O'Dwyer won the high jump with a jump of two metres. In the
junior grade the Murphy sisters Sorcha and Neasa both jumped the same
height of 1.68 metres in the high jump with Sorcha the winner on fewer
faults and for Neasa who was second it was a personal best and a
qualifying standard for the European Youth Olympics later this year.
For West Waterford AC Thomas Houlihan won the u 23 Pole Vault with
4.60 metres and Clare Collins was third in the high jump in the same
grade with 1.55 metres

Joe has Master's treble and record.

Joe Gough the ageless West Waterford AC athlete was in excellent form
at the All Ireland Masters Indoor Championships in Athlone on Saturday
last. Competing in the over 60 grade he had a treble winning the 200
metres in 27.81,the 400 metres in 60.57 and the 800 metres in a new
Irish record in that age group with 2 minutes 15.61 seconds some 6
seconds faster that the old record. Another athlete in record breaking
form was Tom O'Brien Waterford AC who set a new record in the over 45
high jump with 1.70 metres he also won the long jump.Other Waterford
AC results were as follows; Susan Dullaghan 1 st 400 metres o 35 and
second in 200 metres, Mary B Ryan Jennings 1st in over 60  Long Jump
and second in the 800,1500 and 3000 metres,Brendan Leahy 2nd in the
200 and 400 over 35 and Diane Behan 3 rd in the o 40 400 metres.Terri
Gough West Waterford AC won the 200 and 400 metres and was second in
the 60 metres o 60..

Munster Juvenile Indoors

Lots if medals were won by athletes from Waterford at the Munster
under 9 to 13 indoors in Nenagh on Saturday and Sunday last. For
Waterford AC  Jack Corcoran Waterford AC won the 500 metres u 9 and
Lydie Rowe the 60 metres u 9, silver medal winners were Jack Corcoran
u 10  60 metres and long jump, Victory Eddie u 11 60 metres, Shane
Cawley u 12 shot putt and bronze medals were won by Cathal Scanlon u
12 shot putt and Sarah Jacob u 12 shot putt and Evan Hayes 60 metres u
11 (b) race. For Ferrybank AC Tom Gallagher won the u 13 long jump,
Rachel Walsh the u 11 long jump, silver medal winners were Tom
Gallagher high jump u 13, David Igwe  60 metres u 9 and Paula Igwe
long jump u 11 and Tom Gallagher was third in the 60 metres hurdles,
for Tramore AC Tom Halley was third in the u 9 60 metres.

Aisling wins Munster Schools title

Many athletes from Waterford schools participated in the  AVIVA
Munster Secondary schools Cross Country Championships in WIT Campus in
Carriganore on Thursday last and quite a few were very much to the
fore in the honours list. The ultra consistent Aisling Quinn led from
the start to easily win the intermediate title, Orna Murray finished
second in the senior grade and Molly Hutchinson was third in the minor
all three from Ursuline Convent Waterford and Hannah Power Ard Scoil
na nDeise was also third in the junior race. Fourth placings went to
Miceal Power St Augustine's Junior and Emma Hallahan do minor. Other
high placings were had by Shane O'Brien St Declan's Kilmacthomas 5 th
in minor race, Sinead Flynn St Augustine's again 5 th in Intermediate
grade, Sean Curran Dungarvan CBS was 6 th in the Intermediate,   . St
Augustine's won the junior girls team title and were second in the
inter girls and third in the junior boys, Ursuline were second in the
senior girls and third in the Inter girls, Ard Scoil were second in
the junior girls, De La Salle second in junior boys and Blackwater CS
Lismore were third at senior level. The course was a demanding one but
after heavy rain it was in fact a real cross country course and all
involved ensured a smooth running of the event. Sincere thanks to
Management and staff at WIT for providing the excellent facility and
to Tom O'Brien for his input into the track design, as usual the Order
of Malta were on hand and very much appreciate

 Harty wins Anne Valley 5 in record time.

A record entry of over 500 competed in the 7 th Annual Anne Valley 5
miles in Dunhill on Saturday last in excellent weather conditions and
Philip Harty West Waterford set a new course record with a pillar to
post win in 25 minutes 9 seconds. Sandis Bralitis his club mate was
second in 25.46, Bryan Murphy Carrick on Suir was third in 26.33 and
Noel Murphy from Dunhill was fourth in 27.46. Sylvia Malone Waterford
AC was first lady home in 31.05, Maebh Savage Tramore was second in
33.40, Joan Mahony  Waterford AC was third in 33.54 and Kate Nolan do
4th in 33.58. There were competitors from many parts of Ireland, a
large group from Clayton Hrs in England led by John Roche who has
strong Waterford connections and two from Texas USA. Tyler and Keren
Herrera who stayed a few days in The cottage in Dunhill. Official
starter for the event was Jim Harney Dunhill and many voluntary bodies
and individuals helped out in a very enjoyable and successful event
spearheaded by Trish Quinn. Proceeds went to Jack and Jill Foundation
and Waterford Hospice.

Irish Universities Indoor Championships

On Friday February 1 st the Irish Universities Indoor Championships
were in Athlone and athletes from Waterford clubs were very much to
the forefront competing for various Universities and Institutes of
Technologies around the country. The following won their events; Niamh
Whelan UL 200 metres in 24.42 seconds, Sorcha Murphy do High Jump 1.65
metres, Thomas Barr do 400 metres  47.77 seconds, Sean Archer WIT
Triple Jump 13.82 metres, James Ledingham UL was second in the  800
metres in 1.53.48, Niamh Whelan also second in the 60 metres in 7.57,
Laura Behan DCU was third in 3000 metres, as were Clare Collins UL in
the high jump , Lisa Houlihan NUIM in the pole vault, Tom Boucher UCD
in the 16 kg weight and Shane O'Dwyer WIT in the high jump. Athletes
competing for WIT  from other counties were David Hynes first in 60
Metres, Aoife Bartley second in Triple Jump.

All Ireland Seniors this week end

The new arena in Athlone is the venue on Saturday and Sunday next for
the All Ireland Senior Indoor Championships which begin on Saturday at
1 pm and on Sunday at 2 pm .All Ireland's top athletes will be
inaction including many from Waterford clubs. It promises to be a top
class event and a number of athletes from Waterford are expected to
figure prominently.

Road Races

On Saturday next the Mt Juliet Half Marathon,10 KM and 3 KM will be a
big attraction the fixture gets under way at 11.30 am full details on
their website.

Neasa Juvenile All Star for 2012

Athletics Ireland are delighted to announce the Juvenile All-Stars for
2012 as selected by the Juvenile Competition Committee.The awards
ceremony which is sponsored by Tipperary Crystal will be held in the
Tullamore Court Hotel on Saturday next 16 th February. An athlete from
each of the thirty two counties will receive an award based on their
performances during 2012 and the Waterford winner is Neasa Murphy
Ferrybank AC a native of Dunhill whose main event is the high jump,
congratulations to Neasa.

County Board meeting

Next County Board meeting will be in De La Salle College Waterford on
Monday next February 18 th at 8 pm all clubs asked to be represented.