O’Neill the star as Donegal sees long-awaited return of combined events

FINN O’Neill of Lifford-Strabane AC laid down the biggest marker as competitive athletics resumed on Bank Holiday Monday.

For the first time in a long number of years – in fact, a period spanning back decades – the Donegal Athletics Board, held a Combined Events competition.

Lifford-Strabane AC’s Finn O’Neill was one of the day’s star turns at the Finn Valley AC complex in Stranorlar.

O’Neill took the under-17 boys title, collecting 3402 points along the way.

O’Neill’s 14-seconds for the 100m hurdles got him underway before efforts of 1.7m (high) and 5.77m (long) in the jumps.

With a 5kg shot, O’Neill reached out to 12.13m before rounding off with a 4:33.6 effort in the 800m.

O’Neill, certainly, is one to keep an eye on for national events.

Led with a 12.6-second 75m hurdles, Emily Kelly of Finn Valley bagged the gold in the under-14 girls competition, while Amy Timoney had the edge on Finn Vally team-mate Riona Doherty in the under-14 girls.

Cranford’s Caolan McFadden edged Tir Chonaill’s Conor McCahill in the under-15 boys competition, a 2:09.2 800m securing the gold for McFadden.

There was just a solitary point in the under-16 boys grade, with Shay O’Halloran inching out his Tir Chonaill AC colleague Eoin Boyle. O’Halloran made the difference over 800m, soaring away with a 2:25.8 attempt to secure a wafer-thin margin of victory, 1759 points to Boyle’s 1758.

O’Halloran had also bagged significant points with a 11.18m throw in the shot and he had a  marginally further long jump, too.

The day proved a big hit with competitions all the way up to masters, where Finn Valley AC’s Ciara Kearns – the coach having watched some of her own prospects perform well – finished her first pentathlon in 21 years, recording a shot put PB on the way to 2506 points.

RESULTS

U14 girls

1 Emily Kelly (Finn Valley AC) 2163 points

2 Alanah Anderson (Tir Chonaill AC) 1915 points

3 Katie Elliott (Letterkenny AC) 1865 points

U14 boys

1 Mark Wilkinson (Finn Valley AC) 1578 points

2 Daire Herron (Finn Valley AC) 1493 points

3 Stephen Slevin (Finn Valley AC) 1086 points

U15 girls

1 Amy Timoney (Finn Valley AC) 2784 points

2 Riona Doherty (Finn Valley AC) 2646 points

3 Emer McFadden (Lifford-Strabane AC) 2335 points

U15 boys

1 Caolan McFadden (Cranford AC) 2282 points

2 Conor McCahill (Tir Chonaill AC) 2137 points

3 Jamie Kennedy (Tir Chonaill AC) 1884 points

U16 girls

1 Jessica Cullen (Cranford AC) 1491 points

U16 boys

1 Shay O’Halloran (Tir Chonaill AC) 1759 points

2 Eoin Boyle (Tir Chonaill AC) 1758 points

3 Eogan Farren (Letterkenny AC) 1069 points

U17 girls 

1 Emma Price (Letterkenny AC) 1712 points

2 Teresa Mullen (Cranford AC) 1448 points

U17 boys

1 Finn O’Neill (Lifford-Strabane AC) 3402 points

2 Fintan Dewhirst (Tir Chonaill AC) 2820 points

3 Daniel McHugh (Finn Valley AC) 2608 points

 

U18 girls

1 Lucy McGlynn (Tir Chonaill AC) 2800 points

2 Rachel Gallagher (Tir Chonaill AC) 2478 points

U18 boys

1 Oisin Thompson (Finn Valley AC) 2242 points

2 Oran McMenamin (Cranford AC) 1347 points

U19 boys

1 Shane Breslin (Tir Chonaill AC) 1384 points

Senior ladies

1 Kathy Bannigan (Finn Valley AC) 488 points

Senior men

1 Chris Kearns (Killybegs AC) 2261 points

2 Mark McBrearty (Omagh Harriers) 1929 points

Masters ladies 35

1 Ciara Kearns (Finn Valley AC) 2506 points

Masters ladies 55 

1 Tina Gallagher (OMG Fermanagh) 1745 points

Masters men 35

1 Martin Mooney (Inishowen AC) 2012 points

Tags: