DONEGAL Masters athletes returned seven gold medals from the Irish Life Health National Masters Indoor Championships in Athlone.
Rosses AC saw Joe Joyce (pictured above) win two golds with Nicole O’Donnell and Aidan Gillespie also topping the podium, while Letterkenny AC’s Kathryn McDevitt won a pair of golds, with Lifford-Strabane AC’s Damian Crawford landing a gold too.
It was a golden day for Rosses AC as Joyce led the way. The retired Dungloe Garda sergeant lifted gold in the shot put and the weight for distance events.
Joyce won the M75 shot put with a 7.41m throw and a 5.73 attempt clinched gold in the weight for distance.
Gillespie was the gold medalist in the long jump, leaping out to 5.59m and O’Donnell was the leading competitor in the 60m sprint. O’Donnell won in 8.48 seconds.
The in-form McDevitt took two golds back to LAC, winning the 400m and the 200m races.
In the 400m, McDevitt finished in 1:05.65 to see off Orla McDonald (Templemore) and Bernadette Spillane (Moyne), while in the 200m the LAC woman sped to gold in 28.06 seconds, with McDonald second and Ashling Mathews (Blackrock) in third.
Crawford brought back gold from his category in the shot put, reaching out to 12.10 metres.
Olympian AC siblings Martin and Karen O’Donnell were silver medalists at 60m and 400m respectively.
Rosses AC woman Sinead Doogan, jumped a season’s best of 4.31, which was enough for a long jump silver medal.
Rosses AC’s Trisha Gillespie (high jump), Letterkenny AC’s Brian McBride (3000m), Letterkenny AC’s Danny Sharkey (300m walk) and Finn Valley AC’s Bosco Reid (shot put) all won silver medals.
Finn Valley AC’s Mark Connolly (1500m) Letterkenny AC’s Hugh Gallagher (3000m), Milford AC’s Anthony Gallagher (3000m) and Olympian AC’s Karen O’Donnell took bronze medals.
