Welcome return to full scale activity, with some great results secured by Mayo athletes

Tom Hunt

THE rejuvenation of almost full scale activity in 2022 was a huge factor in the resumption of the new version of normal life for Irish sporting organisations.

In athletics terms, competition is the key measure of form and more importantly success. Its absence during Covid-19 was a worrying time for sporting bodies.

Athletics thrives on competition and for young athletes in particular, the social and fun aspect of it meant they lost out on many of the formative experiences of growing up.

While Covid-19 has not gone away, it was a relief to have county, regional and national events once again.

The officials of Mayo County Board did a wonderful job in putting on track and field, cross-country and road championships during the year. They were well supported by clubs, coaches and parents, and not least by athletes themselves hungry for the spice of competitive action.

The Mayo Athletics County Board is led by an energetic committee headed by chair Peter Hynes of Swinford AC. They organised seven county competitions at various locations: cross country at Belleek, Ballinrobe and Swinford, track and field at Claremorris and Athlone TUS, and road 10k at Killasser.

Membership of Mayo's 14 clubs recovered well to pre-Covid numbers. In 2020, when the pandemic began, total membership was 2,223; it dropped to 2,114 in 2021 and rose significantly in 2022 to 2,699 (2,040 juveniles and 659 seniors and masters).

Among the Mayo clubs, Moy Valley AC dominated. The Ballina-based club had brilliant juvenile success at local, regional and national level and are now recognised as one of the leading clubs in the country. That's an amazing achievement for a club formed just six years ago.

Their success has largely been built on the contribution of coaches Philip Finnerty, Deirdre Gallagher and Sean Gallagher. Like all club officials, they are doing great work on a voluntary basis.

Lake District AC, based in Ballinrobe, is also a young club and they have done excellent development work to provide facilities for training.

There are numerous emerging successful young athletes in the county too. To name a few: Freya and Holly Renton and Padraig Corduff of Westport AC; Oisín Joyce, Aaron Crowley and Eoin Jennings of Lake District AC; Jake O'Brien, Darragh Mulrooney, Roxanne Sands and Clodagh Gill of Moy Valley AC; and Caitlin Hughes of Swinford AC.

SENIOR RANKS

In the senior ranks, Keelan Kilrehill of Moy Valley AC has had another excellent year. He ran his second successive top 10 finish in the European Cross-Country Under 23 Championships in Italy on December 11. Finishing ninth overall, Keelan led the Irish team to bronze.

Shane Bracken of Swinford AC broke the four-minute mile four times, and won national silver in the senior 1,500m race.

Hugh Armstrong (Ballina AC) ran a 63:59 half-marathon time in Ghent and a 2:14 marathon time to qualify for European Championships.

Michaela Walsh (Swinford AC) continued to amass national titles in field events; she now holds 14 titles.

Louise King (St. Colman’s South Mayo) is a multi-eventer, and she achieved five personal bests (PBs) this year.

Mayo AC were one of the leading adult clubs (they don't have a juvenile section). In 2022, 15 of their master athletes won an excellent total of 38 medals – 34 individual national, four team and two International. Among them, Pauline Moran won eight gold and broke two national records as well leading her W65 team to victory in British and Irish Masters International Cross-Country.

Fair play also to the club's 4 x 100m relay team who won national silver. They are part of an enthusiastic 'cross-party' sprinters training group led by Declan Owens (Mayo AC) and supported by experienced Sligo coach Dermot McDermott.

And what can we say about Sinéad Diver! She has had another momentous year in an amazing athletics career to date.

In July, the Belmullet native and Mayo AC member finished fifth in the Commonwealth Games Marathon in Birmingham running for her adopted Australia.

On December 4 she finished 11th in the Maratón Valencia in a personal best 2:21:34 – a new Australian record, improving her London Marathon 2019 (her previous best) by some two and a half minutes.

Her Maratón Valencia finishing time made Sinead the leading Irish woman over the distance, beating Catherina McKiernan's 2:22.23 in Amsterdam in 1998.

Sinéad Diver is an inspiration to the nation and we are all so proud of her achievements.

All of these achievements will be celebrated at the Mayo Athletics County Awards night next month.

A total of 134 awards will be presented at the Great National Hotel Ballina on January 22. They will be sponsored once again by Brendan and Julie Chambers.

The success of these annual awards are due to the continuing Trojan work of Mayo County Board PRO Marion Mattimoe (Moy Valley AC).

This evidence indicates that athletics in the county and region has thrived during this year.

We can look forward with optimism and enthusiasm to another year of sporting success in athletics in 2023.

Above all, have fun!