The East Mayo Athletics Club took part in their first Connacht Indoor Championships recently and it’s fair to say they certainly made their presence felt with a number of their athletes turning in excellent personal performances in their respective events where the standard of competition was extremely high indeed.
The under-12 girls relay team which comprised of Siofra McGuinness, Sophie Tiernan, Kayleigh Casey and Emily Higgins ran a terrific race and finished a very respectable seventh overall, clocking a fine time in the process. The under-12 boys relay team made up of Brian Egan, Harry Dooney and the Breheny twins Sean and Danny were no less impressive as they too, acquitted themselves very well in the face of some very stiff competition.
In the individual events, all the athletes did the club proud with their performances indicating they were very comfortable competing at this elite level. Hats off to Mark Lowther who run a great race in the under-16 800 metres knocking eight seconds off his personal best, finishing in fourth place and qualifying for the national finals which was a splendid achievement overall.
Cliona Cullen had a marvellous afternoon setting new personal bests in the 60 and 600 metres events and finished a magnificent second in the 600 metres final securing the silver medal and qualifying for the national finals proper which was some performance on a great day for her, her family and the club.
Well done also to Sophie, Sean and Siofra who run with great credit in their respective events in what was their first time taking part in an indoor competition as all three set new personal bests and are sure to build on this potential with a view to progressing and improving even further in the weeks and months ahead. Harry Dooney came first in his 60 metre heat, finishing sixth in the final just 0.36 seconds behind the overall winner and setting a new personal best in the process. Danny Breheny came second in his 600 metres heat and will no doubt build improve on this in the weeks and months ahead.
Lucia McDonnell set a new personal best in her 600 metres race knocking 3 seconds off her previous best. Robyn Ní Tuataigh also had a great championship setting new bests in the 60m, 600m and long jump respectively which indicates the depth of her talents and versatillity.
Dean Beirne set new bests in the 60m and long jump as did Rachael Beirne and Olivia Beirne with both knocking a second off their Mayo 60m times. A terrific day for the East Mayo Athletics Club at their inaugural Connacht Indoor Championships as they really caught the eye with some stellar performances across a wide range of events and disciplines.
The club is really on the rise and has made huge strides in a short period of time with the manner of these performances giving all in the club a real flip as they strive to maintain and build on the wonderful progress they have made since their inception just over a year ago.