It was quality over quantity for the relatively small group of Westport athletes who took home eight golds, four silvers and three bronze medals from the Connacht Indoor Championships in Athlone over the weekend of February 28th to March 1st.

In total 14 Westport athletes qualified to go on to compete at the All-Ireland Indoor Championships, which will take place at the world class AIT indoor arena over March 21, 22 and 28th.

The under 12 and 13 boys and girls were the first to compete on Saturday, February 28th.  Malcolm MacEvilly ran a blistering 1 minute 44 seconds in the under 13 boys 600m, winning by a margin of over six seconds.  He was joined in that race by his team-mates Con McNamara and Harrison Quinn, both of whom ran strong races to finish well up the field of 25 competitors.  Malcolm then went on to take gold in the under 13 boys high jump with a jump of 1.30m with Con McNamara putting in a very strong challenge in only his second competitive high jump chance.  

In the Under 12 events, Westport boys and girls put in strong performances across a range of events. Conal Dawson and Sean Heaney both ran well under 2 minutes for their 600 m race – personal bests for two great competitors.  Niall McLoughlin and Danny Brennan sprinted well in their races and also competed in the jumps.  Harry Sheridan took a silver medal in the under 12 shot put with a throw of 6.91m and the under 12 girls quartet of Katie O’Grady, Sophie Scahill, Abbey McGreal and Niamh Reilly competed strongly across 600m, 60m, long jump and relays.

It was the turn of the older age-groups from under 14 to senior on Sunday, March 1st.  From early in the programme, Westport Athletic Club’s older juveniles showed their class.  Aaron Doherty took gold in the boys under 16 1500m in a fast time of 4:22, followed by his team-mate Cian McAllister in second.  Eoghan McLaughlin won the boys under 17 1500m, also posting a very competitive 4:23, followed by his team-mate Alex O’Riain in 5th place.  Running mates Sorcha McAllister and Aoife O’Brien both won their 1500 m races in under 18 and under 17 respectively.  Aoife went on to take gold in the under 17 800m and Sorcha took second in the under 18 race.  The U16 girls saw a good performance from Emma Murphy in the 200m. In the U15 boys 800m Sean Doherty ran a fine race. In the U15 girls walk Sarah Staunton came home in second place taking silver. Saoirse O’Brien took the lead from the gun in her under 14 800m and stayed in pole position to the tape.   In the under 14 boys, Ethan Lloyd, who only started to run last September finished a very credible fourth place in the 800m.  He was joined in that race by Cillian Heaney, Rossa McAllister, Ronan O’Donnell, Oisin Ryall and Tim Campion. Kian Moore ran well in the sprints in that age group. The U14 girls saw some great performances and PBs for Eimear Corduff, Ella Staunton and Kitty Harburn

Westport athletes were also strong in the field events.  Adam Sheridan took gold in the boys under 14 shot put(2.72kg) with a stunning throw of 11.58m, more than 2m ahead of second place. Kate O’Malley took the title in the under 16 event(3kg) with a fine throw of 9.52kg, 1.6m ahead of the silver medal winner.  At the long jump pit, Oisin Ryall took bronze in the under 14 competition with a jump of 4.20m and Aishling Halpin-Fahy finished third in the under 15 event with 4.17m.  Finally, Aishling was joined by her team-mates Anna O’Riain, Sarah Staunton and Saoirse O’Brien(running out of age) to take 3rd in the under 15 girls relay.

Our senior athletes were well represented by Cain Moore who ran his heart out in both the mens 100m and 200m races.


Click HERE for Connacht Results

Click HERE for Timetable Weekend 1 Saturday 21st March
Click HERE for Timetable Weekend 1 Sunday 22nd of march
Click HERE for Timetable Weekend 2 Saturday 28th of March