A great day at the Connacht Cross Country in Tuam

Posted on November 9th, 2009 by Brendan

A massive crowd descended on Tuam on Sunday for the 2009 Connacht Cross Country Championships. Young runners and their supporters came from all over the West and for most of them it was their first visit to The Palace Grounds and they were unanimous in declaring that it was the best Cross Country venue they have visited.

The first races were the girls and boys U-11 event and each race contained almost 100 runners. It was a spectacular sight to see them all head off at full speed and the only comparison you could make from the sidelines is Aintree on Grand National day. Tuam AC had a team of three runners in the boys race who performed particularly well and Liam Synott was the first Tuam runner home followed by Regan Warde and Kiaran Gleeson. There were similarly large crowds in all the other races up to U-17 age group but it was a bit quieter for the U-19 races.

Darragh Finneran and Brendan Murray ran very well on Sunday for Tuam and this event was a major success for the club and the town and it could not have happened without the help of Galway County Council, The Presentation College, Sandra Fahy and The Order of Malta and a host of volunteers especially Ann Marie Miskell, Seamus Sweeney and Patricia, Nicola, Shauna and Rory Monaghan. In fact the day went so well that Tuam has now been suggested as a future venue for the All Ireland Cross Country Finals.

Great performance by Iarlaith in Connacht X Country

Posted on November 2nd, 2009 by Brendan

Iarlaith O’Rourke and his uncle Dan made the long journey to Ballinamore on Sunday morning to take part in the Connacht Cross Country championships and it was well worth their while as they put in two brilliant performances in atrocious conditions. They were both ankle deep in mud in the good parts of the course and almost knee deep in the softer parts and still managed to fly around as if they were running on an all weather surface. Iarlaith made light work of the conditions and finished in a brilliant 4th place in the Under 18 boys race and is a great prospect for the future.

Tuam Juveniles do us proud in the Cross Country

Posted on October 13th, 2009 by Brendan

Tuam AC were very well represented in the Galway County Cross Country Championships which were held in Tuam on Sun 4th Oct in the magnificent Palace Grounds. A number of our members were making their debut in the Boys U/10 race and ran extremely well. Oisin O’Rourke led the charge for Tuam and he was closely followed by Damien Finneran, Ciaran Gleeson and Hugh McDonagh.
The Boys U/12 race was a hotly contested effort and two great performances were put in by Liam Synott and Albert O’Mahony who was also making his debut in a Tuam vest and is a very promising athlete. In the Boys U/14 race Brendan Murray ran another very good race following on from his excellent performance in the National Schools Cross Country which resulted in his selection for the County Team and Darragh Finneran ran a cracker of a race despite being at least a year younger than any other runner in the field.
The final Juvenile event was the Boys U/18 race and Iarlaith O’Rourke ran a great race against very serious competition including the winner Jack Larkin of GCH who is an All Ireland medalist and sub 2 minute 800m runner. Iarlaith just missed out on a medal by finishing in 4th place but it was a great effort.

Juvenile Training Resumes

Posted on September 24th, 2009 by Brendan

Tuam AC are delighted to announce that Juvenile training takes place every Wednesday at 7pm in The Mercy Secondary School Gym, Dublin Rd. New members aged 7 yrs upwards are always very welcome every Wednesday night - just turn up on the night and give it a try. All events are covered including sprinting and middle distance running, all throwing events, High Jump and Long Jump.

The Prince is now The King

Posted on July 13th, 2009 by Brendan

Prince Abdul Wahab Momoh was officially crowned the King of All Ireland on Sunday when he became All Ireland Under 13 Javelin Champion. Abdul is a great all round sportsman who is already an All Ireland Judo champion and a very talented soccer player but he really was up against the best in the entire 32 Counties when he traveled to Tullamore on Sunday morning. Abdul’s first round throw looked very impressive from the stands but his toe just touched the throwing line and a foul was called. He made absolutely no mistake with his second throw as he unleashed a massive effort of 25.96m. That throw would eventually win the competition but we had to wait until all 6 rounds had taken place before the celebrations could start.

Tuam AC have waited a few years for victory in the All Ireland's and have been close on a number of occasions and Abdul really deserves this success as he is a dedicated sportsman and a great ambassador for Tuam. He received a great welcome home from his family on Sunday and his Mother Amina was particularly proud of his achievements.

A new PB for Nicola ...

Posted on July 13th, 2009 by Brendan

Nicola Monaghan also competed on Saturday in both the Under 19 Discus and Shot Putt and once again new records were set in both competitions by Clare Fitzgerald from Tralee, a name to look out for in future Olympics. Nicola finished 5th in both events and set a new personal best in the Discus. She also competed in the Hammer on Sunday and finished in a very impressive 4th place.

... and a new PB for Kelly

Posted on July 13th, 2009 by Brendan

The weekend started very well for Tuam AC when Kelly Gilmore made a very impressive debut in the Girls Under 14 Hammer competition on Saturday. She finished in 9th place overall and set a new personal best in a competition that was won with a new Irish Record.

Enrollment Open for Summer Camp

Posted on June 15th, 2009 by Brendan

Tuam AC are delighted to announce that they will be holding an Athletics Summer Camp for all children aged 8 – 16 years starting on Mon 6th July 2009. This camp will be held over three days from 6th –8th July from 10am – 2pm at our fantastic training venue at Toghermore Training Centre. Places will be on a first come first served basis and numbers will be limited so book early by contacting Tuam AC 085 7195032. The cost is only €25 and all events are covered. This camp was a great success last year and is highly recommended.

It's Good To Be The King (Almost)

Posted on June 15th, 2009 by Brendan

On Saturday our very own Prince was almost crowned King of Connaught when Prince Abdul Wahab Momoh of Tuam AC put in a fantastic performance at the Western Region Athletics Finals at the fabulous newly opened athletics facility at the Athlone Institute of Technology.

Abdul was competing in both the Javelin and Shot Putt after running very well earlier in the day in the 60m. He was confident going into the javelin final as he had won the County competition a few weeks ago and knew that if he finished in the top four he would be on his way to the All Ireland's. He did exactly what he needed to do as he did finish in 4th place and he then made his way over to the Shot Putt circle and with his very first throw he stormed into the lead and stayed there until the very final round when last years champion Joey Quinn of Athenry AC somehow managed to pull one final massive throw out of the bag to regain his title but Abdul was very happy with his Silver medal.

Silver Medal for Kelly

Posted on June 15th, 2009 by Brendan

Kelly Gilmore got Tuam AC off to a great start in the Western Region Athletics Finals when she took Silver in the Girls Under 14 Hammer competition. Kelly could be the next Eileen O’Keefe as she has made a great start to her career as a hammer thrower and has great technique. She has now also qualified for the All Ireland Finals which will be held in Tullamore in July and both her and Prince Abdul will be putting in some serious training over the coming weeks.

Honourable Mentions

Posted on June 15th, 2009 by Brendan

Other athletes who performed very well on Saturday and just missed out on All Ireland qualification were Hayley Hession, Laura Kilgarriff and Rory Monaghan.

Galway County Championships

Posted on May 5th, 2009 by Brendan

Tuam AC had a hectic week with athletes in action all over the country once again but first of all this week we have to mention our juvenile members who represented the club so well at the Galway Co Championships held in Dangan over the weekend.

On Saturday Rebecca Gilmore and Maria Begley represented the girls in the U9 – U11 team competition and the boys were represented by Eoin and Cian Mullins who proved it isn’t just their father Dave who is the talented athlete in the Mullins household.

Rebecca and Maria both ran very well and the top 3 teams in this event go forward to represent Co Galway in the All Ireland Finals. The Tuam girls were very unlucky not to qualify and should be very proud of their efforts as everybody at Tuam AC is. Similarly the Mullins boys put in fantastic performances competing in very large fields and getting their first taste of running in a major arena were a credit to themselves and the town with some very gutsy running and a great attitude to the sport.

On Sunday the older juveniles took part in the U12 – U19 competition and we had major successes in the individual events with Abdul Wahab taking Gold in the Boys U 13 Javelin competition and Kelly Gilmore taking Bronze in the Girls U 14 Javelin.

Nicola Monaghan took 3 Gold Medals in the Girls U 19 Shot Putt, Discus and 100m sprint. This was Nicola’s last year representing Tuam as a juvenile at County level and it is very unlikely that any other Tuam athlete has amassed as many Co Medals over the years as Nicola as she has consistently won medals in all her events over the past 10 years and we wish her well in her career as a Senior athlete.

Also performing with distinction for Tuam on Sunday against some very talented athletes including a number of All Ireland Champions from Galway, Craughwell and Athenry were Stephanie Gilmore, Hayley Hession, Darragh Finneran and Rory Monaghan. All of these athletes have a bright future in the sport.