Finn Valley AC Achievements & Upcoming Events – January 2025

FVAC Notes 20 January 2025

Championship victories grabbed the headlines for Finn Valley over the weekend. Leading with the English Championship victory of Leah O’Gara in the U17 3k Championship in Sheffield. Beating a strong English and indeed Irish field, she showed not only great progress, but also determination to record what is a first major championship success with the English title. Her time was 16.10.46 which is an indoor pb for her and in the same race her training partner Aoife McGranaghan finished 6th in a time of 19.02.32, a vast improvement on her pb. Both these athletes will now travel at the end of this month to compete in an international competition in Guadix, Spain with Leah competing over 5k, which gives her an opportunity to improve on her recent Donegal record in Dublin. At the same meeting, Aoife will compete over 3k.

Meanwhile in Scotland at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Amy Timoney who has shown very positive form on the track in recent weeks, won the Scottish Championship U20 over 60m hurdles with a time of 9.25. Amy, a student at the Rosses Community School, has shown great attitude to her training under her coach Shauna Carlin in recent months and is fortunate to have brilliant support from her Mother, as they travel the distance from The Rosses to Finn Valley track every week.

The other athlete in competition through last week and into the weekend was Amy Greene who competed on Wednesday over a mile indoors in Dublin and on Sunday improved her time in a 1500m open race again in Dublin with a time of 4.40 getting closer as she races towards 4.30, which is an area in the 1500m that Amy is well capable of attacking.

On Saturday, Cross Country returned to what was a familiar venue many years ago, namely Templemore Sports Complex, Derry for the Ulster Masters Cross Country Championships with the top Finn Valley performance coming via Jon Jo Doherty who finished a strong second, just beaten by an athlete from Omagh. In the women’s Cross Country Masters, the Valley team of Leoni Cooke, Kay Byrne, Ita Kelly and Noreen Bonner finished 3rd to collect the bronze team medals, just 2 points adrift of the sliver which went to North Down. Topping the list for Finn Valley in this race was Leonie, who finished 3rd and she continues to post strong performances.

Looking ahead, we note the selection of Eilish Flanagan to compete for Ulster in the very well-established Armagh 5k, which happens mid-February. Eilish is currently training in South Africa and after this period of training, is planning on a 10k in Dubai on her way back home. Also in South Africa is her sister Roisin whose target in the coming months is the indoor scene. We wish them both well.

Looking forward to next Wednesday, when Finn Valley hosts the Ulster District Schools Cross Country for the 2nd year in succession which attracts a large turnout and will prove an exciting day. So, fingers crossed the weather will hold and school teams will get the opportunity to perform to their capability.

We note the launch of the Castlederg “Meet and Train” group last Sunday morning, led by Mark Connolly which attracted a very encouraging 50 plus adults. We look forward to this group developing and indeed joining in some of the local fun events in the months ahead.

Finn Valley AC is delighted to confirm that club founder and stalwart Patsy McGonagle will be inducted into the Donegal Sports Star Awards Hall of Fame. A fitting reward for a man who was a pioneer of the sport and continues to be a guiding light for athletes and coaches alike. Patsy was Irish athletics team manager for 25 years, during which time he led the cream of Irish track and field into 4 Olympic Games, 6 World Championships and 6 European Championships.

Patsy managed Ireland on a record 72 occasions. Those he led included Sonia O’Sullivan, David Gillick (who will be the special guest at the awards), Derval O’Rourke, Rob Heffernan and Mark English. In his time in charge, Ireland came home with a haul that included 2 Olympic medals, 9 World medals and 27 European medals. A graduate from St Mary’s College for Physical Education in London in 1972, Patsy never lost sight of his home county – he was the inspiration in developing the Finn Valley campus into a world class facility. The Donegal Sports Star Awards take place on January 31.

Athletes and all involved with Finn Valley are encouraged to check their current membership status as the closing date for renewal is imminent. Neil Martin is the current Registrar and is present on training nights Tuesday and Thursday to deal with enquiries, renewals and new memberships.

The Little Athletics programme continues into the new year with Ann Slevin leading out this fun introduction to athletics for children 4yrs to 7yrs. The reaction to this initiative has been very positive in recent years with the numbers continually growing. Enquiries to Ann Slevin 0868679169.