Athenry AC had a large number of participants involved in the Community Games National Finals held in AIT Athlone on the 20th & 21st August.

On Day 1, first up was Daniel Regan in the Boys U14 Shot Putt with a throw of 9.78M. This was good enough for 9th place.

Grace Cahill was next up in the Girls U14 Long Jump and with a best jump of 4.03M she also finished in 9th position.

Aubrey O'Brien began his weekend's work with a first place finish in his heat of the U10 60M Hurdles. Our final athlete on day one was Evan Quirke in the Boys U14 Long Jump, with 5 of his 6 jumps over 5M and breaking his personal best 4 times during the event. Evan took home his first National Title and the Gold Medal with a new PB of 5.34M.

On Day 2 Mac Murphy was first up with the Boys U16 high jump. Mac finished the high jump with a best jump of 1.50M and 10th place, this finish is also more remarkable given he will still be eligible to compete for the next 2 years in the high jump competition.

Alysha Woods represented Cummer in the Girls U12 100M. Alysha made it to the semi-final but after a slip at the start she was unable to close the gap to get into the qualifying positions. Lorna Hannon was next up in the 7K Marathon, finishing 23rd in the Girls competition and with her team-mates Maebh Brannigan (NBT) in 3rd & Laura Porter (Carrabane)22nd this was good enough to take the pewter medal (4th) for the Galway Team.

Aubrey O’Brien started day 2 by winning his Semi final of the U10 hurdles. In the final he led from the whistle to take home the gold medal, to the cheers of a large group of Athenry supporters in the crowd. Orlaith McGrath representing Bullaun / New Inn made it to the Girls U16 100M final. She ran well but finished outside the medal positions. Eilis Hynes competed well in the U16 girls discus to also finish in the top 10.

In the Relays Athenry AC had Brandon McMenamin representing Claregalway / Lackagh in the Boys U12 4x100M. Brandon ran the 3rd leg in the final; when he received the baton they were in 6th place and by the time he had handed over the baton he made up 2 places, when they crossed the line they had 2nd place and the silver medal.

Emily McMenamin representing Claregalway / Lackagh in the Girls U14 4x100M made it to the final. The team ran well to finish 7th in a very competitive final.

Other Athenry AC members involved in the weekend included Finola Kelly, who, representing Oranmore Maree in the U11 Mixed Basketball picked up a gold medal with her team. Siobhan McGrath picked up a silver medal playing with Bullaun / New Inn in the U14 Camogie.

A special word of thanks to Dermot McNamara & Martin Hynes of Athenry AC who ran extra training sessions for the athletes that had qualified for the National Finals.