Galway's senior track & field athletes had a successful day out at the National Track & Field League Final in Tullamore yesterday with the men's team taking home the bronze medals in division one, while the Ladies battled hard for a creditable 7th place finish.

Galway’s athletes put in a series of admirable performances, finishing at least as well as expected in virtually every event, and better than expected in many. In the end only two points separated Galway in 3rd on 109 points from St. Abban’s of Laois in 2nd with 111 points, with Ballymena & Antrim taking the win a further 5 points in front on 116 points.

On the men’s side Galway had winners in Sean Breathnach in the shot putt and 56lbs for distance, Igor Muntean in the high jump, Mindaugas Kurcenkovas in the javelin and Paul McNamara in the 5000m. William Finnegan took 2nd in a personal best performance in the long jump, finished 3rd in the triple jump and 5th in the 110m hurdles. Daniel Loughnane put in a strong performance over 400m for 2nd and took 5th place in the 400m hurdles.

Gregor Toohey had a busy day equalling his PB when finishing 4th in the pole vault, running a lifetime best for 4th in the 200m and taking 6th in the 100m. In the distance events Eddie Costello place 5th in the 800m, Seamus Gilhooley claimed 4th in the 1500m and Darragh O’Brien took 4th in the steeplechase. Brendan Monaghan took two 5th places in the 3000m walk and the hammer, while Michael Breathnach took 4th in the discus on his debut for the county team. The 4x100m quartet of Michael Breathnach, Daniel Loughnane, Gregor Toohey and William Finnegan finished 4th, while the 4x400m team of Loughnane, Toohey, Finnegan and Eddie Costello also took 4th.

On the Ladies side Maeve Curley was Galway’s top finisher on the day with an excellent 2nd place in the 1500m walk. Katelyn Duane had a strong sprint double with 3rd in the 100m and 4th in the 200m. Brid Breathnach finished a superb 3rd in the discus on her county debut and first competitive outing in some time. Also in the throws Claire McNamara finished 6th in the shot putt while Nicola Monaghan had an impressive double, with 6th in the hammer and 7th in the javelin. In the jumps Sarah Finnegan took 6th in the triple jump and 8th in the long jump, and also found time for 5th in the 100m hurdles. Rebecca Nolan finished 4th in a high standard 400m hurdles race.

Serena Hansberry had a strong run over 400m taking 6th place in her Galway debut, Laura Shaughnessy performed a tough middle distance double taking 4th in the 3000m and 6th in the 800m, while Aoife Touhy ran strongly for 6th in the 1500m. The 4x100m sprint squad of Katelyn Duane, Serena Hansberry, Rebecca Nolan and Sarah Finnegan took 4th place, while the 4x400m team of Nolan, Finnegan, Aoife Touhy and Rachel Finnegan took 6th spot.

Full team results here - www.athleticsireland.ie/content/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/League%20Final%20Teams.pdf

Full individual results here - www.athleticsireland.ie/content/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/League%20Final%20Ind%20Results.pdf