Mary McLoone joined the same trio later in the afternoon for the 4 x 400 metres. The 400 metres is always a tough event but when preceded by an 800 it becomes an ultra hard test of fitness and guts. In this case all three Tir Chonaill 800 metres runners along with Mary McLoone who had already competed in no less than 4 other events passed the test with flying colours, and gained an added bonus of recording another club record. Ruth Little led the charge with a superb opening leg of 59.7 seconds, this was followed up by two legs of 61 seconds each by Michelle Harvey and Sinead Peoples before Mary McLoone ran the anchor leg in 60.5 holding off the fast finishing team of Metro St Bridget's. Tir Chonaill came home in a time of 4mins 3.20 sec, superb, given the blustery conditions.
Mary McLoone was also involved in another winning track display when she combined with Geraldine Stewart to win the hurdles relay. While Geraldine who would have competed in the National heptathlon over the weekend had she not been sitting an exam on Saturday hurdled impressively it was in the shot put that she really excelled. A put of 12.67 metres in the last round added a whopping 26cm to the County record, which she set in Glasgow earlier this year. This distance ranks her as the leading shot putter in the Country at the moment and is the third occasion this year on which she has rewritten the county record. This performance will make her favourite to secure selection on the Irish team for the forthcoming Europa Cup.
Stewart's efforts in the shot were not the only occasion on Sunday in which she recorded a personal best. In the long jump in which she competed along with Mary McLoone, Geraldine recorded a best jump of 5.21 metres. In the same event McLoone experienced difficulties in hitting the board and had to settle for a jump of 5.12 but their combined total was still 19 cm better than runners up Dundrum with Navan in third.
This long jump victory was one of the parts of a clean sweep in the jumping events, the second successive season in which the club has achieved this feat. The high jump win came about through the efforts of Catherine Harvey and once again Geraldine Stewart. Harvey who recently jumped a top class 1.63m cleared 1.55m - good jumping in the blustery conditions. Her teammate Geraldine Stewart went 5cm better with 1.60. A combined total of 3.15, which pushed Borrisokane back to the silver medal spot. The final jump for women was the triple jump in which it came as no surprise that Tir Chonaill once again emerged victorious. Mary McLoone lead proceedings with a leap of 11.32, which was backed up by a 9.27 jump, by Catherine Harvey to give a winning total of 20.74. Dundrum South Dublin who were probably the second best club overall on the day took silver.
The only event on the track not won by Tir Chonaill was the 4 x 100 metres. In this event Tir Chonaill started without key members Siobhan McGlynn and Emma O Doherty whom are both studying for the leaving cert. However in a very competitive event the team of Nuala Curran who was making her senior debut, Geraldine Stewart, Ruth Little and Mary McLoone ran an excellent time of 50.42 sec to take the silver medal behind DSD.
The only event on the day in which Tir Chonaill failed to take a medal was the discus in which due to the absence of Birdie Lynch the club did not enter a team. That event apart it was a truly awesome display by what is unquestionably the best women's tack and field team, which County Donegal has ever produced.
Men's Relays
While it was the women of Donegal who shone on this occasion the men did manage a measure of success also. A total of four bronze medals returned to the county. In a thrilling race Letterkenny took 3rd spot in the 3x 800 metres. Young Shane Ward ran the opening leg and did well to keep the team well in contention. Gary Crossan fresh from his superb win in the national marathon ran the second leg before handing on to Darragh McDaid who took the baton in 8th place before running a storming leg to take the team up to 3rd only just missing out on the silver medal. Rathfarnham won with Bohermeen in 2nd. The Letterkenny lads posted a time of 6,03.36.
Finn Valley took home a couple of bronze medals in the 5000metres team race and in the veterans 3000 metres team race. In the 5000 metres Charlie Gallagher led the team home in 5th place overall, closely followed by Ciaran Carlin in 6th with times of 15,26 and 15,33 respectively. The team was completed by Dominic Bonner who finished 10th in 16,03. This was good enough for 3rd behind Raheney and Liffey Valley. The veterans finishers were Mark Connolly who finished 4th in 9,34, Patsy Doherty who finished 9th in 11.32 and Jim Heinz who finished 10th in 12,01. Raheney who had former marathon superman Dick Hooper in their line-up won with Liffey Valley 2nd.
In the men's high jump a young Tir Chonaill pairing of Kieran Mc Brearty and Martin Kennedy had a combined total of 3.30metres to win bronze. Carrick on Shannon won with St Abbans 2nd.
Other noteworthy Donegal performances came from Tir Chonaill pair Kieran McBrearty and Michael Curran who finished 4th in the triple jump, while another young pairing of Niall McGinley and Damien Ward finished 2nd in both the shot put and discus.
