The first part of the 2008 Galway Track & Field series took place last Thursday in Galway RSC, Dangan.

One of the highlights of the night was a very competitive men's 800m where Daniel Loughnane of Loughrea AC just held off reigning Irish Schools mile champion Tommy Casey, who travelled from North Sligo AC. Another guest, Michael Keane of Ennis Track Club, fought hard for third place.

Laura Shaughnessy made it a Loughrea AC double over the half-mile distance when passing Deirdre Troy of Ennis TC only yards from the finishing line to take the women's race. Martin Corcoran took the Galway Masters title in 2:14, with Mick Rice and Martin McEvilly filling the minor placings.

GCH's Michael Connerney showed excellent form in the discus, approaching 42 metres and continuing to improve as the season progresses, while Loughrea's Mary Barrett was top in the women's discus with 25.45 metres. Brendan Monaghan took the Masters title in the discus, while GCH's Hannah Kelly took the women's equivalent. Hannah also took Masters gold in the 100m and long jump.

The Finnegan household dominated the long jump with William and Sarah claiming wins. Sarah had to overcome her younger sister Rachel in order to secure gold. William and Sarah repeated their double on the track with wins in both 100m races. William held off Thomas French of Lifford AC while Sarah battled with her Craughwell club-mate Kelly O'Donoghue for the gold.

The relay races have been a highlight of this series since its inception, and five teams contested the Distance Medley Relay, with a star-studded Craughwell combination coming out on top over a composite guest team with an all-Athenry AC outfit in 3rd.

The next date in this series is Thursday July 3rd when the 200m, 1500m, sprint hurdles and javelin will be contested. If you haven't tried out track competition before this is your opportunity – while there will be no shortage of competiton at the elite end, last year the javelin was won with just 66 metres!!

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