The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Kerry athletes honoured at the Munster Star Awards
SEVERAL of Kerry’s prominent athletes were honoured at the Munster Athletics Star awards in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary last Saturday. All recipients are to be congratulated for their performances throughout 2016 at Munster and National level. Kerry Athletics is delighted that so many of the Munster athletes nominated this year came from the Kingdom. It reinforces the contribution that the weekly squads training sessions have made to the development of juvenile athletes throughout the county.
Awards were presented Georgina Drumm, President of Athletics Ireland to the following athletes; in the Indoor and Track and Field Awards Categories, Juvenile awards went to Ciara Kennelly (Killarney Valley) and Darragh Courtney (St. Brendan’s). Both Ciara and Darragh are promising high jumpers with both continuing to set new records; Ciara is also a keen sprinter, with Darragh an accomplished triple jumper.
Both the Junior Men’s and Women’s awards went to Kerry athletes, An Riocht’s Dion Marcus is one of Kerry’s and Munsters star sprinters taking top honours in the 100, 200 and 400m. Aoibheann O’Brien (Tralee Harriers) is fast becoming the queen of the sandpits, taking gold and silver at Juvenile, Junior and Senior level in long and triple jumps. Aoibheann is also a dedicated sprinter.
The Master Women’s award went to Catherine Moynihan O’Sullivan of Gneeveguilla. Catherine is an accomplished sprinter and long jumper and competes at a very high standard, claiming medals at County, Munster and National level year after year.
The Cross-country Awards went to the following athletes; Juvenile Women was awarded to Shauna Doellkan O’Shea of Kenmare. Shauna is an up an coming Cross-country athlete, finishing in the top 10 nationally at both U-18 and U-19 level.
The Senior Women’s award could only have gone to An Riocht’s Shona Heaslip. Shona goes from strength to strength from Munsters titles to national and international glory. Niamh O’Sullivan (An Riocht) was the overall choice for the Master Women’s award. As well as continuing her own running career, Niamh plays a vital role in the county as coach and mentor for cross country and distance runners.
In the International section Ger Cremin (An Riocht) and Colm Lynch (Iveragh) were honoured for their participation in the Men 035 Irish 4 x 200m Relay Team who won bronze medals at the European Indoor Championships.
Tralee Harriers AC was the overall Junior/Senior Indoor Munster Club of 2016, this is testement to the hard work of their athletes and the club’s coaching duo of Maria and Michael Godley, whose dedication to athletics in Kerry can been seen in results for the past decade not just in Tralee Harriers but also at the Kerry Development Squads.
The Patsy O’Connor Award was presented to Jerome Crowley of Farranfore Maine Valley. Jerome commenced his athletic career in the mid 1950s, competing successfully at Juvenile, Junior, Senior and masters level and still offers his invaluable experience as an athlete and coach. Jerome is a truly deserving winner of the Patsy O’Connor Award.