Athletics

Athletics is a fun way to stay in shape, meet new people and show your competitive side. Whether you are a beginner or elite, our club welcomes and caters for all! The vast range of events open for athletes to try include cross-country, mountain running, distance running, sprinting, jumps, and throws. As a club, we have grown over the years to encompass both High Performance and Recreational Running. Our club is made up of athletes of all levels, from Dangan trail runners to Olympians.

The club has a history of success in both sprinting and distance disciplines. Matt Lockett is the passionate coach and mentor to the distance runners and is highly commended for his commitment. Brendan Glynn works tirelessly with the sprinters. Owen Scully has recently joined our coaching team and guides new athletes in our development team towards achieving their potential. 

Make sure to follow University of Galway Athletics Club on Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date on training, events and competitions! Athletics offers those interested the chance to challenge and enhance themselves on and off the field. Join us at training and find out for yourself!

Link to Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/NUIGAC/  https://www.instagram.com/nuigathletics/

Link to Instagram Profile: https://instagram.com/u.g.athletics?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= 

History

University of Galway Athletics club has a tremendous background in track and field and cross country competitions. It has been home to world-class international athletes such as Paul Hession and Olive Loughnane. Recent representatives at elite international level include Sarah Quinn and Robert McDonnell. Everyone who joins the club is part of the team and has a special role, regardless of whether or not they partake in competition. The club competes in all intervarsity events and there are no individuals in these competitions as points are scored by all and everybody cheers everybody else on. The driving force behind the club is the committee, which is elected at the AGM. The Events page holds the AGM dates, details and committee members. New members are the lifeblood of any committee and are encouraged to join each year.

Achievements


2023/2024 Performances

Road Relay Championships 10-11-23 NUIG Maynooth, Kildare

There were strong showings from University of Galway athletes at this year's IUAA Road Relay Championships in Maynooth. 

The men's 'A' team could not retain last year's bronze medal but still took a respectable fourth place finish behind UCD, DCU and UL. Kyle Moorhead and Oisín Murray put in strong runs to position the team well on the opening two legs, with Luke Johnston, Dónal Farren and Oisín Davis closing for fourth place overall.

The women's 'A' team claimed 10th place. Quality displays from Shauna Leydon and Fiona Everard in the opening 1-mile and 2-mile legs, respectively, were highlights on the day for the squad before Naoise O'Donnell and Ella O'Connor brought the team to a tenth-place finish.

University of Galway also fielded competitive 'B' and 'C' teams in the men's race and a 'B' team in the women's race.

2022/2023 Performances

University of Galway Distance Team Achievements

Outdoor Track and Field Championships 21-04-2023 DSD, Dublin

UG Women

Fiona Everard emulated her cross country dominance with another gold medal-winning performance, this time over 5000m.


UG Men

Kyle Moorhead earned an impressive silver medal in a fast 800m final, while Sean Cotter was a decisive bronze medallist in the 5000m.

Aaron Brennan narrowly missed out on a medal in the 1500m, finishing 4th in the final.


Cross Country Championships 04-03-2023 - UL Campus, Limerick

UG Women

The women's race was won in comprehensive fashion by UGAC's Fiona Everard.

UG Men

Team 3rd Overall
The scoring members of the team were:
Dónal Farren 7th
Luke Johnston 10th
Patrick Noonan 12th
Oisín Murray 16th 
Oisín Davis 17th 
Kyle Moorhead 25th

Indoor Track and Field Championships 28-01-2023 - National Indoor Arena, Dublin

UG Women

A fine bronze medal went to Fiona Everard in the 1500m.

UG Men

Jack Maher was an impressive 3rd in a hotly contested 1500m final.

Sean Cotter was 3rd in the 3000m, with Patrick Noonan following closely behind in 4th.

Road Relay Championships 11-11-2022 - National University of Ireland, Maynooth

UG Men

Our men's team finished third as Patrick Noonan impressed with the fastest mile leg of the day.
They lined out as follows:
Kyle Moorhead (1 mile)
Sean Cotter  (2 miles)
Thomas McStay (3 miles)
Luke Johnston (2 miles)
Patrick Noonan (1 mile)


2021/2022 Performances

Achievements University of Galway Athletics Sprint Team

Robert McDonnell Indoor National 200m Champion

Robert McDonnell Indoor Varsity 200m Champion
Robert McDonnell, Shane Mooney, Andrew Egan, Nikola Banek, 3rd Place 4x200m Varsities
Sarah Quinn 2nd Place 60mh Indoor Varsities
Sarah Quinn, Niamh Foley, Niamh Malone, Sinéad Treacy 4x200m Indoor Varsity Bronze
Shane Mooney 2nd Place 60mh Indoor Varsities

Robert McDonnell 60m Indoor National u23 2nd Place

Aaron Keane 400m u23 National 2nd place

Robert McDonnell Outdoor Varsity 200m Champion and Championship Best Performance of 20.67
Andrew Egan 3rd Place Varsity 200m
Sinéad Treacy 400m Varsity Champion
Shane Mooney 2nd 110mh Varsities
Sarah Quinn 100mh Varsity Champion
Andrew Egan , Shane Mooney, Aaron Keane, Robert McDonnell, 2nd 4x100m Varsities
Andrew Egan , Shane Mooney, Aaron Keane, Robert McDonnell 1st Varsity 4x400m with Irish Universities Record

Andrew Egan 200m Silver National Championships
Sarah Quinn 3rd National Championships
Andrew Egan Junior Nationals 400m 3rd

Achievements of University Of Galway Athletics Distance Team

Cross Country 26-09-2021 DCU Sportsgrounds, Glasnevin

Women's
Aoife O'Brien 11th


Mens:
Team Champions
A comprehensive victory
Pierre Murchan 2nd
Thomas McStay 3rd
Donal Devane 6th
Finley Daly 8th
Dónal Farren 10th
Aaron Brennan 12th
Conor Deane 17th
Cormac MacDermott 20th
Jack Miskella 30th
Neill Keane 45th



Road Relays 13-11-2021 NUI Maynooth
The womans event has legs as follows: 1 mile, 2 mile, 2 mile, 1 mile. Out of 25 teams these are the results.
Women's 'A'  11th
Women’s 'B' 22nd

The mens event has legs in the follwing order 1 mile, 2 mile, 3 mile, 2 mile, 1mile. 29 teams took part.
Mens 'A' 4th
Mens 'B' 9th
Mens 'C' 12th

Also of note was our own Jack Miskella taking the fastest mens miler of the day


Indoors 29-01-2021, AIT
(Top 10 performances only)
Women’s
3000m Aoife Kilgannon 1st

Mens
800m Roland Surlis 1st, Kyle Moorehead 9th
1500m Jack Miskella 4th, Patrick Noonan 10th
3000m Finley Daly 4th, Aaron Brennan 9th, Sean Cotter 10th



Cross Country 05-03-2022 Santry Playing Fields
Women’s
Emma Jourdan 22nd
Aoife King 26th
Rachel Hughes 35th
Anna McGinley 41st

Team: 7th

Mens
Back to Back Champions!

Donal Devane 4th
Finley Daly 7th
Sean Cotter 10th
Donal Farren 11th
Aaron Brennan 15th
Luke Johnstone 16th
Patrick Noonan 24th
Andrew O'Donnaigle 28th
Conor Deane 31st
Jack Miskella 35th
Cian Coyne 57th
Brain Martin 78th

Outdoor T&F,  IT Carlow
(Top 10 performances)
Womans 800m
Rachel Hughes 5th
Womans 1500m
Maebh Brannigan 5th
Caoimhe Kelleher 10th
Womans 3000m
Anna McGinley 10th


Mens
800m Kyle Moorehead 2nd, Federico Castriota Scalderbeg 8th
1500m Aaron Brennan 1st
3000m S/C Patrick Noonan 3rd
5000m Donal Devane 4th, Sean Cotter 5th
10000m Luke Johnstone 4th
3rd on the medals table


2018/19 Performances


Outdoors

NUIG AC 3rd overall

In the most successful season in the clubs history NUIG AC rounded up the outdoor intervarsities finishing 3rd overall the highest standing the club has reached in its history for the first time ever.


Aoife O’Brien had a Gold medal performance in the steeplechase with a NUIG record of 11:46.41

Sarah Quinn found silver in the 100m sprint with a NUIG record of 12.10

Damien Landers earned silver in the 10000m with an NUIG record of 30:47.65 and the 5000m still to come.

The woman’s 4 x 400 of Ciara Barry, Ellie O’Toole, Sarah Lanigan and Nicole Walsh raced to silver medals.

The woman’s 4 x 100 of Nicole Walsh, Sarah Quinn, Ciara Barry, and Ashling Forkan raced to silver medals in a thrilling race tainted with drama.

Fergus Cox produced a stunning performance in the Men’s javelin to see him take a Bronze medal and also an NUIG record 56.28

Damien Landers followed up an earlier silver medal with a bronze in the 5000m with an NUIG record of 14:51.22

Finley Daly crossed the line after the 3000 steeplechase with a hard fought bronze medal in a time of 9:48.67

 Nicole Walsh was 3rd in the 400m with NUIG record of 56.98.

The Men’s 4x100 of Shane Mooney, Jonah Erugo, Owen Scully and Robert Meagher ran 43.40 to claim bronze and a new NUIG record.

To Finish off the weekend the Mens 4x400 stepped up to take Bronze Aengus Meldon, Jonah Erugo, Owen Scully and Robert Meagher


Other NUIG records went to:

Eoghan Rodgers in the Weight for Distance with a throw of 7.36

Bridget Mc Dyer in Shot Putt with a putt of 10.14

Jonah Erugo in the 200m with a time of 22.31


Indoor

NUIGs Women were 3rd overall                                             NUIGs Men were 5th overall


Individually we had Podium performances from:

Damien landers was silver in the 3000m setting a new NUIG record of 8.23.41.

Shane Parle was silver in the high jump setting a new NUIG record of 1.90

Nicole King, Ciara Barry, Sarah Quinn and Sinead Treacy were gold in the women’s 4x200m relay setting a new NUIG record of 102.7

Bridget Mc Dyer won bronze in the Ladies Weight For Distance setting a new NUIG record of 6.60m


Other point scoring performances included:

Ciara Barry 6th in the 200m

Aengus Meldon was 5th in the 800m setting a new NUIG record of 1.57.72

Nicole King was 4th in the 200m setting a new NUIG record of 25.51

Sarah Quinn was 6th in the 60m hurdles setting a new NUIG record of 8.97

Cormac Lynch, Robert Meagher, Owen Scully and Jonah Erugo were 4th in the men 4x200m relay setting a new NUIG record of 92.12

Bridget McDyer 6th in the Shot Putt

Aisling Keady 5th in the long jump

James Frizzell 6th in the 1500m.


Other performances on the day included: Aisling Joyce, Matthew McKernan, Jonah Erugo, Mark Carmody, Robert Meagher, Owen Scully, William Flynn, Cormac Lynch and Talon Thompson


Cross Country

NUIGs Men 3rd overall                                                                  NUIGs Women 4th overall


An individual medal on the day for NUIG won by Damian Landers who came 2nd in a trilling men's race. A unique and special medal to the club as the intervarsity cross country competition was hosted in Galway by NUIG AC.


Meetings

Track Slots for UGAC are as follows: 

Sprints/Field events: 

Monday 18:30-20:00 (Development and High Performance)

Wednesday 17:00-19:00 (High Performance) 

Thursday 18:30-20:00 (Development and High Performance)

Sunday 18:00-20:00 (High Performance) 

 

Distance: 

Tuesday:  17:15-18:45 

Thursday:  17:15-18:45 

Saturday: 10:00-11:30



Contact Us

Email us at :athletics@clubs.nuigalway.ie 

Message us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NUIGAC/

Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/u.g.athletics?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= 

Become a member of Athletics

Athletics

Committee Members
Club Captain:Donal Farren
Club Secretary:Aaron Brennan
Club Treasurer:Kyle Moorhead
Public Relations Officer (PRO):Andrew Egan
Advisor:Stephen McHugh
Distance Captain:Patrick Noonan
March 28th
Today . Thursday

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