JUST DAYS after setting a new Donegal record at the World Half Marathon Championships last weekend, Ann-Marie McGlynn was this week named as Donegal senior female athlete of the year.
With a physical ceremony not possible due to Covid-19, the award winners were announced virtually this week.
McGlynn was crowned the senior female athlete of the year.
Last weekend, the Strabane-based Letterkenny AC athlete ran 71 minutes and 40 seconds as she finished 42nd in the World Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia, Poland.
That beat her previous best of 71:59 which she set in February 2019 while competing in Barcelona.
John Kelly of Finn Valley AC was the senior male athlete of the year.
Kelly recently broke two Donegal records. In
In July, Kelly broke the Ulster, Donegal and Finn Valley AC shot put records while competing in Växjö, where the St Johnston man landed a superb 18.62m throw – bettering the 18.51m he had set in Portugal in August 2019. It was also slightly better than the 18.61m for an Irish Junior record in 2015.
Kelly followed that up by shattering the 41-year-old Donegal discus record when he set a new mark of 43.50m to take a record that had stood since 1979.
Lifford-Strabane AC’s Adrienne Gallen added another string to her bow as the hammer star was named as the junior female athlete of the year.
In September, Gallen set a new record of 48.58m to win a national junior silver having previously added six metres to her own record in finishing fourth at the National Senior Championships in Santry.
Letterkenny AC”s Ryan Canning was crowned the junior male athlete of the year while the Masters awards went to Martin Cunningham of Tir Chonaill AC and Teresa Doherty from Finn Valley AC.
Letterkenny AC clubman Michael Galvin has been appointed as the new Chair of the Donegal Athletics Board.
With some Donegal records being broken over the last year – with the likes of McGlynn, Kelly and Sommer Lecky to the fore – here are the Donegal athletics records as they stand:
Men’s County Records @ 7th October 2020
| Event | Name | Time/Dist | Club | Venue | Year |
| 100m | Brian Doyle | 10.88 | Finn Valley | Antrim | 10/06/08 |
| 200m | Brian Doyle | 21.48 | Finn Valley A/C | Gateshead | 07/06/08 |
| 400m | Mark English | 46.56 | U.C.D | M.P.T. Belfast | 02/07/14 |
| 800m | Mark English | 1.44.84 | Letterkenny A/C | London | 26/07/13 |
| 1500m | Gary Murray | 3.41.02 | St. Malachy’s | Morntalje, Sweden | 11/07/05 |
| 5000m | Gary Murray | 13.44.62 | St. Malachy’s | Solihill, England | 25/06/05 |
| 10000m | Danny McDaid | 29.10 | Letterkenny A/C | Liverpool | 1978 |
| 110hurdles | Liam Doherty | 15.23 | Lifford A/C | Omega Final, Belfield | 1980 |
| 400 Hurdles | Liam Doherty | 53.7 | Lifford A/C | Ireland V Denmark V Scotland, Copenhagen | 1980 |
| 3000 MSC | Joe Byrne | 8.58.20 | Finn Valley A/C | Bloomington I.N, USA | 28/05/05 |
| 1500m Walk | Bernie O’Callaghan | 6.04.99 | Finn Valley A/C | Belfield | 05/82 |
| 3000m Walk outdoor | Brendan Boyce | 11.17.84 | Finn Valley A/C | Cork City Sports | 14/08/19 |
| 3000m Walk indoor | Brendan Boyce | 11.28.01 | Finn Valley A/C | A.I. Indoor Games, Abbottstown, Dublin | 05/02/17 |
| 5000mt Walk
Indoor |
Brendan Boyce | 19.51 | Finn Valley A/C | Bratislava | 31/01/16 |
| 5k Outdoor | Brendan Boyce | 20.31.01 | Letterkenny A/C | Leeds | 02/07/11 |
| 10k Walk | Brendan Boyce | 41.39 | Finn Valley AC | Göteborg, Sweden | 05/08/20 |
| 10000 mt walk | Brendan Boyce | 41.16.25 | Finn Valley A/C | Santry Stadium | 09/08/15 |
| 20k Walk | Brendan Boyce | 1hr24m31sec | Finn Valley A/C | Podebrady, Czech Republic | 06/04/19 |
| 50k Walk | Brendan Boyce | 3hr48m13sec | Finn Valley A/C | European Race Walking Cup, Alythus, Lithuania. | 19/05/19 |
| 4 x 100m | Giles, Duggan, McAteer, Magnier | 43.6 | Cranford A/C | Cranford V Conlife, Santry | 1967 |
| 4 x 400m | J. Higgins, F. Higgins, S. Reilly, S. Melly | 3.23.20 | Letterkenny A/C | Antrim Forum | 1991 |
| 3 x 800m | J. Higgins, F. Higgins, C. Gallagher | 5.45.2 | Letterkenny A/C | BLE Relays, Tullamore | 1991 |
| 4 x 800m | Bogle, Rushe, Gaynor, McNulty | 7.42.6 | Finn Valley A/C | BLE Relays, Cork | 1985 |
| ½
Maratahon |
Gary Murray | 64.40 | St Malachys | Wokingham, England | Feb 2015 |
| Marathon | Danny Mc Daid | 2hr13m06sec | Letterkenny A/C | Limerick | 1976 |
| Ultra 50k | Daniel Doherty | 3.09.05 | Inishowen A/C | ||
| Ultra 100k | Daniel Doherty | 7.05.23 | Inishowen A/C | ||
| Ultra 6hrs | Eddie Gallen | 73,000m | Finn Valley A/C | ||
| Ultra 12hrs | Eddie Gallen | 134,997m | Finn Valley A/C | Barcelona | 2015 |
| Ultra 24hrs | Eddie Gallen | 230,136m | Finn Valley A/C | Belfast | 2016 |
| Long Jump | Hugo Duggan | 7.38mts | Cranford A/C | Emyvale, Co Monaghan | 1967 |
| Triple Jump | Neil Sweeney | 14.47m | Dungloe | BLE Champs, Santry | 1974 |
| High Jump | Derek Gillespie | 2.05m | Annagry | BLE League, Tullamore | 1994 |
| Pole Vault | Ken Morris | 4.90mt | Finn Valley A/C | Santry | 2000 |
| Shot Putt outdoor | John Kelly | 18.62mt | Finn Valley A/C | Vaxjo, Sweden | 12/07/20 |
| Shot Putt Indoor | John Kelly | 18.35mt | Finn Valley A/C | Abbotstown, Dublin | 01/03/2020 |
| Discus | Gavin McLoughlin | 44.36mt | Finn Valley A/C | Stranorlar, Ireland | 19/09/20 |
| Javelin | Kevin McBrearty | 60.00mt | South Donegal Harriers | BLE Decathlon, Belfield | 1988 |
| Hammer | Dempsey McGuigan | 70.55 | Finn Valley A/C | WW Alnut Meet, USA | 2017 |
| Decathlon | Sean Carlin | 7226pts
11.5, 7.02mt 11.17mt, 1.97m, 50.43, 16.21sec, 39.58m, 4.20m, 50.84m, 4.21 |
Finn Valley A/C | National Champs, Tullamore | 1981 |
Women’s County Records @ 7th October 2020
| Event | Name | Time/Dist | Club | Venue | Year |
| 100m | Jannine Boyle | 11.92/1.4 | Finn Valley | Irish Schools | 30/05/15 |
| 200m | Mary Mc Loone | 24.55/1.91 | Tir Chonaill A/C | Berne, Switzerland | 30/05/10 |
| 400m | Christine Lynch | 55.72 | Finn Valley A/C | BLE Champs, Santry | 1983 |
| 800m | Siobhan Gallagher | 2.07.2 | Donegal Harriers | North Eastern University, Boston | 1990 |
| 1500m | Siobhan Gallagher | 4.14.19 | Donegal Harriers | Raleigh, North Carolina | ? |
| 3000m | Katy McCandless | 9.03 | Finn Valley A/C | Cork City Sports | 1996 |
| 5000m | Katy McCandless | 15.28.8 | Finn Valley A/C | Oslo Grand Prix | 1996 |
| 10000m | Hollie Knight | 33.08.99 | Finn Valley A/C | Stanford CA | 06/04/13 |
| 100m Hurdles | Sharon Foley | 14.72 | Lifford A/C | Hemel Hemstead, London | 1997 |
| 3000WSC | Ann Marie McGlynn | 10.37.0 | Letterkenny A/C | Aura, LAC International Meet | 10/07/15 |
| 400m Hurdles | Kelly McGrory | 60.44 | Tir Chonaill A/C | AAI Senior T & F Championships, Santry | 28/07/19 |
| 3k Walk | Sinead McGrannaghan | 14.05.79 | Finn Valley A/C | National LGE. Belfield | 1987 |
| 5k Walk | Sinead Mc Connell | 27.01.46 | Finn Valley A/C | World Master Champs, Malaga, Spain | 05/09/18 |
| 10k Walk | Anne McGill | 54.54 | Finn Valley A/C | Isle Of Man | 2001 |
| 20k Walk | Anne McGill | 1hr53m12sec | Finn Valley A/C | Sligo | 2001 |
| 4 x 100 relay | McGowan, Brady, McMullan, McGrory | 48.44 | Tir Chonnaill A/C | Junior Women, Cork | 06/07/14 |
| 4 x 400 relay | D. Herron, M.Davis, C. Lynch, N. Harron | 3.59.3 | Finn Valley A/C | BLE Relays, Belfield | 1998 |
| 4 x 800 relay | Lynch, Harron, Harron, McArdle | 9.09.8 | Finn Valley A/C | National Relays | 1986 |
| Marathon | Maria Mc Cambridge | 2hr35m28sec | Letterkenny A/C | Dublin | 29/10/13 |
| 100k | Helena Crossan | 7hr52m45sec | Inishowen A/C | Worschotein, Ned | 08/09/13 |
| Half Marathon | Ann Marie McGlynn | 71.40 | Letterkenny A/C | Gyania ,Poland WHM | 17/ 10/ 20 |
| Long Jump | Mary Mc Loone | 6.30mt | Tir Chonnaill A/C | Santry, Dublin | 22/07/07 |
| Triple Jump | Mary Mc Loone | 12.81mt | Tir Chonnaill A/C | Bilbao | 20/06/15 |
| High Jump | Sommer Lecky | 1.90 mt | Finn Valley A/C | World Junior u 20 Champs, Tampere, Finland | 15/07/18 |
| Pole Vault | Tori Penna | 4.60mt | Finn Valley A/C | Chola Vista, CA | 06/06/13 |
| Shot Putt | Geraldine Stewart | 13.19mt | Tir Chonnaill A/C | Dublin | 22/07/07 |
| Discus | Bridie Lynch | 42.38mt | Tir Chonnaill A/C | Graded Meet, Santry | 1998 |
| Javelin | Sharon Foley | 35.84mt | Lifford A/C | N.I. Combined Events, Derry | 1995 |
| Hammer | Adrienne Gallen | 48.58 mt | Lifford /Strabane | Dublin Nationals | Sept 2020 |
| Heptathlon | Sharon Foley | 5394pts
14.72, 1.78mt 10.94mt, 25.68, 5.81mt, 33.84mt, 2.20.68 |
Lifford A/C | Home Countries International, London | 1997 |
