THE DONEGAL Athletics Board held their annual awards function on Saturday night.
Finn Valley AC were the big winners on the night, as Donegal Athletics Board celebrated 50 years at their big bash.
Finn Valley scooped the main awards on a busy night that saw athletes from all across Donegal honoured.
Sommer Lecky, Finn Valley’s former European U20 silver medalist, was the Senior and Junior Female Athlete of the Year.
Lecky won gold in the national indoors and was the outdoor silver medalist. Lecky also competed in the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow.
The Castlederg woman won gold at the Ulster/ANI senior championships and at the AAI outdoor gams.
Finn Valley ace Brendan Boyce was named as the Senior Male Athlete of the Year.
At the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, Boyce finished a superb sixth in the men’s 50k race walk.
Boyce had a record-breaking year, setting a new Ulster mark (84:31) for the 20k and a new Ulster record (11:17) for the 3,000m walk.
The Milford native, coached by former world champion Rob Heffernan in Cork, has already qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
AAI junior shot put gold medallist James Kelly was the Junior Male Athlete of the Year.
Noreen Bonner of Finn Valley was the Female Master Athlete of the Year. In 2019, Bonner won a World Masters bronze and a team gold whole she scooped a silver medal in the European Masters marathon.
Among the highlights for Bonner was a team silver in the Home Countries International.
Mark Connolly, a gold medallist at the World Masters Cross-Country in Torun, Poland was the Male Master Athlete of the Year.
Two of the Donegal Athletics Board’s founder members – Finn Valley AC’s Patsy McGonagle and Cranford AC’s Eamonn Giles – were inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Lucy McGlynn (Tir Chonaill AC) and Conor Heuston (Rosses AC) won the Neil Cullen Sportshall Awards.
A host of club awards were also presented on the night.
