Sommer Lecky to lift double Athlete of the Year Awards

Donegal Athletics County Board will gather in the Finn Valley Centre, Stranorlar on Saturday 19th January to honour the stars of 2018.
The County Board have selected five outstanding performers who will receive the Senior and Junior Athletes of the Year awards and also the Master Athlete of the Year.
One unusual aspect of this year’s selection, for the first time ever, one athlete has won the Female Junior and Senior  Awards.
Finn Valley’s Sommer Lecky  who won a silver medal in the High Jump at the World Junior Championships in Finland, and who is also a National Senior champion has been named the winner in both categories.
The list of Award winners are as follows.
Senior Men – Brendan Boyce
In a season blighted by injury, Brendan finished nineteenth in the 50Kms at the European Championships in Berlin and also won both the 20Km and 30Km National titles at home.
Senior and Junior Women – Sommer Lecky
Sommer has had an exceptional year firstly winning the AAI Senior Indoor High Jump title and then followed up by winning the Scottish Senior title and the AAA Junior title. She won the IFAM International in Belgium, finished second in the Mannheim Junior International, retained her Irish Schools title, took gold at the Belfast International meet and finished tenth in the Commonwealth Games.
Junior Men – James Kelly
Following in the footsteps of his older brother John, James won the Irish Schools Shot Putt in a new record, he won both the AAI Junior indoor and outdoor titles again in new record distances and also won both the AAI U/19 Indoor and Outdoor titles again in new records. James was also a member of the Celtic Games team.
Master Men – Ciaran Doherty
The Letterkenny man won a bronze medal in the 3,000m Steeplechase at the World Championships in Malaga and was a scorer on the winning Irish Masters team at the British and Irish International Cross-Country championships.
Master Women – Noreen Bonner
Noreen had a great season and was a scorer on the winning Masters Cross- Country team. She was a scorer on the Irish Team that took silver medals in the Marathon at the World Masters Championships in Malaga.
Hall of Fame – Bernie O’Callaghan
Bernie will be inducted into the Donegal Athletics Hall of Fame. Bernie won seven Irish Senior titles and six Irish Senior team medals and set six national records all in the Race Walking discipline. He spent twenty eight years as National Race Walking Coach . Previous inductees into the Hall of Fame have been Glenswilly’s Cyril o’ Boyle, Milford’s Hugo Duggan and Glenswilly’s Danny Mc Daid. Killybegs native Bernie who is a member of Finn Valley will become the fourth inductee having previously been inducted into the Ulster Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.
Tickets for the event are €15 each and can be purchased from any member of the committee.