Relay gold for Tir Chonaill AC's Shane Toolan at European Masters

Tir Chonaill AC’s Shane Toolan won a relay gold at the European Masters Athletics Indoor Championships in Poland.

Toolan and the Ireland X65 team won gold in the mixed 4x200m relay.

Toolan ran the third leg of the race and was joined by Siobhan Doyle, Edel Maguire and Shane Sheridan.

The Irish quartet won gold in 2:01.54, beating off competition from Germany and Spain.

The German foursome of Frauke Viebahn, Marion Hergarten, Laszio Muller and Joachim Weber finished in 2:01.88 with Ireland having been 0.34 of a second ahead. 

The Spanish team - Isabel Doncel-Moriano Parra, Concepcion Minguella Planas, Antonio Rodriguez Sanchidrian and Juan Maulen Exposito Soler took the bronze when finishing in 2:03.91.

Earlier in the Championships, Toolan finished fifth in his M65 60m heat when going 8.89 seconds.  In the 200m, Toolan was fifth in his heat in 30.65 seconds. 

Finn Valley AC’s Catriona Devine won a silver medal in the W50 1500m in Torun.

Devine clocked 4:59.86 in Kujawsko-Pomorska Arena Toruń for second spot. The race was won by Devine’s fellow Irish athlete Mary Leech in 4:57.08.

Germany’s Tanja Saretzki was third in 5:07.37.

The silver medal for the Castlefin woman comes off the back of a successful few days for her Finn Valley AC colleague Kay Byrne, who won silver in the W60 8km, helping Ireland to team bronze in that event. Byrne also bagged bronze in the 5k road race. 

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Milford native Stephen Duggan, who has been based for many years in Germany, also picked up medals in Poland.

Representing Ireland, Duggan won silver in the M50 8km cross country having taken team silver with Ireland in the 5k road race.

He is a son of the late Hugo Duggan, a seven-time Irish senior long jump champion who won a World Masters gold medal in 1987.

Milford AC’s Martin Kerr was the sixth M75 in the 5k road race - helping Ireland to team gold in the process.

Kerr finished in 24:16 with Irish team-mate John Murphy second in 21:10 and Patrick Sweeney finishing in 22:07.

Kerr’s fellow Milford AC man Brian Boyce reached the M45 400m semi-finals. Boyce was third in his semi-final in 53.97 seconds, bowing out in the process.

Boyce came through his heat in 55.41 seconds, placing second to advance.