Lifford Strabane AC coach Gallen enters the Hall of Fame

LIFFORD Strabane AC coach, Sharon Gallen was delighted to receive the honour of being the 10th inductee into the Ulster Athletic Council hall of fame.

The former Ireland international represented her country in the high jump at the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart, becoming the first and only woman born in County Donegal to do so.

The Lifford athlete had a best of 1.88m in the High Jump and competed for Ireland 25 times in all. Coached by the late Ben O’Donnell, Gallen also won four gold medals in the Scottish Senior Championships and was a silver medallist at the 1993 British AAA Championships.

A prolific all-rounder, she also has the distinction of still holding the Donegal Senior Records in both the 100m Hurdles and Heptathlon.

And on Friday in the Bayview Hotel, that career was acknowledged with her induction into the hall of fame, which she admits, will take some getting used to.

“I always said that when I retired I’d do something else but I never did so now I can’t!,” she joked. “When I found out I’d won it I kept saying ‘I don’t believe. Me?’

“Looking back you had Maeve Kyle, Hugo Doogan, Danny McDaid. They have been to Olympics and what not and I was like ‘my God!’.”

When receiving her award on Friday night, Gallen observed the rich talent currently coming through in the Province and throughout Ireland at present.

And she believes the sport is in a good place currently with so much talent developing on the national and international stage.

“When I looked down on Friday night, you have all those young ones like Ciara Mageean, Nick Griggs, competing and yes I might have got there, but they are starting to medal at these championship,” said Sharon who represented Ireland at the 1988 World Championships.

“That means the future is bright because rather than just getting there they are competing and medalling.

“It shows the change in mentality in Irish athletics. Everything has changed since I competed, look at the support and the resources and the funding that’s there now.

“They really are nurturing them and developing them and pushing them towards being on the podium.

“The resources now is all there for them and they are making an impact, which you can see at European and World junior championships.

“Ireland has really turned a corner, it’s nurturing talent and enhancing the sport.”

And while she admitted that having those resources and support networks when she was competing would have been nice, she remains happy with what she achieved.

“I wondered if I had half the facilities and the support you have now with strength and conditioning and all those things but at the same time I wouldn’t change a thing,” she added.

“I enjoyed my time and everything that athletics has done for me and maybe moulded me into the person I am today.

“OK, yes, things would be different now but I enjoyed it, we did what we had to do. Maybe results would have been different but back then you did what you had.”

Alongside, Gallen, Lifford Strabane AC’s Ashleigh McArdle picked up her 202 award. A renowned multi-eventer, McArdle has a bright future ahead of her evidenced by the number of Ulster titles won by her over a range of events.

And international athletes, Strabane’s Ann Marie McGlynn and Rouskey’s Eilish Flanagan were named joint winner of the masters female and senior female awards alongside Denise Toner and Ciara Mageean respectively.

Meanwhile, other Tyrone winners on the night included Carmen Runners AC’s Molly Curran and Omagh Harrier Lewis Loughlan, who were both named 16-19 years award recipients for 2020, while Loughlan doubled up by taking the 2021 accolade also.

Also honoured for their 2021 successes were Omagh Harrier Cora Scullion, Omagh CBS athlete, Ciaran McCarroll and Loreto College’s Eimear McCarrol.

And supremely talented Newmills runner, Nick Griggs, who won the European under-20 3,000 metres during the summer and the Irish under-20 and under-18 cross country titles the weekend before last, was named the 2021 Junior Male athlete of the year.

And the 16-year-old Cookstown High School pupil also received the County Derry boys’ 16-19 years award for 2020.

Elsewhere, Lifford Strabane AC had two runners in action at last Wednesday evening’s Winter Woolie Warmer 5k Road Race in Letterkenny. And Gavin McCullagh came home in 9th place in a time of 16.56 minutes, while Cormac Carlin crossed the finish line in 13th place in a time of 17.07.