Leevale Athletic Club received the Club of the Year award at the National Athletics Awards in association with Woodie’s DIY and Tipperary Crystal which took place on Wednesday 20th of November in the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Leevale was acknowledged as one of the powerhouses of Irish athletics and the club enjoyed an exceptional run of success in 2013 culminating in their senior men’s and women’s team finishing second in the National Track and Field League final. They also enjoyed international success through their athletes Ciarán Ó Lionáird, Derval O’Rourke, Lizzie Lee, Luke Hickey and youth athlete Louise Shanhan to name just a few.
Leevale AC’s Ciarán Ó Lionáird also received the Indoor Track and Field Athlete Award for his exploits at the European Indoor Track and Field Championship in Gothenburg, Sweden. He won the bronze medal in the 3000m in a time of 7:50.40 and he also impressed over the mile when he ran a time of 3:52.10 to move to fourth on the Irish all time lists.
The team of the year award went to the women’s team who won the European Cross Country Championships. Lizzie Lee with Fionnuala Britton accepted the award on behalf of Linda Byrne (Dundrum South Dublin AC), Ava Hutchinson (Dundrum South Dublin AC), Sarah Louise Treacy (Moynalvey AC) and Sarah McCormack (Clonliffe Harriers AC).
Also nominated for individual awards were Luke Hickey for race walking and Lizzie Lee for endurance running. The Award for Race Walker of the year went to Cork’s Rob Heffernan and Endurance Athlete wend to Fionnuala Britton.
This is yet another historic day for the club and is testament to the hard work and dedication of all the athletes, coaches & officials, making this one of the greatest clubs in the country. This award belongs to all the club members.
Leevale dedicate the Club of the Year award to our late chairman, Liam Horgan. This award would have made him extremely proud of the club he dedicated himself to.
Greg Allen Interviews Fionnuala Britton & Lizzie Lee
