As the academic year of 2014/2015 comes to a close, when you look back on the sporting year as a whole, it can only be classified as a success. From thrilling highs to crushing lows, participants in every DCU club ranging across all sports gave it everything they had. The College View will look back on the year and give you the lowdown on the highlights.
Men’s Gaelic Football
Without a doubt the big winners of the year were the DCU Men’s GAA club with the Gaelic footballers securing a hard fought third Sigerson Cup in the last six years. The calmness during a nerve-racking finish in Cork just shows how much the team has come on this year. 2015 also saw a number of star players such as Conor McGraynor and Enda Smith secure starting places on their county teams, such was the quality of their performances throughout the year.
Women’s Gaelic Football
Not to be outshone by the lads, the Ladies football team also brought home a trophy in the form of the Lynch Cup. The Ladies also managed to make an O’Connor Cup final but were unfortunately pipped at the post. The O’Connor campaign proved fruitful however with four DCU Ladies, Ailbhe Clancy, Sarah Rowe, Lorraine O’Shea and Laura McEnaney all securing All Stars for their performances.
Boxing Club
Amateur Boxing in DCU continued to grow and go from strength to strength in 2015. The year finished on a high as DCU’s Faolan Rahill and Stephen Mooney managed to come up trumps claiming titles at the Intervarsity National Championships. There were also brilliant personal achievements as DCU students Clare Grace and Céire Smith were selected to represent Ireland at the upcoming European Games in Baku this summer. We’d like to wish them the best of luck and know they’ll do the club proud.
Athletics
It was another immensely successful year for the DCU Athletics Academy rounded off with a massive 46 medals won by the team at the recent IUAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. There was also great success at the IUAA Road Relay Championships in Maynooth earlier this year with another gold and silver medal being brought back to Glasnevin. All and all, it caps off a pretty near perfect year for Athletics in DCU.
Men’s Soccer
While it wasn’t the best of years for the DCU Soccer Club, there were a lot of positives to be taken. A disappointing early Collingwood Cup exit was soon forgotten with a Crowley Cup semi-final and a second Harding Plate in as many years for the Freshers team.
In truth, there’s not enough space in the paper to mention all the wonderful achievements made by DCU students in the world of sport this year. We’d like to thank and congratulate all involved in this wonderful sporting year for the college. We look forward to next year and hope that we will be able to report on more fantastic victories and trophies coming back to DCU in 2016.
Aidan Delaney
Image credit: Sportsfile
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