Local Carlow athletics club honor two of their athletes following award wins at Sports Awards

Local Carlow athletics club, St Laurence O'Toole AC, celebrated two of their athletes winning awards at the Carlow Sports Star Awards.

The two athletes, Maria Dunne, and Aaron Shorten, received the awards for their achievements over the course of the year.

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Maria Dunne received the award for not just breaking one world record but two, within a couple of months of each other.

Maria was part of the 4 x 800m W45 relay team who in May broke the record with a time of 9.40.76. However news broke soon after that the USA took the record in a time of 9.36.95 and naturally the ladies decided to have another shot at it. Maria was up first running a fantastic leg with a brilliant split of 2.24 and after a magnificent performance from the team they obliterated that record with the clock stopping at 9.26.49 taking another 10 seconds off the record.

And Paralympian, Aaron Shorten, had a very impressive year, qualifying for the Paralympics in Paris earlier this year.

From St Laurence O'Toole AC:

"The excitement and buildup in the club and In Castledermot, Aaron’s home town and surrounding areas was truly amazing. Aaron made his debut in Paris at the Stade de France and after a superb performance finished in 7th place with a SB of 4.02.71 in the T20 1500m. Huge congratulations and well done to Maria and Aaron, two very worthy recipients. See less"