Naas woman claims Athlete of the Week award in America following record breaking run

Naas woman Claire Mooney was honoured this week when she won the Big East Woman's Track Athlete of the Week award in America following her performance at a track and field event in Atlanta two weeks ago.

The talented runner left Ireland in 2011 when she was offered a scholarship in St John's University in New York, and she has enjoyed a successful athletics career there to date.

St John's placed second at the Princeton Outdoor Invite last weekend, a competition which was part of the larger Big East Conference league. The conference consists of 10 different colleges that spans over nine states in the North East of America, and there are numerous highly rated athletes competing in all events.

Mooney came first in the 800 metre race, breaking the record for her college by completing that in a time of 2:06.81. That ranks as the 32nd fastest time ran in the whole of America and Canada by any student this year.

The Kildare native is the first outdoor track & field athlete to be named BIG EAST Athlete of the Week for St. John’s in 2016.