Carraig na bhFear AC to the fore at novice counties
The County Intermediate, Novice B and Juvenile B Cross-Country Championships took place in Ballynoe on Sunday, 5th November, hosted by St Catherines AC. Thankfully, the incessant rain had abated in the preceding days but as the ground started to dry out, the mud became extremely sticky and almost glue-like as athletes struggled to drag their feet free from the mire! The course churned up as the day progressed, making it one of the toughest outings in recent years, particularly for the later races.
The Juvenile races were notable for the size and quality of the races, every bit as competitive as an A race with over 100 athletes in the U11 girls race alone! Carraig na bhFear AC had a good start to the day with the U9 Girls race, Ivy Forde and Caoimhe Hughes worked well together, well up the field in 15th and 16th places, great running! The Boys U9 had a good outing also finishing in 6th place overall but less than 20 places separating the lads from a bronze team medal. There was an individual bronze for Ben O’Leary in 5th place overall and he was well supported by Aidan Walsh, Noah Foley, Liam Walsh, Fionn Casey and Ciaran Sheehan.
We had a 10-strong team of ahletes in the U11 Girls race, playing our part in this epic race. The girls finished a creditable 7th out of 12 teams. Good running by Lucie Beth McCarthy, Caoimhe Browne, Kate Lynch, Sarah Kiely, Ava Moran, Siofra Nott, Hannah Casey, Eabha McNamara, Una Cotter and Emma Forde. It was another 7th place for the club in the Boys U11 race, another big squad with lots of potential on show here. Well done to our team of Finn Dunne, Oscar O’Riordan, Sean Ryan, Zen Barry, Noah Donohoe, Ted Pierse and John Forde.
The U13 girls was another high-standard race with 8 club teams in the hunt for medals. Hannah Coffey had a top-10 finish, leading Lily O’Keeffe, Amelia O’Donovan and Antonia Twohig to an excellent 4th place finish. Anna Mullins was our sole entrant in the girls U15 race and produced one of the performances of the day! Anna was in the middle of the pack in the initial stages of the race before using her strength to work her way up to a 4th place finish and an individual bronze medal. Congratulations Anna! Our final Juvenile race of the day was the Boys U15 race and a well-deserved silver team medal for the lads who put in a great effort. First home was Kevin Barry in 9th place, just behind Kevin was MJ Walsh in 11th place, battling on bravely despite a twisted knee with Sam and Harry Browne, in 14th and 15th places respectively, completing the scoring. Congratulations!
NOVICE B
The Novice B races were equally competitive, not a day for fast times but more ‘horses for courses’ as to who could cope best with the energy-sapping underfoot conditions. Well done to our women’s team of Helen Roche, Megan Murphy, Orla Gorman and Sinead Kearney who negotiated the 4km course and a 5th team place for the club. Finally, we had the men’s 6K race with the lads finishing in 2nd place, taking the silver team medal! Following a ‘team-building’ challenge on the start line to attach a race number, the lads manoeuvred their way from the back of the field with Joseph Daly taking the race lead before being pipped into 2nd place on the podium in the closing stages. Everyone who knows Joseph was delighted for him, working back from injury last year to training and racing consistently this year and reaping the rewards in the cross-country season with excellent performances.
Willie Walsh battled as hard as ever to finish 6th overall and the team was completed by Diarmuid Kiely, Sean Gorman and Thomas Hughes. Great to see new faces coming through to the adult squads this year and being able to consistently field competitive teams.
LOOK AHEAD
The main focus for the coming weekend is the Munster Juvenile Uneven Age Championships in Two-Mile-Borris, Co Tipperary. A
very familiar venue for Munsters, athletes will be aiming to qualify for the National Championships in Navan on 3rd December. Best of luck to all travelling next Sunday!