Four Individual County Titles for WWAC athletes as Club Retains the Babs Connors Cup
Day 2 of the county championships were held in St Augustine’s on Sunday October 8th. The course despite heavy rain during the week was in great condition and it was an ideal day for cross country running. Strong team running from all our athletes ensured the club retained the Babs Connors Cup for the Best Club at the County Championships. West Waterford won with 21pts from Ferrybank 17 and Waterford AC 14.
West Waterford had previously won it seven years in a row between 2011 and 2017. Waterford AC won it in 2018 and 2019 and our cross country season was curtailed in 2020 with only one day of the championships held. West Waterford won back the Cup in 2021 and retained it in 2022 and last week’s win makes it three in a row for West Waterford. All those who competed over the two days of the championships contributed to the win so well done to all our young athletes.
Silver for under 9 Boys team
The under 9’s were first in action and had benefitted from running under 10 the previous week. Etain Ní Mhurchadha is improving with every run and finished in 5th place. Harriet Byrne covered the 750m well and finished in 20th place. The under 9 boys put in a strong team performance to win the silver medals. Twins Tello and Ruy de Arce Calvo were 3rd and 6th . Richard Ahern came through in 10th place and David Kiely 11th rounded off the team scores. We also had Tadhgh Kinsella 15th, Billy O’Riordan 17th and Jackson Sanderson 22nd.
Silver for Boys and Bronze for Girls under 11
Ellie Mai Doherty finished 3rd to claim the individual bronze medal and the team also finished in 3rd place. She was well supported by Leah Kiely in 7th place and Isobel Daly in 9th and Rachel Keogh made up the final scoring member of the team in 15th place. Eile de Paor wasn’t far behind in 17th place and we also had Aisling Hickey 22nd, Sinead Houlihan 26th and Sinead Donnolly 29th.
In the boys race Lope de Calvo Arce held on for the individual bronze from a fast finishing Tiernan Hogan who finished 4th. Colm O’Muirí had a good run to finish 8th and Jamie Kiely moved up from the under 10’s to finish15th and was the fourth scoring member of the team. Seb Byrne finished strongly to take 19th place ahead of Daniel Curran 20th.
Bronze for Under 13 Girls as Boys just Miss out on team Gold
It was bronze again for the under 13 girls with Ava Kiely leading the team home in 8th place. Not far behind was a much improved Saoirse Kinsella in 9th place. Natalie Barry came through in 14th and Amy Cosgrave moved up from the under 12’s to finish 15th with Siobhan Hickey completing the team in 22nd. The under 13 boys were unlucky as because of a clash with matches they were missing a fourth runner and missed out on a winning team prize. Peter Ahearne ran very well over the 3,500m course to finish 4th individual and both Olan Devereaux and Darren Doherty had better runs this week to finish 7th and 8th.
Individual Wins for Noah, Fia, Naoise and Grainne
Next up were the under 15 girls and just like the under 13 boys they were missing that 4th runner who would have ensured them the team prize. Sophie Beresford was best of the girls in 6th place. Sarah Hallissey was back for her first race and finished 8th with a much improved Súin Cunningham 9th.
West Waterford’s fist individual win of the day came in the under 15 boys where Noah Commins took the title with ease adding it to the under 16 title he won the week before.
Fia de Paor followed this up with a very good win in the under 17 girls race just ahead of Sarah O’Riordan in 2nd place. This was Sarah’s first individual medal in the championships. Newcomer Clodagh Stapleton came home 5th and Eabha Hickey finished 6th to earn the team the gold medals.
Naoise MacMhurchadha took the individual title in the boys under 17 in his first out ing of the season.
Our final winner on the day was Grainne Moore who won the girls under 19 race ahead of Doireann Hickey 2nd and in the final boys race of the day Gearóid Coffey finished 2nd and Cody Coughlan 3rd.
Tony’s Winter League Starts Wed Next Oct 18th
The highlight of the cross country season for many of our athletes is the winter league (known to all as Tony’s League) which takes place over seven Wednesdays in October, November and December. The league will start on Wed Oct 18th . The first two weeks Oct 18th and 25thth will be trial runs after which the teams will be decided. It is important that you run on one of these two weeks as the teams will be selected from these two runs
The League is run over the full 2000m lap for the older athletes with the younger athletes running 1000m . Each week it is a race against yourself to try and bring down your own time. The team race begins on Wed 8th November and will continue for four weeks finishing on Wed 29th. If you are on a team it is important that you turn up every week regardless of the weather as one missing runner can knock a team out of the running for the rest of the League.
The final run of the league will be on wed Dec 6th . This will be a countdown race with the idea that everyone will finish together. The prizes which are sponsored by Elvery’s InterSport and West Waterford AC will then be presented in the Friary Hall before we break for Christmas.
Munster Even Age Cross Country Championships in West Clare on Sunday Next Oct 22nd
We have a long trek to Cooraclare in West Clare next Sunday for the first round of the Munster Cross Country Championships. The bus will leave the Park Hotel @7pm sharp.
Make sure to pack warm clothes, rain gear and bring plenty of food with you. The following teams have been entered
Girls under 12
Ellie Mai Doherty, Isobel Daly, Leah Kiely, Amy Cosgrave, Eile de Paor
Boys under 12
Olan Devereaux, Kevin Russell, Jarleth Hurney, Tiernan Hogan, Colm O’Mhuiri
Under 14 Girls
Sophie Beresford, Ava Kiely, Isobel Gaffney, Saoirse Kinsella, Suin Cunningham, Luisne de Paor.
Under 16 Girls
Sarah Gaffney, Sarah O’Riordan, Fia de Paor, Lauren Cliffe
Under 16 Boys
Noah Commins
Under 18 Girls
Grainne Moore, Doireann Hickey,Eabha Hickey
Under 18 Boys
Cody Coughlan,
