Success for West Waterford Athletes in All Ireland Championships
Hardy and testing were words that could be used to describe the conditions in Kilbeggan last Sunday where the first session of the All Ireland cross country championships under 12, 14, 16 and 18 were held. Despite the flooding of the previous days and the forecast of heavy winds the journey there was relaxed and uneventful. Twenty young athletes made the journey to represent club, county and province and they gave of their all despite a strong biting wind that blew across the course and the muddy conditions.
Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals for Sinead Flynn
Sinead Flynn once again underlined her position as one of the most promising young athletes in the country with a solid performance that saw her finish second in the under 12 race. Sinead got off to a good start as was soon in the bronze medal position, running against the wind she moved up into second and the chase was on to the line where Sinead finished second behind Nadia Power Templeogue A.C. Sinead led the Munster team to gold medals in the inter provincial competition and West Waterford A.C. to the bronze medal position in the inter club competition.
Great Run by Kate Mc Grath
Another athlete who has improved immensely this year is Kate Mc Grath. Last year in the same event Kate finished 56th, this year a much stronger Kate finished 12th to win her first individual All Ireland medal. Kate was also a scoring member of the Munster team that won gold medals and the West Waterford team that won bronze.
All Ireland Medals for Lorna Cummins, Bronagh Condon & Chloe Fennell
There was solid team running for the other three members of our under 12 team that helped the team win the bronze medals. Both Bronagh and Chloe are a year under age and were competing in their first All Ireland so it was a great achievement for them to be part of a medal winning team. Lorna Cummins was the third scoring member of the team and like all the others on the team she will be heading to Coleraine in two weeks time to compete in the second session of the championships.
Under 12 boys and under 14 girls weather the worst of the winds
Just before the start of the under 12 boys race the rains came and both they and the under 14 girls were battered by the strong winds. Micheal Power and Aidan Mc Kenna were on the Waterford team with Micheal making into the top fifty finishing 49th and Aidan in 148th position. The team finished in 8th place. Both Cliona Ryan and Aisling Prendergast improved on their performance of last year Cliona finished in 62nd position up from 79th last year while Aisling finished 106th up from 125th last year. Sarah Wyley was also competing at this level for the first time and finished 125th. All of these athletes were competing a year out of age and will compete under 11 and 13 in the second round of the championships.
Gold and Bronze for Kate Veale
Our final medal winner of the day was Kate Veale. Kate has continued her good form of late with a fine run to finish in 6th and win an individual medal. This was an improvement of 11 places on last year. Kate was the second Munster girl home and a very strong Munster team won the inter provincial title. West Waterford finished 11th in the team race with Aine Power 78, Una Mc Grath 88, Kaylee Norris 105, Aoife Kiely 109, Emer Duff 115 all competing at this level for the first time. The under 18 boys also finished 11th with Brian Hallissey leading them home in 69th followed by Darragh O’ Riordan 75, Lughaidh O’ Mahoney 81 and Joe Conway 88th. Well done to all who competed and all who traveled to support the young athletes.
Munster B Championships on Sunday Next
Next Sunday we will have a shorter journey as we head to Fethard in Tipperary for the Munster B championships. The bus will leave Centa in Abbeyside at 9am. Even though we had 28 medal winners at the A championships who cannot compete in this event we still have a large entry for Fethard. The following athletes have been entered
Under 9 Girls
Claudia Quarry
Kellie Mulhearne
Ciara Mc Kenna
Orla Queally
Sarah Mullaney
Freya Willats
Under 9 Boys
Cian O’ Riordan, Eoin Pollock, Conor Brown, Sean Ronayne.
Under 11 Girls
Aine Flynn
Judith Campbell
Aisling Mullaney
Sarah Morrissey
Rachel Wyley
Darina Shanley
Aoife Brown
Under 11 Boys
Jack mc Grath
Aidan O’ Brien
Aidan Mc Kenna
Diarmuid Harty
Eoin Ryan
Oran Leamy
Arthur Chizhikov
Under 13 Girls
Holly Mc Grath
Laura Cusack
Under 13 Boys
Cal Franklin
Oisin O Mahoney
Alex Pollack
Tholm Reddy
Eoin Dwyer
Shane O’ Riordan
Richard Casey
Ross Cronnely
Under 15 Girls
Dominique O’ Mahoney
Gemma Wyley
Ellen O’ Brien
Under 17 Girls
Una Mc Grath
Emer Duff
Under 17 Boys
David Earley
Alex Lai
Conor O’Donavan
Tony O’ Mahoney
All Ireland Championships in Coleraine
On Saturday 5th December we head to the north of Ireland for the second leg of the All Ireland Cross Country Championships under 11,13,15,17, and 19. The following athletes have qualified for this event.
Munster Teams
Under 11 boys Micheal Power
Under 13 girls Sinead Flynn
Under 13 boys Seamie Fennell
Under 15 boys Robbie Mulligan
Under 17 girls Kate Veale
Under 19 boys Declan Power
County Team
Under 11 Girls
Chloe Fennell, Bronagh Condon, Rachel McGuickan, Caoimhe Dwyer Aisling Mullaney Rachel Wyley.
Under 11 Boys
Micheal Power, Jerome Power, Aidan O’ Brien, Eoin Ryan, Oran Leamy
Under 13 Girls
Sinead Flynn, Cliona Ryan, Kate Mc Grath, Sarah Wyley, Lorna Cummins
Under 15 Girls
Lucy O’ Brien, Aine Power, Gemma Wyley,
Under 17 Girls
Kate Veale, Una Mc Grath, Aoife Kiely, Emer Duff, Kaylee Norris
Under 17 Boys
Darragh O’ Riordan, David Earley, Lughaidh O Mahoney, Tony O’ Mahoney
Club Teams
Under 11 Boys
Micheal Power, Jerome Power, Aidan O’ Brien, Eoin Ryan, Oran Leamy, Aidan Mc Kenna
Under 13 Girls
Sinead Flynn, Cliona Ryan, Kate Mc Grath, Sarah Wyley, Lorna Cummins
Under 17 Girls
Kate Veale, Una Mc Grath, Aoife Kiely, Emer Duff, Kaylee Norris
European Cross Country Championships
This year on Dec 13th Ireland will host the European Cross Country Championships. This will be a great opportunity to see some top-flight athletes in action. In order to encourage as many young athletes as possible to attend this event all registered juvenile athletes will gain entry free of charge with their current registration card. We hope that parents will make the effort to take their children to see this event. All registration cards for West Waterford athletes are available from Mary Ashe. Half price tickets for adults will be on sale at the National Championships in Coleraine.
The juvenile committee would like to extent sincerest sympathy to Harry, Lucy, Eoin and Aidan O’Brien on the death of their father and grandfather.
