All Ireland Title for Sinead Flynn
A group of fifty parents athletes and supporters from West Waterford A.C. made the long trek to Cavan last weekend for the second session of the All Ireland Cross Country Championships. The main group left the Park Hotel on Saturday and headed for Athlone where a little retail therapy was the order of the day. All our young athletes settled in for an early night in preparation for competition the next day.
We woke on Sunday morning to a winter wonderland scene and while we could sit back and admire the picture postcard scenery it made for difficult driving conditions but we gave ourselves plenty of time and along with the thousand of others from all over the country we made our way cautiously towards the venue Ballyhaise College.
The field was well laid out but the ground was frozen solid and uneven which made it difficult to run in for the first few races and later in the day as the ground thawed it became energy sapping mud.
Sinead Flynn gets us off to great start
First in action were the girls under 11. They had finished third team t in Munster to qualify for this event. Some had competed in Tramore two weeks ago but for the others it was their first experience of all Ireland competition. They would compete with the top 150 athletes from all over Ireland in their age group. As Munster champion Sinead Flynn led the Muster challenge. Two weeks ago in her first all Ireland she did not get out well at the start and struggled all through the race to try to make up the lost ground. Experience is a great teacher and it was a much wiser Sinead who went to the start line last weekend. From the gun she sprinted out and was in the leading bunch, by the half way stage to the delight of the West Waterford supporters she was in third place. Sinead pushed on into second and with about 150m to go took the lead however the second place athlete Dervla Beirne of Mohill overtook her again but on the finishing straight Sinead again took the lead to cross the line first and win her first Irish championships. Sinead also led Munster to the inter provincial title and so came home with two gold medals. Lorna Cummins maintained the good form she had shown in Munster when finishing 54th and was the 15th Munster girl home. Both Niamh Leamy and Kate Mc Grath showed great improvement on their Munster run when finishing behind Lorna in 55th and 56th place. Our two under 10’s on the team Aisling Mullaney and Dairina Shanley finished in 79th and 98th on a very difficult course but the experience should stand them in good stead for next year. The team finished 4th on the day and were the second Munster team.
We had four under 11 boys competing on the county and club team and one Micheal Power was on the Munster team. Despite feeling unwell on the long journey Micheal gave his all to finish in 45th and as he is a year young this was a good experience for next year. Eoin O’Brien and Oisin O’Mahoney ran well to finish in the top half of the field in 53rd and 66th while newcomer Oran Leamy finished 118th. In the team contest they finished ahead of Thurles Crokes and West Muskerry who had beaten them in the Munster championships.
Sean Curran was the only West Waterford representative in the boys under 13, in fact Sean was the only Waterford athlete to qualify for this race finishing 68th of the 127 athletes who completed the course.
Bronze for Kate Veale
In this event at the Curragh last year Kate Veale finished in the thirties. This year she improved greatly on that performance to finish 17th and as the third Munster girl home helped Munster to third in the inter provincial contest. Kate was the only Waterford athlete to qualify for this event. Our four under 13 girls had all qualified as part of the Waterford team and were competing at this level for the first time. Cliona Ryan despite being tripped up shortly after the start led the way home in 79th place. Gemma Wyley improved on her Munster form to get into the Waterford scoring six when she finished 122nd. Aisling Prendergast who was competing a year out of age finished 125th and Dominique O’ Mahoney was 144th. Joe Conway was our only competitor in the boys under 17 and was in the middle of the field finishing 56th. The under 17 girls team had qualified for the second year in succession and the three who competed last year all improved on their performances of last year. The team was headed home by Edel Roche in 51st place (up from 86th last year). Newcomer Nicola Coffey was 66th and but for a tumble on the last lap might have made it into the fifties. Rebecca Maher was 79th up from 92nd last year and Claire Collins who also had a fall during the race still managed to be seven places up on last year when finishing 82nd and Kate Kennedy had a better run than in Tramore when she finished 91st.
Elma Nugent ends Juvenile Career with Individual Medal
Elma Nugent ran the final race of her juvenile career last Sunday and ended it on a high note with an individual bronze when finishing 10th in the girls under 19 race. The bronze she collected meant that Elma has a complete set of All Ireland medals. Elma has made steady progress in cross-country running she took up the sport as a first year in the Ard Scoil. She won her first All Ireland medal as an under 17 when she was a member of the Waterford team that finished second in the inter county competition. Last year she won individual medals at Munster and was a member of the Munster team that took gold in the inter provincial competition. This year she won that elusive individual medal and was also the first Munster and Waterford athlete home. We wish her success in her senior career.
It was along journey home on Sunday evening but the DvD’s helped to pass the time quickly. Well done to all our young athletes and parents who made the journey. Enjoy a well-earned rest over the next few weeks.
We wish all our young athletes and their families a very happy and peaceful Christmas.
