Juvenile Notes, 23rd October 2011

First Munster Title for Aoife Hamilton

Aoife Hamilton had a superb run at the Munster Cross Country Championships to win the girls under 14 race. Up with the leading bunch for the first 1000m Aoife then took command of the race and increased her lead with every stride over the next 2000m. She never looked like being caught as she powered her way up the final hill to win her first Munster individual title. She also led her club and county to gold. Aoife’s success was just one on a day that saw West Waterford athletes win 12 individual medals as well as two club titles, two seconds and a bronze in the inter club events. We also had a large number of athletes scoring on county teams.

Bronze for Lucy Holmes

First in action were the girls under 10. As usual there was a huge field in this race but the wide start meant they all got away to an even start. Lucy Holmes ran strongly throughout the race and finished in 3rd place up seven places from last year. Lucy also led the Waterford to the bronze medals in the inter county contest. Emily Murphy was delighted to be back in action and finished 44th with newcomer Ava Healy who had a great run just one place behind both were scoring members of the Waterford team that finished third. Kate Killegrew moved up an age and did well in her first championship to finish 49th. Sheena McGuickian was next home in 58th. Kate Heffernan finished strongly to take 79th. Caoimhe Earley finished 95th just one place ahead of Hannah Hallahan in 96th. 

Team Title for under 10 Boys

Last year it was silver for the under 9 boys, this year they went one better and with two individual medallists the team took the gold medals. Cormac Mahony in third place led them home. Cormac was chased all the way to the finish line by a fast finishing Sean Hickey who finished 4th up six places from last year. Carthach Daly put in a great finishing spurt to finish 28th and Oisin O’Riordan was the fourth scorer in 30th place. Another under 9 Alan Curran was next home in 40th place. Darragh Pender improved seven places from last year when finishing 45th and Mark Blackwell finished 80th in his first Munster run.

Improved Running from under 12 boys and girls

There were very large fields in both under 12 races. Kristian Murphy made a huge improvement on her run last year when she finished 64th up almost thirty places up from last year. Another who made a big improvement from last year was Conor Coleman who finished 70th this year twenty-six places ahead of his finishing position last year, while Thomas Hoarty (71st) was also well up on his finishing position of last year. Newcomer Patrick Walsh had a great run to finish 35th in his first Munster championships. Many of our athletes in this race were running a year out of their age and will finish much higher in their own age group. Best of the girls was Emily O’Mahony in 37th place. Aoibheann Connaughto finished 65th with Eva French not far behind in 69th. Ciara Mc Kenna finished 90th with Judith Campbell in 98th and Claudia Quarry in 102nd. Under 11 Cian O’Riordan was the first of the boys home in 26th with Sean Ronayne 44th just ahead of Aidan O’ Brien in 46th. Keelan Dee Carter was up seven places on last year in 62nd with Shaun O’Mahoney just three places further back.

Under 14 Girls Retain Munster Cross Country Title

Last year it was gold as under 13s this year it was gold again at under 14. This is the best group of young athletes that Waterford has produced for many years. Their hard work and commitment to training paid off last Sunday. West Waterford had four athletes in the top 7 and their combined winning score was the lowest on the day. They also helped Waterford to the gold medals in the inter county event. Aoife Hamilton looked every inch the true cross-country runners as she strode to victory. Emma Hallahan the county champion under 13 finished 4th a huge improvement on her 28th place last year. Sinead Flynn was back to her best form as she won another individual Munster medal when finishing in 5th place. Bronagh Condon was up two places on last year when she finished 7th. Meg Ryan who is improving with every race was just outside the individual medals in 14th place. Caoimhe Dwyer underlined the huge improvement she has made this year when she finished 16th a huge step up from her 44th place finish last year. Dairina Ni Sheanlaoich is coming back into form having missed most of the early part of this year and finished 28th. Rachel Wyley was next in 48th place and Aisling Mullaney despite losing a shoe improved eleven places in finishing 61st.

Micheal Power leads Bronze under 14 Boys to Bronze Medals

Another group of athletes who showed a big improvement from last year was the under 14 boys. Micheal Power had a great run to finish in 7th place well ahead of his 11th place finish of last year. Liam Reilly looked as if he would claim an individual medal but was caught on the uphill run to the finish and was placed 13th just one place outside the individual medals. Eoin O’ Brien was 11 places better than last year in finishing 23rd and there was also improvement from Aidan Mc Kenna who finished 42nd. Eoin Ryan was the next home in 60th place. The third place finish means the team qualified for the All Ireland Championships.

Silver for under 16 Girls

The under 16 girls were second in both the inter club and inter county competition. Last year despite a gutsy run Cliona Ryan finished in 14th just outside the individual medals. This year she was determined to finish in the top 12 and qualify for the All Ireland this she accomplished when finishing in 11th place.  Sarah Wyley has made huge strides this year and finished 13th a huge improvement on her 42nd place of last year. Katie Hamilton is back running again after an absence of some years and finished 26th while newcomer Catherine Henley was not far behind in 37th place. The team finished 2nd behind Leevale in the inter club contest and also helped Waterford to the silver medals in the inter county contest.

Individual Medal for Sean Curran as team finish 4th

In the boys under 16 race most of the team were a year out of age but put in a good team performance a repeat of which that should see them qualify for the All Ireland in their own age group. Sean Curran had one of his best runs in a Munster Championship when he finished 7th four places up on last year. Tholm Reddy ran strongly throughout the race to finish 18th while Shane O Riordan improved on his position of last year when he finished 28th. The O’Mahoney brothers have only taken to the sport in the last few months and battled all the way to the line. Chris was ahead for most of the race but Bryan put in a spurt in the closing stages to overhaul his brother as they finished 56th and 57th. The team finished 4th in the inter club contest.

Silver for under 18 Girls

Although they were missing Kate Veale the rest of the under 18 girls upped their performance as they were determined to qualify for the All Ireland. At that stage of the afternoon the rain had started and the 5000m was very sticky at this stage. Lucy O’ Brien led the way winning an individual medal when finishing 11th. Kaylee Norris was next home in 20th place. Una McGrath surprised herself when she finished 25th. Eimear Duff was the fourth scoring member of the team in 28th and newcomer Jennifer Meehan was next home in 29th. All five girls scored on the Waterford team that finished second.

Individual Medal for Robbie Mulligan

Robbie Mulligan made sure of his place in the All Ireland when he finished 11th in the boys under 18 race. The soft underfoot conditions made this race seem longer than 6000m but Robbie stuck to his task and was rewarded with an individual medal.

The under 14 boys and girls teams, the under 16 and under 18 girls teams plus Sean Curran and Robbie Mulligan have all qualified for the All Ireland Championships in Sligo the last weekend in November. Well done to all who competed.

Easons to Sponsor Tony’s League  

We are delighted to welcome back Eason’s Dungarvan as sponsors again this year of Tony’s League, which starts on Wed of this week with a 4o’clock start.. This league has become an important part of our cross-country training over the last number of years. The under 9 and some of the under 10 athletes run a 1000 lap while the rest of the under 10’s and older run a full 2000m lap. All the athletes are timed and their times are displayed on the board at training each night. After two weeks teams are created and this adds another dimension to the league. We will have 5 weeks of team competition with the final run and presentation of prizes in early Dec. This event creates huge interest among all our athletes as they strive to improve their times each week. We would like to thank Pat White of Eason’s for his continued support of this event. We have very big number at training so we expect a large turnout for the league so it is important that everyone arrives on time and registers and warms up straight away so we can get under way on time.

Upcoming events

Wed 26th Easons League starts 4pm in Friary
Nov 13 Munster Uneven Age Cross Country Clonmel
Nov 20 Munster Masters and Juvenile B Cross Country Limerick
Nov 27 AAI Inter County & Juvenile Even Age Cross Country Championships Sligo
Dec 11 AAI Novice & Juvenile Uneven Age Cross Country Championships Curragh