West Waterford Athletes Compete in 123.ie All Ireland Cross Country Championships
Day 2 of the All Ireland Cross Country Championships were held in Tramore last Sunday and after our marathon trek to Fermanagh for day 1 it was great to have day 2 close to home. Well done to Tramore AC for hosting a very well run championships. As expected at this level the course was challenging and the pace was fast across all the age groups.
First in action in the under 13 girls were Eabha Broderick and Madison Connors who qualified as part of the county team. This was the first time they had qualified for an All Ireland championships and they both got stuck into the challenge straight away with Eabha finishing 139th and Madison 151st. The Waterford team finished 12th in the inter county event.
The girls under 15 were competing as a club team with Natalie Barry and Saoirse Kinsella competing in their second All Ireland of the year and Sheelagh Curran and Ava Ryan competing for the first time at this grade. Natalie made it into the top 100 finishing 91st while Saoire was just outside the top 100 in 102nd place. Sheelagh was next through in 135th and newcomer Ava in 141st. All four girls have made big improvements this year and it was a big achievement for them to qualify in a tough Munster competition. The club team finished 18th and the county team with Natalie and Saoirse scoring finished 10th.
William McNally continues to improve with every outing and last Sunday he finished 53rd in the boys under 15 race. He was the second scorer on the Waterford team that finished 6th in the inter county race.
In the under 17 girls race Sarah O’Riordan finished 116th place and was a scoring member of the Waterford team that finished 7th overall. This was a much better run from Sarah than her previous run over the course in the Munster Championships. Newcomer Jessica Grigor looked much more comfortable over the 4500m distance as she competed in her first All Ireland finishing 119th.
In the boys under 17 Noah Commins is still struggling to recapture the form in Conna but despite his discomfort he battled strongly to finish 51st and help Waterford to a 5th place finish in the inter county race.
Grainne Moore signed off on her juvenile career with a 53rd place finish in a tough girla under 19 race over 5000m and we waited until the last race of the day for our best placed finisher on the day as Naoise MacMhurchadha finished 22nd in the boys under 19 race. Naoise was a scoring member of the Munster team but they just lost out to Leinster for the bronze medals.
A big well done to all our athletes who competed at this event and kept the West Waterford AC flag flying at these championships.
Final Day of Tony’s League Sponsored by Elverys Inter Sport.
Wed is the day our young athletes have been waiting for as we have the final run off of the league followed by the presentation of prizes. This week everyone will head off on or close to their best time as we use the countdown clock and we expect everyone to finish close together with prizes for the first two athletes across the line. We will then head into the hall for the presentation of prizes. There will be prizes for the top three teams and lots of individual prizes as well. Parents and guardians are invited to attend the prize giving.
This will be our final day of training as we take a break for the Christmas Holidays.
Annual General Meeting
The annual general meeting of the juvenile club will take place in Minnies Bar @8pm on Tuesday 10th of December. We would encourage all parents of our athletes to come and have their say in how the club is run at this meeting.
