Juvenile News November 20 2023

All Ireland Medal for  WWAC’s Fia de Paor

On Sunday morning we headed to Gowran Racecourse for the first session of the National Cross Country Championships. Athletes who had qualified travelled from all corners of Ireland to compete in this prestigious event. Athletes had to qualify from their provincial championships to take part in the event and West Waterford was delighted to have 10 athletes competing at the event. The day itself was crisp and bright and we managed to avoid any showers hanging about. Conditions underfoot were a different story and though the organisers did their best to preserve the course by not allowing athletes to warm up on the running area it soon turned into a mud bath. We are happy to report that all our athletes finished the course with two shoes on their feet many others were not so fortune and a large collection of mud stained spikes were on view to be collected at the end of the day.

Good Running from under 14 Girls

The under 14 girls race was held over 2500m but given the conditions it felt like running double that. A field of almost 200 runners started the race. Isabelle Gaffney was the best of the under 14’s as she finished in 42^nd place the same as last year but was much happier with her performance this year. She was the 2^nd scorer on the county team and was tenth Munster girl home up three places up from her Munster finishing position. Next home was Ava Kiely in 125^th with Saoirse Kinsella hot on her heels in 129^th. Its two years since Ava qualified for an All Ireland and last time she finished 142^nd. This was Saoirse’s first All Ireland. Both girls were running a year out of age and will compete in their own under 13 age group in Navan on Dec 3^rd. Luisne de Paor battled with a stitch for much of the race but put her head down and kept going crossing the line in 160^th place. Ava also scored on the Waterford team that finished 8^th of the fifteen teams that qualified.

Best Run of the Day from Fia de Paor 

The next event to feature West Waterford athletes was the under 16 girls which like the other races had a field of almost 200 athletes. This was a tough test for the girls as they had to run over 3,500mof heavy sticky ground. Fia de Paor has been very consistent in her training of the Autumn getting in four days most weeks including running the hills in Colligan. All the hard work payed off last Sunday as she came home in 18^th place a big step up from her 45^th place last year. Fia was the third scoring member of the Munster team that won bronze medals in the inter provincial competition. Sarah O’Riordan and Lauren Cliffe have also put in a good autumns training and their reward was breaking in to the top 100 for the first time at an All Ireland. Sarah finished strongly to take 81^st and Lauren came home in 94^th.  Sarah Gaffney had been out all week nursing a niggle in her knee but she bravely went to the start line to compete for the team. However the course took its toll on the injured knee and though not one to give up lightly Sarah was persuaded to withdraw from the race and live to fight another day.

 Top 50 finish for Grainne Moore and Naoise Mac Mhurchadha

The under 18 and under 20 events were held together so it was hard to know everyone’s finishing position until the result came on line. It is several years since Grainne Moore qualified for an All Ireland Final. She did so this year by finishing 10th in the Munster Championships and was a member of the Munster team. On Sunday last she was the 7^th Munster girl home finishing in 40^th position her best ever finish in an All Ireland. Naoise MacMhurchadha was competing a year out of age and also had to mix it with the big boys in the under 20 race. Naoise ran a good steady well paced race to finish in 44^th place.

After the race parents athlete and club officials all headed to the Newpark in Kilkenny for a well deserved meal and to round off a good day Fia was presented with her  All Ireland medal.

ElverysInterSport Sponsored Tony’s League

West Waterford’s winter league continues every Wed and things are hotting up in the team race.  We had a few people missimg last week and it changed things around on the team ratings. This week Fergus Donnolly’s team leads with 423pts from Sarah Gaffney’s Team 439 and Isabelle Gaffney’s Team 467 with the next four teams within striking distance of that third place. Its all to run for next Wednesday. The ground was a bit firmer last Wed and most of our athletes improved their times. Lope de Calvo, Tiernan Hogan Kevin Russell and Ava Kiely all went under 8mins for the first time.  Saoirse Kinsella, Ellie Mai Doherty, Isabelle Daly Rian Flavin, Lochlann Hurney, Mark McLoughlin and Seb Byrne went under 8.30 and Darren Doherty, Eile de Paor, Katie Mai Daly and Natalie Barry all made it round in under 9mins. In the short lap Alex Dempsey is very close to breaking the 4min barrier.  Don’t forget to come at 4.20 this week earlier if you want to check the board and see where you team is.   It is getting darker earlier and we need to have the warm up underway at 4.20. Results from last week