West Waterford Athletic ClubWest Waterford Athletic Club

Juvenile Notes, 6th December 2009

Chaos at Starts mars an otherwise successful All Ireland Championships
The second round of the All Ireland cross-country were held for the first time at the University of Ulster Coleraine on Sunday last. What should have been an exciting experience for our many young athletes who were competing in their first All Ireland instead left athletes tearful and parents and coaches frustrated as the start of the races turned into chaos. The first problem arose with the under 11 girls as the organisers were inundated with complaints that the course was much longer than the race distance of 800m. Having lined up the athletes they decided to move the start and after a fifteen minute delay and four changes of start the race eventually got under way. With a very narrow course it was difficult for the athletes to make their way through the field of more than one hundred and thirty athletes. Chloe Fennell was the first of the West Waterford athletes home in 48th place. This was a much-improved performance on her run two weeks ago in Kilbeggan. Bronagh Condon (73rd) and Rachel Mc Guickan (96th) made it into to the top one hundred while Rachel Wyley (104th) finished just ahead of Aisling Mullanney (106th) with Caoimhe Dwyer in 116th place. The Waterford team finished in 8th place in the inter county competition. We hope to see all these athletes back competing next year and that they will have a more positive experience.

First All Ireland Medal for Micheal Power
The start of the under 11 boys was a little better but still too narrow for the large field. At the half way stage all our athletes were in the second half of the field but Micheal Power put in a great effort in the second half the race steadily making his way through the field to finish 31st and score on the Munster team that won silver medals in the inter regional competition. This was a big improvement on his Munster performance where he was eleventh but on Sunday he was the sixth Munster and first Waterford athlete across the line. Next home was his younger brother Jerome in 62nd place while Aidan O’Brien just got the better of Aidan Mc Kenna as they finished 92nd and 93rd with Oran Leamy in 118th. Waterford finished 9th in the inter county competition as did West Waterford in the Inter club competition.

Another Gold Medal for Sinead Flynn
The under 13’s lined up at the original start for there race and it soon descended into
mayhem as athletes struggled to get a starting space in the confined area there was a lot of pushing and shoving and one of the casualties was Kate Mc Grath who took a heavy fall at the start and was taken to the local hospital where an x-ray  revealed torn ligaments in her shoulder. Sinead Flynn had an impressive run to finish 16th and claim a gold medal as a member of the Munster team. Sinead also improved on her Munster performance where she had finished 7th and a big improvement on last year’s performance where she was 45th. Next home was Cliona Ryan followed by Sarah Wyley and Lorna Cummins since we have no results for this race or the under 13 boys or under 15 girls where Lucy O’Brien Aine Power and Gemma Wyley we do not have any finishing positions for out athletes but home to have them by next weeks notes.    

Superb Run by Seamie Fennell
Seamie Fennel first came to prominence this year when competing in the JB White sponsored schools cross-country in late September. He went on to compete with West Waterford in the county championships where he finished third in the under 13 event. He got his first tasted of Munster competition in the under 14 boys which was held on home ground but his lack of experience at this level showed and he never got out of the main bunch finishing in 33rd. Two weeks later in Tralee he was a much more seasoned competitor and got up with the leading pack to finish 7th and win his first Munster medal. On Sunday last despite the difficult start he put in a tremendous performance and finished 13th and score on the Munster team which won the inter regional event. Such was the chaos at the start of this race that it later came to light that the athletes started the race themselves and so no results and medals were given out and we await a decision on whether the race will be rerun or the results as they are stand. Whatever the outcome Seamie can be well satisfied with such a super run.

First All Ireland Cross Country Medal for Robbie Mulligan
There was another super performance from Robbie Mulligan in the boys under 15 when he came home in 35th place, which was 11 places better than last year. In Tramore last year Robbie came close to scoring on the Munster team as he was the eight Munster athlete across the line this year however he was the fourth Munster home and as such was a scoring member of the Munster team that won bronze medals in the inter regional contest earning Robbie his first All Ireland cross country medal.

Another Great Run by Kate Veale
Once again displaying the form that won her a bronze medal in Kilbeggan two weeks ago Kate Veale was our only individual medal winner of the day when a scintillating performance in the under 17 girls saw her take the silver medal behind her Munster rival Amy O’Donoghue of Limerick. Both girls got away well at the start and soon opened up a gap on the rest of the field. They worked to maintain this gap and in the run to the finish Amy took the gold with Kate the silver. Kate will be well pleased, as she was much closer to Amy that she was in their previous two meetings this year. Last year in the same event Kate was 19th so she has made huge progress in the space of a year. We also has Una Mc Grath, Kayleigh Norris, Aoife Kiely and Emer Duff competing in this event but will have to wait until later in the week for their finishing places. 

Declan Power ends Juvenile Career with Bronze Medal
Declan Power ran his last race as a juvenile athlete last Sunday when he competed in the under 19 boys event and he finished with a bronze medal as a member of the Munster team. Declan finished the event in 35th place and was the fifth Munster man home which was an improvement on his run in Tralee where he finished 9th. We also had four athletes competing in the under 17 boys. Darragh O’Riordan in 69th place led them home. Lughaidh O’ Mahoney got the better of David Earley as they finished 80th and 92nd with Tony O’Mahoney in 1118th.

Well done to all our athletes who competed on the day and our thanks to the many parents who travelled with us to this event. We had a long journey home but the excellent food provided by the Fairways Hotel in Dundalk and the songs of ABBA helped to shorten the journey. Enjoy a well-earned rest over the holidays

Easons League Concludes
On Wednesday last we had our final training session this year with the final run of our Eason’s cross-country league. Holly Mc Grath won it for the second year in a row. Pat White of Easons Dungarvan was on hand to present the prizes. We will have full results and photos next week.

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