Five Individual and Five Team Championships for West Waterford ‘s Athletes
It was not just the sun that was shining at the first stage of the county championships, which were held in Mediterranean like conditions in the Friary last Sunday. The course was as always well laid out and there were some fine performance from our young athletes. There were cross country championship events for boys and girls under 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18. The event got under way bank on time at 1pm with the under 10 girls first in action.
Individual and Team Double under 10
Caoimhe Dwyer who was the runner up in last years under 9 event was soon leading the way coming home to take the first gold of the day for West Waterford and win her first individual county title. Aisling Mullaney last years bronze medallist finished 2nd and with Rachel Wyley also improving from 7th last year to 5th and Darina Shanley who was 12th last year finishing in 7th this year the team easily claimed first team prize as well. We also had newcomers Chloe Fennell (11th), Aine Flynn (18th) and Rebecca O’Neill (23rd). Next in action were the boys under 10 and they were out to show they could do just as well as the girls. Micheal Power in action for the first time in a county championship led a West Waterford clean sweep of the individual medals with Mark Twomey taking silver and Aidan Mc Kenna the bronze. David Montgomery finished in 8th place to ensure the team title. Eoin Ryan (10th), Oran Leamy (11th), Niall Blackwell (13th), Cian Fagan (18th) and Jack Mc Grath (20th) took third team prize in the same race.
Sean Curran take under 12 Title
A much-improved Sean Curran led right from the starting whistle to come home a clear winner in the boys under 12. Last year’s winner Tholm Reddy had a very good run to take the bronze medal in one of the most competitive races of the day. Newcomer Eoin O’Brien also had a very good run finishing 10th and with Oisin O’Mahony in 13th they also won the team title. Richard Casey was just one place further back in 14th with Shane O’ Riordan close by in 16th. The under 12 girls were led home by Sinead Flynn who was running her first race. Sinead was unlucky not to finish in the top three but a little more experience should see Sinead making a big improvement. She led her team of Cliona Ryan (5th), Aisling Prendergast (6th) and Sarah Wyley (7th) to second team place and for good measure our team of Kate Mc Grath (8th), Lorna Cummins (10th), Niamh Leamy (14th), Georgina Pacifico (19th), Margaret Frost (26th) and Holly Mc Grath (28th) finished third.
Gold for under 14 Girls
Lucy O’ Brien won her first individual medal of the championships when she finished 2nd in the under 14 girls. The girls also won the team event, which was a big jump up from their third place last year. Gemma Wyley who was 13th last year showed much improved form this year and finished 5th and just behind her was Chloe Lake in 6th and newcomer Emma O’Neill (8th) made up the scoring four. Also competing were Aine Power (11th) and Dominique O’ Mahoney (17th) up from 24th last year. Robbie Mulligan began his first cross-country season by taking silver in the under 14 boys and leading his team to second place in the team event. The two Cians finished 7th and 9th with Cian Ryan getting the better of Cian Dwyer while the O’Cathasaigh brothers who were making their debut at cross country finished Eanna 6th and Darch 10th.
Silver for under 16 Girls Team
Una Mc Grath came with a great sprint at the finish to move from 5th into second place in the girls under 16 race. This was a big improvement for Una who was 9th in the same race last year. Clodagh Gallagher finished (5th). Nicola Coffey (6th), Shelly O’Neill (10) and Hannah O’Connell were all taking part in this event for the first time. In the boys under 16 David Earley finished just outside the medals when he finished 4th, while Lughaidh O’Mahoney was 8th in this race. This was one of only two races on the day in which we did not have a team.
Gold for Edel Roche and Declan Power
Last year in this event Edel Roche was sixth when west Waterford finished second in the team race this year the same team dominated the race winning all three individual medals and the team title. Edel Roche took her first individual county title from Claire Collins in second and Rebecca Maher third. Kate Kennedy finished 4th and Shannen O Leary 5th. Declan Power led fro start to finish to come home an easy winner in the boys under 18.
In the competition for the Babs Connors Trophy for the best club at the championships West Waterford A.C. leads after the first day with 23pts from KCK 9pts and Ferrybank 6pts.
International Success for Kate Veale and Joe Conway
On Saturday last Kate and Joe headed off to Switzerland with the Irish race walking squad to take park in a series race. In the 3k event Kate Veale was the winner in a time of 14m 53 while Joe Conway was third in the 5km event in a time of 25m 47secs. It was a very successful outing for the Irish group who also recorded wins in the senior men’s event and the women’s 5k. Well done to both Kate and Joe and we look forward to seeing them in action on home soil next weekend.
Round 2 of the Championships next weekend
The second section of the county cross-country championships will be held next Sunday. The venue will again be the friary and start time 1pm. West Waterford athletes will again meet at 12.30 pm for a pre race warm up. For this session of the championships the races will be under 9, 11, 13, 15, and 17. We hope to see all those who were in action on Sunday last back on the cross-country circuit next weekend. Training continues on Wed. and Fri. 6pm in the Friary. New members are always welcome.
