West Waterford Athletic ClubWest Waterford Athletic Club

Senior News,January 14 2024

35th ANNUAL KIELY MONUMENTAL COLLIGAN CUP

 

 

PATRICK HURNEY WINS COLLIGAN CUP .

 

 

 

For the 35th time we made our annual trip to Colligan woods for the Kiely Monumental sponsored event. The day was cold but the main thing I suppose this time of year is that it was a good dry day and this helped as a great turnout came to run and watch the famed event. As the norm the days racing got under way with the McGrath newsagents colligan shield for juveniles and we congratulate this year’s winner David Kiely Abbeyside on his success here , a full report on this great event can be seen in this week juvenile club notes. So after the juvenile race finished it was onto the adult’s event, this race of course in unique in that all participants have exactly the same chance of winning as the next runner. The countdown clock was started at 60 minutes by Victor Mullins and Tom Leahy club chairman our timing scrutinisers at the stroke of 12 noon. It was then up to the runners themselves to start when they wanted with the aim being to be the first person to finish when the clock hits 0. At the end of the 3 and a half laps covering a total distance of 5 miles the runners were well and truly grouped together with a huge group heading down the wood for the final time on the last lap. This year we saw a good turn out when we had 100 runners taking part . As it always is the case when the field of runners got closer and closer to the finishing line it was anyone’s guess as to who would be deemed the winner for the 35th time, and after the clock struck 00 it was Patrick “Pudge” Hurney  who was deemed to be our winner for 2024 and he will now have  his name inscribed on the famed Colligan plaque. The Hurney name is a household name as the whole family are steeped in the GAA with their club Abbeys ide/ Ballinacourty and indeed Waterford GAA circles also. Patrick and his brother’s John and Garry and Father Packie at committee and team management level have been the backbone of many of their club success for the past decade and all have played their part on Waterford county teams in both codes  in that period also, all that aside Patrick has the bragging rights in the household for the coming 12 months as all the boys are involved now in the running scene locally and he has pulled of one of the most sought after victories in our club, a big congratulations to Patrick.  Well done also to our other prize winners who were ever so close on the day and who came so close to taking the title, Yev Chizhikov was next just 1 second out very very close Yev ,3rd place went to Jamie Hynes  only 2 second out, Jamie was the winner of the Victor Mullins cup in last year’s event, and John Cass was 4th and was this year’s winner of the Victor Mullins cup and was so unlucky not to take the overall as he was just 4 seconds off his target time, another who could easily have snatched it on the day as he was only 9 seconds out was brother of our winner Gary Hurney  in 4th place. There also was those who came so close but were seconds too fast on the wrong side of the clock and the included Alice Fitzgerald 1 second to fast, and the two Brunnock brothers Paddy and Johnny only 2 and 3 seconds to fast, and Pascal Proctor 4 seconds to fast. Next year lads. Here’s to the 35th year next year PG.

 

 

 

FIRST FIVE :

 

Winner Patrick Hurney

2nd Yev Chizhikov

3rd Jamie Hynes

4th John Cass

5th Gary Hurney

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MADELEINE HEARN CLAIMS COLLIGAN SHIELD.

 

 

Huge congratulations to our ladies shield winner last Sunday Madeleine Hearn who won the Kiely Monumental Colligan shield for ladies when she was just 5 seconds off her predicted time, finishing 4th overall in the event. Madeleine who joined our club some time back and has competed and won county cross country titles with the club hails from Tipperary and is now teaching locally and living in Abbeyside .Madeleine could very well have won the cup also on the day as she was just she finished 4th overall in the event and was just 5 seconds off winning the double both cup and shield, but I’m sure she is thrilled to take the Ladies title this year. It was a great day for the Village in Colligan Sunday as  the Juvenile and both senior races were won by Abbeyside residents. Huge congratulations to Madeleine who now has the bragging rights in the staff room Monday morning. Our 2nd lady home is knocking on the door as she finished 5th last year and this year moved up quite a few notches to take second place and just 6 seconds off her predicted time Tara Ní Reachtagain,in 3rd place was Angela Tobin who was also just 6 seconds off winning the overall,4th Lady was Onra Power 14 seconds out as was our 5th lady Linda Bradfield again 14 seconds off, these two Ladies have been in the winner’s podium in the past at this event. Our stats man tells me that it was nearly 50/50 as the stats show us  it was 50 runners were too fast of their predicated time and on the wrong side of the clock as we say and only 46 were on the right side of the clock. Well done to all our ladies winners and those who came along to take part also.

 

 

 

Ladies Shield winners.

1st Madeline Hearn

2nd Tara Ní Reachtaigain

3rd Angelina Tobin

4th Onra Power

5th Linda Bradfield

 

 

 

 

 THE VICTOR MULLINS CUP GOES TO JOHN CASS.

 

 

 Victor Mullins was the creator of this style of time handicap race as it was he who came up with the handicap timing system which has been used now for the past 35 years in this event. Each year Victor presents the Victor Mullins Cup and a prize to the first person on the right side of the clock that has never ran the Colligan Cup before. This year’s winner was John Cass who joined us for the race in Colligan last Sunday so very well done to Joh n. Our thanks go to Victor for his help and sponsorship of this element of the race and for his on-going involvement with this race each year.

 

 

 

 

 

MANY THANKS.

 

 

 Our thanks to all who helped in any way to make last Sunday’s 35th Annual Kiely Monumental Colligan cup. Firstly a huge thank you to our loyal sponsors of 35 years David and Margaret Kiely of Kiely Monumental works. Many thanks to David who once again was available to present the winners with the famed Colligan cup and shield on the day. Our thanks also to Victor Mullins for all his practical help on the day and he also was on hand to present his cup the Victor Mullins trophy winner to this year’s winner. To the numerous people who looked after the entries and results especially Ann, Ray, Declan, Shirley, Tom and thanks to Victor for looking after the timing, Thanks to Ann Dunford for looking after the prizes for the race and her work with securing the use of Colligan wood for the event. Thanks to Jamie Mills and Pat Early for looking after the course preparation and to all on finish line duty and all for who helped with the stewarding on the course. Many thanks to Coillte for the use of Colligan, without their help we couldn’t have staged the event at all. Here’s to next year and the 36th year of the event in 2025.

 

FORDES DAYBREAK WINTER LEAGUE LONG COURSE.

 

A BLANKET COULD COVER THE TOP CONTENDERS.

 

As they say a blanket could cover the top contenders, this is so true of our current standing in the Forde’s Daybreak winter league with most divisions only separated by a points of so, indeed most if not all of the divisional winners are hard to call it’s so tight at the top and the same can be said about who our overall winner will be this year as there are still quite a few contenders in the hunt to list the cup for 2024.Last week we had a very cold night with very low temperatures , however this did not deter the runners of the winter league who were out in force. Round 7 of the league over the long course  had a brilliant turnout of 191 runners. A huge thanks to all the runners who braved the elements last week and of coursed our stewards and finish line personnel, take a bow one and all. The overall leaders took quite a change at the top of the table last week and have no doubt there will be more changes before the final 3 weeks are complete. The divisional placing’s are unbelievably tight also with nothing between many of the top contenders in nearly all the 12 divisions, way too early to be talking about possible winners. This week we have a mass start at 6.40 for short course and 6.45 for long course.

 

Division 1

1  Cathal Dwane 1145

2  Colm O Connell 1123

3  Carol Gaffney 1112

4 Liam Fitzgerald 1102

5  Jody Hynes 1091

6  Kevin Casey 1078

7  Sean Lennon 1066

8  Ronan Crotty 1053

9  David Donnelly 1049

10  John Coade 1040

 

 

 

Division 2 Linda Bradfield 1029 Yevgeniy Chizhikov 987 Donall Mc Grath 982

Division 3 Tom Nyhan 941  Micheal Power 934 Joe Grant 934

Division 4  Cathal E Gleeson 919 Eoin O Riordan 897 Emmet Gaffney 888

Division 5 Onra Power 897 Martina Carver 882 Michael Hayes 869

Division 6  Robert Flynn 863  John Joe Hayes 845 Eoin Darcy 824

Division 7  Paul Mc Grath 830  Éanna De Faoite 807 Tom  Mansfield 805

Division 8 Michael Dunford 797 Michelle Finnegan 796 Ian Cliffe 795

Division 9 Anthony Flynn 760 Fergal Connolly 706 Helen Ryan 679

Division 10  Natalie Sheehan 724 James Coade 712  Jamie Hynds 700

Division 11 Paschal Proctor 661 Pat  Morrissey 650 Norma Wall 626

Division 12  Rebecca Queally 564 Mark Shalloe 509 Johnny Lynch 503

 

 

 

 

COLD NOT A DETERENT FOR SHORT COURSE RUNNERS.

 

 

Despite it being a very cold night last Wednesday for round 7 we still have a brilliant turn out of 127 souls on the 2.4 mile run. There are now only 3 more nights left before the conclusion of this year’s league. This section of the league specifically has first timers and beginners in mind and is a manageable distance for most as it covers 2.4 miles in total. Looking at the tables after week 7 its so so close with nothing between the leaders in all 12 divisions, which argues for some very I interesting running over the final 3 rounds.Our thanks to runners and stewards who braved the elements last week. Many of the divisional top spots are so very close with 3 rounds remaining but remember so much can change in a night or two so it’s all to play for yet. This week we have a mass start at 6.40 short course and 6.45 for long course runners..

 

The top 10 is as follows.

 

1 Grainne Moore 650

2 Gerry Cummins 629

3 Michele Durand 627

4 James Meagher 604

5 Valerie Flynn 587

6  Michael Coakley 566

7 Kelly Shalloe 565

8 Gillian Collins 556

9 Stephanie Curran 550

10 Colm Barry 548

11 Sarah Breen 548

 

Divison 2 Carmel O Donovan 514 Eileen Campbell 506 Pádraig Corbett 503 Dearbhla Flynn 503

 

Divison 3 Deirdre Whelan Devine 472 Micheal Moynihan 471 Joanie McGrath 470

 

Divison 4 Richard Jones 443 Emma Butler 440 Emma Queally 438 Kealan Hayes 438

 

Divison 5 Julie Regan Regan 407 Sheilanne O Donoghue 398  Joey Miller 395

 

Divison 6  Laura Walsh 367 Eabha  Fee 367 Aisling Horgan 365  Niamh Murphy 365

 

Divison 7 Louise Ní Chonaire 333 Linda Bouskine 332 Michael Horgan 330 Fern Power 330

 

Division 8  Niamh O Mahony 299 Claire Crowley 292 Emer Behan 292

 

Division 9  Eva Ni Mhuiri 275 Claire Cosgrave 269 Richie Harty 265

 

Division 10 Rebecca  Hodnett 233 Eda Costin 223 Claire Fennell 222

 

Division 11  Declan Kenneally 189 Caroline O’Donnell 189 Katie Harrington 186

 

LUCY HOLMES WINS CELTIC UNDER 23 CROSS COUNTRY IN SCOTLAND.

 

Congratulations to member Lucy Holmes who travelled on the Irish under 23 cross country team to participate in the Scottish Athletics inter district Cross-Country, incorporating the Celtic Cross Country and UK Cross Challenge, which was held in Renfrew, Scotland last Saturday .Lucy finished 1st in the over 20 category in a mixed race with seniors and Master’s finishing an excellent 7th overall in the race which had 67  finishers . Sarah Coutts Scotland was second in 29.59 and Aoife Coffey Ireland was third in 30.11. The MTU student won this race by some distance and has been in superb Cross County form this season. Lucy gained selection for this team after a sensational win at the Athletics Ireland National Novice Cross Country Championships in December and her 6th place finish in the under 23 national cross country championships the previous week in Gowran. Co Kilkenny. Lucy led the Irish team to gold here also on 9 points with team mates Aoife Coffey and Alex Murphy also scoring and Scotland were 2nd on 13 points. This rounds off a great cross country season for Lucy as she prepares now for the upcoming Indoors season.  Well done also to other local athletes at the same venue with Harry Colbert Waterford AC winning the under 17 men’s race with David Williams St Sennans AC 4thth in the same event and Waterford’s Ciara Rohan was 5th in the girls under 15 race, Youghal’s Avril Millerick was 7th in the under 20 race. Well done to all.

 

KATE VEALE WINS JORGE COSTA 5K RACE WALK TROPHY IN PORTUGAL.

 

At the 8th Jorge Costa Trophy race walking event held in the Algarve Portugal last Saturday Kate Veale was in action in the open 5k, the race was the regional championships for 2024 and had a full programme of races from juvenile to seniors and masters. Kate is no stranger to that part of Portugal which holds fond memories as the race was held on the same course where she recorded a bronze medal performance back in 2011 at the European youth’s . After a good race with local athlete Costa Kate broke clear in the final kilometre to record a winning time of  22:42 with Portugal’s  Carolina Costa in 2nd place 23:17 and Annette Torma Hungary was 3rd with a time of  25:38.Kate will continue here her training in Portugal where she has been for the past few weeks as preparation goes in for the upcoming indoor season which will be next on her agenda of races.

 

1              Kate Veale                          22:42

2              Carolina Costa                   23:17

3              Anette Torma                    25:38

4              Helena Diaz Madera      26:57

5              Justina Pereira                  30:51

6              Anabela Moreira             32:59

7              Beatriz Lopes                     33:49

8              Helena Rodrigues           39:26

9              Sara Guerreiro                  41:54

10           Maria Martins                   44:58

123.IE NATIONAL MASTERS INDOORS.

THE GOUGHS BRING HOME GOLD.

 

The first of the 123.ie national indoor competitions kicked stared the season in Athlone today where a full programme of indoor events went ahead when the national masters took place. The club had two athletes competing when Joe Gough and Terri Gough made the trip to the magnificent indoor arena in Athlone. Terri competed in 3 events in the over 75 category and took another 3 gold medals for her growing collection. In 60 Meters sprint with a time of 15.56,Terri also took gold in the 200 meters sprint posting a time of 58.15 and her 3rd gold on  a productive day was in the shot throwing a distance of  6.13. Joe was in action in one event the 800 meters where he won in a fast time of 2.27.77. Well done to the Gough’s

 

 

DERMOT CUMMINS WINS FERRYCARRIG 5.

 

A good field of 272 completed the Ferrycarrig Co.Wexford  5 mile road race today Sunday  which was held in ideal conditions. West Waterford’s Dermot Cummins was the man of the day winning in a time of 24.41 and was the only athlete to break the 25 minute mark on the day with Evan Fitzgerald Clonmel AC 2nd in 25.22 and Sean Doran Clonliffe Harriers AXC 3rd in 26.39,the Ladies winner was Ciara Wilson DMP AC with a time of 27.40. Well done Dermot.

 

 

 

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