West Waterford Athletic ClubWest Waterford Athletic Club

The Club Year in Review

THE YEAR IN REVIEW

DECEMBER 2007

Our ladies masters teams of Diane Behan, Ann Dunford and Ann Whelan (O/35) and Ailish Ní hAodha, Josie Uí Chuirín and Margaret Power won silver medals at the Munster Cross Country Championships in Tralee. Diane Behan won bronze in the O/35 category.
In the World Championships Cross Country held in Spain, David McCarthy had a terrific performance and finished 9th over all in his race.

December 16 2007 was a great day of honour and prestige for the club. In the grounds of the Friary College, the All-Ireland Novice and uneven ages juvenile cross country championships were held. The men’s team of Alan O’ Brien, Raivis Zakis, Algiers Mathiers and James Ledingham won silver club medals and bronze county medals.
The ladies were fourth, just outside of the medals. Diane Behan was 9th position overall and along with Norma Wall, Mary Burke of Waterford A.C. and Maria Hally of Ferrybank, they claimed second county team.

December also saw the club continue with its long standing tradition of fundraising for charity. The proceeds of the last night of the Winter League amounted to €1,100 and this was donated to the Abbeyside/Ballinroad/Garranbane Senior Citizen’s Group. On St. Stephen’s Day a record entry of 170 runners for the Dungarvan GAA fun run meant that a total of €2,300 was raised in aid of the local Sesame School. Combined with the wren a total of 2766 was raised.
In the St. Stephen’s Day run hosted by Clonmel A.C., Raivis Zaikis was 4th man and Diane Behan was second lady.
At the Baldy Man race held on December 30th, Raivis Zakis was 2nd and Mark Shalloe 6th. Diane Behan was 2nd in the ladies.
Club race walker Jamie Costin won the Park Hotel sports award for the month of Decemner, his third such award. He won the award for his win in the Irish National 30k race walking championships.

JANUARY 2008

At the Mallow 10 mile Road Race, Raivis Zakis recorded victory for the second time at this race in a time of 53.10. In the ladies, Diane Behan was first O/35 and Ann Dunford was 2nd O/40. Pat Connaughton was 2nd O/60.

On the same day as the Mallow 10, the club was also being represented in the Munster Masters Indoors Championships. Eilish Ní hAodha took gold in both the O/45 800m and the 1500m. Sandra Brazil-White won gold in the 200m O/35 and silver in the 60m O/35. Terri Gough won gold in the 800m O/60 and silver in the 1500m O/60. Joe Gough claimed gold in the 800m O/50.

At the Munster Senior and Junior Cross Country Championships in Cashel, the club proved that it was a club to be reckoned with and came away with medals in both the Senior and Junior categories in club and county. The Junior men won gold for the club, this team consisted of Rory Moloney, Mark Shalloe, Joe Conway and Brian Hallissey. Rory, Mark and Joe were part of the county team that were third.
The senior men also performed very well and came away with bronze club medals and a silver individual medal for Raivis Zakis. The scoring four were Raivis Zakis, Padraig Healy, Sean Stilwell and Brian Byrne.
The Junior Ladies were third club team and this team consisted of Elma Nugent, Edele Roche, Rebecca Maher and Stacey Lyons. The Senior women also claimed bronze club medals. The team members were Corinna Walsh, Eilish Ní hAodha, Ann Dunford and Brigid Coffey. Corinna, Eilish and Ann were also members of the county team that won bronze medals.
At the Mount Sion run held on the same day, Diane Behan was the first lady home.

FEBRUARY 2008

February 3rd saw the most prestigious and successful event ever held by the club when a total of 699 runners took part in the Dungarvan 10. It was a massive undertaking by the club and all went very smoothly indeed. Martin McCarthy won the O/45 category and Gerry Cantwell the O/50 category. In the men’s teams, West Waterford was first and second.

Joe Gough set a new Irish record for 800 metres in the over 55 age category in London. The record remained intact for ten years until broken by Joe in a time of 2.11.13. The previous record was 2.14.86.

At the National Track and Field competition held on February 16th, West Waterford Athletic Club was again to the fore. Terri Gough won the 200metres, the 400 metres and the 800 metres and she won silver in the 60 metres.
Sandra Brazil-White won gold in the 200 metres and silver in the 60 metres. Brendan Moran won gold in both the 60 metres and the 200 metres and Joe Gough won gold in the 400 metres.
At the 5 mile race held in Dunhill the next day Raivis Zakis was the overall winner with Sean Stilwell in second place and Declan McGrath in 3rd position. Diane Behan was first lady.
At the kilmac 5 mile race held on February 24, Raivis Zakis was a clear winner with Declan McGrath taking third spot on the day. The ladies race was won by Diane Behan with Corinna Walsh in second place. On the same day Joe Gough was competing in the track and field events and won the British 800 metres and also broke the Irish record in a time of 2.10.58.
Emerald Financial Services announced their sponsorship of the club annual.

MARCH 2008

At the 26th Dungarvan 10K Road Race, 153 participated in the race and Corinna Walsh was awarded the Mikey Roche Memorial Trophy and Gerry Cantwell won the West Waterford Dunabbey Trophy. Raivis Zakis was the overall winner of the race. Raivis was also presented with the “Athlete of the Year Award” on the same day for having represented his club the most throughout the athletic year 2007.

At the Munster Road Race Championships in Ballyea, Co. Clare, Raivis Zakis won 3rd spot overall in the men’s race. The men won third club overall with the team comprising of Raivis Zakis, Rory Moloney, Sean Stilwell and Gerry Cantwell.
Corinna Walsh was 2nd in the ladies race and Diane Behan was 2nd O/35 and Eilsh Ni Aodha was 1st /45. The ladies won first Senior club team, (Corinna, Diane, Norma and Eilish) 2nd novice team (Norma, Eilish, Triona and Ann Dunford) and 1st Masters Team (Diane, Eilish, Ann Dunford and Anne Whelan)

At the Moyglass 4 mile held on St. Patrick’s Day, Raivis Zakis was the overall winner on the day and Corinna Walsh won the ladies with Brigid Coffey winning 1st O/ 35.

Brendan Moran and Joe Gough represented Ireland at the 3rd World Masters Athletic Indoors Championships in France.
Joe won silver in the 800 metres and was 4th in the 1500 metres. Brendan Moran was just outside of the medal winners but set a new Irish record for the 60 metres and the 200 metres.

Raivis Zakis won the Paddy Joe Delaney Shield for the third time at the Ballycotton Ten with the club having 66 members competing on the day.

APRIL 2008

At the St. Senan’s Open Sports Ravis won the 3,000 mteres race.

The new look Ger Wyley summer series was launched with added incentives to run all ten races.
 The Mason Mortgages and Financial Services league came to a successful conclusion and numbers were well up on other years.

Raivis was the overall winner of the Munster 10 mile classic and Paul Brunnock joined the ranks of the Elite Marathoners having completed in the Connemara Ultra Marathon.
Pat Dunford, John Kearns, Ann Moroney and Terri Gough competed in the London Marathon.
Corinna was the first lady home in the Waterford 4 mile race with Ravis coming second.
  Raivis was a convincing winner of both the Marine and the Butlerstown races.  

 MAY 2008

As usual May kicked off with the Minnies Fit4Life Summer League at the Friary College with 115 athletes participants on the opening night.  

Raivis Zakis had a fantastic win in the Bantry Half Marathon with Declan Mc Grath filling 4th position.  Gerry Cantwell finished in second position in his category in the Vancouver marathon while Michael Dwyer completed the Boston marathon.
Sandis Bralitis recorded victories in the Middleton 5, the Bulmers 10k in Clonmel, Poulmucka 8k and also pipped Raivis in the John Joe Barry 5k in Tipperary.

The Munster Junior, Under 23 and Masters Track & Field took place in Cork I.T. and West Waterford Athletic Club had a very successful outing here. The club retained the overall Munster title with some excellent performances on the day.  This event is all about taking part for your club so well done to all participants and medal winners too numerous to mention.

The Richie Power Scaffolding Sponsored Sports Evening was once again organised by the club and saw wins for Karen Ryan (Ladies), Séan Stilwell (Senior Men) and Yevgenniy Chizhikov (Master Men).  

On the international scene Jamie Costin recorded a Seasons Best performance in Russia in the 20 k Walk.  This was in preparation for the 50k event in the Beijing Olympics.  Two weeks later Jamie went on to record another Season’s Best in a 20 K event in Krakow.

A record field of 277 runners participated in the 39th Paddy Flanagan memorial Waterford to Tramore with victory going to Sandis Bralitis and Kilgobnet athlete Muriel Cummins taking the ladies race.

West Waterford Athletic Club contested the National Track & Field Leagues in Tullamore and by virtue of our win in the 1st division in 2007 were elevated to the Premier League in 2008.  This was indeed a tough assignment but a valuable 94.5 points were garnered on the day with again some excellent performances.

Raivis had a great win in the Ballyandreen 5, the first of the Ballycotton series and also took the Emer Casey 10k in Youghal.  The West Waterford men’s team of Sean Stilwell, Philip Harty, Joe Kelly and Michael Dunford took the team title.

In the Munster Senior Track & Field in Castleisland, 3 athletes represented the club and all 3 recorded medal victories.  James Ledingham took silver in the 800metres while Thomas Houlihan pipped his brother Liam in the polevault competition.

Finally Joe Gough was accorded a mayoral reception by the Mayor of Waterford for his achievement in athletics.

JUNE 2008

A record entry of 167 turned out in Touraneena to see local hero David Mc Carthy, home from Providence University take the Hallahan Coaches sponsored 5k Road Race in a record time of 14.26.  Jackie Carty Kilmore A.C. Took the ladies title in 18.29.  

Earlier that day Declan Mc Grath had a fantastic 9th place finish in the Cork Marathon and W.W. A.C. also had 2 men’s relay teams in 4th and 5th position.  
David McCarthy also recorded a fantastic 2nd place in the Irish Milers event held in Tullamore, just 3 hundreds of a second behind James Nolan in a time of 4.01.02.  At the British Milers club in Watford David finished 6th with a p.b. for the distance in 3.49.94 while in Mannheim Germany at the European Cup in his first time running this event at Senior level David finished 3rd in a tactical race in 3.57.69.  

Beijing bound Jamie Costin continued his good form by finishing second in Lemington Spa in the 20k walk.  This was the Irish National 20k Walk held outside Ireland for the first time to get a better level of competition.  

Raivis Zakis and Corinna Walsh recorded victories in the Rathgormack 5.
Race number 5 in Ger Wyley Series sponsored by Tom and Ann Gough of Mooneys was captured by local athlete Ferdia O hAodha in a time of 31.49 with 170 athletes taking part.  Corrina captured the ladies title in 36.51.

In Clashmore 177 athletes toed the line and new sponsors, the Curran family from the Déise Bar came on board. Sandis Bralitis set a course record here for the 3rd year in a row in a time of 24.58 with Corinna Walsh takin her first Clashmore win in 31.42.

In Track & Field the Senior Mens team were disappointed to finish in 9th position after Round 2 of the National Championship as only 8 teams qualified for the finals.  The good news is that they will retain their Premier Division for 2009 where they will no doubt have another crack at making the finals.

Records toppled in Villarstown also where 207 runners took part in the Dromana 5 mile road race.  John Treacy on the 30th anniversary of his historic first World Cross Country title started the race which was won hy Sandis Bralitis in a time of 24.54 for his fourth win in a row.  Corinna Walsh took the ladies title in 31.01.  W.W. took the ladies team prize.  
In the Friary College the the popular Minnies Summer League came to a conclusion after 9 weeks.
Raivis recorded another victory in the Shanagarry 5 in a time of 26.22.  Joe Gough and Brendan Moran attended a graded meeting in Santry where Joe was 1st o/55 in 800m and Brendan won the 200m 0/50.  
Séan Stilwell took gold in the All-Ireland u/23 3000m Steeplechase in Tullamore in a time of 10.14.

JULY 2008

July saw the beginning of the T.Q.S. League where you predict your finish time and also the commencement of the Green Mile.
The Ger Wyley sponsored Summer Series was progressing nicely and over 150 entries were recorded for the series.  
273 runners, a record number took part in the GlaxoSmithkline 5 mile road race with €4,500 donated to West Waterford Hospice.  Sandis Bralitis took the course record from William Harty when he completed the fast course in 24.34.  Corinna Walsh ran an excellent 29.58, a p.b. and her first time to break the 30 minute barrier to take the ladies title.
At the National T&Field Championships in Santry Jamie Costin took silver in the 10k Walk in 40.13.87.  Thomas and Liam Houlihan also took part in the Pole Valut with Thomas taking 5th spot and Liam 4th only for Liam to be disqualified on a technicality.

Corinna won the Piltown 10k in a time of 39.26.  Raivis Zakis took the Churchtown South 5 mile for three from three in the Ballycotton 5 mile series.  For the record his time was 25.48.  West Waterford Ladies took 2nd team prize.  Two athletes from the club Raivis Zakis and Brigid Coffey took part in the Ballynonty 10 mile road race and both were prizewinners.  Raivis also retained his Fermoy 5 mile title winning in 26.39 with Brigid Coffey again in the prizewinners.

David Mc Carthy had yet again another p.b., this time for 3000m when he ran 8.03.94 to take 8th place in a top class field at the Cork City Sports.

50 walkers took part in the Cruachán Sunrise Challenge and in the process raised money for the Niall Melon Township Trust before heading back to Minnies for the full Irish, some by car and the more enthusiastic on foot.

AUGUST 2008

The Oriel Bar sponsored 5 Mile Road Race was held in Ballymacarbry on Friday 1 August instead of the bank holiday Monday.  This seems to have met with approval as a record 173 runners took part.  Raivis Zakis was successful in a time of 26.17 while the ladies title was taken by Corinna Walsh in 30.52.

Corinna also recorded another victory in the Carrick Deadmans 5 and so wrapped up the ladies title for the series.  Raivis took second and second overall in the series with P.J. Guinan 5th.

Competing in the European Masters in Slovenia Joe Gough qualified for the final of the 800 mts 0/55 and in the final took gold in a time of 2.10.67 to become champion of Europe

At the Woodies National Track & Field Championships in Tullamore Joe was also successful taking gold in the 400 and 800 mts.  Sandra Brazil White took silver in the 100 and 200 mts o/ 35 while Brendan Moran took gold in the 0/50 200 and silver in the 100 mts.  Frank O Brien took gold in the 0/45 discus and to round off a great day Terri Gough took home 5 medals: gold in 0/60 javelin and hammer, silver in 100 and 200 mts and finally bronze in the long jump.

A record entry of 199 turned out in Ardmore to take part in the An Tobar 5 mile Road Race, the last in the Ger Wyley Sports/Nike Summer Series races.  Raivis Zakis was once again victorious in a time of 25.05 but could not prevent Sandis Bralitis taking the Summer Series victory with 8 points.  Although Madeline Dorney took the race title in a time of 30.01 she could not take the overall title from Corinna Walsh with 6 points.  The overall Club Championship prizes were also presented on the night to athletes who competed in 7 out of the 10 Summer Series races, in each age category.

The T.Q.S. League concluded in the Friary with victory going to Yevgeniy Chizhikov with 148 points.

Jamie Costin competing in the searing heat in 50k Walk at the Beijing Olympics had to battle bravely to finish in the conditions that saw 35degrees of heat and 95% humidity.  But battle Jamie did and he gave it his all for club and country in a gruelling event which Jamie has qualified for in the last three Olympic Games for which we at West Waterford Athletic Club are extremely proud.

Raivis took second place in the Longford half marathon in a time of 1.11.10 just 7 second’s behind the winner and at the fourth and final Ballycotton 5 mile road race he took the title with 4 wins from 4 races.

The inaugural Colligan 4 mile Road Race took place in aid of the local Community group and was won by Dzintars Klava in 22.18 while Corinna Walsh was once again successful in the ladies section in a time of 25.15.

SEPTEMBER 2008

At the R.S.C. in Waterford club history was made as the West Waterford Senior men’s team of Sandis Bralitis, Raivis Zakis and Mareks Floroseks took the national half marathon championship title from Raheany Shamrocks and Letterkenny in 2nd and 3rd place respectively.  Sandis took a silver medal and with Raivis taking bronze and Markeks filling the 5th position the title was assured.  Many other athletes from the club competed on the day but our entry was lower than usual due to Waterford’s participation in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final at Croke Park.

The Elite Paintball 1 Lap Challenge and the Garvey’s Autumn League got underway in the Friary College.

Joe Gough competing in the BHAA race in Tougher, Cork took the 0/55 title in 17.53.

The club were well represented in the Munster Half Marathon in Blarney with individual medals going to Terri Gough, Ann Moroney and Ann Dunford.

At the Adidas Dublin half marathon in the Phoenix Park Sandis Bralitis took second place in a time of 69.08.

At the St Senan’s Open Day in Kilmacow, Corinna Walsh was once again successful in taking the ladies title and led her team to gold with 28 points with Norma Wall (7th), Brigid Coffey (9th), and Josie Ui Chuirrín (11th).  In the men’s race Sean Stilwell finished in 3rd place and followed by Rory Moloney(6th), Kevin Kenneally (7th), Ciarán Lane (15th) and Yevgeniy Chizhikov (17th) and also claimed the mens team title.

Club athletes travelled to overseas marathons and were very happy with their results.  Matin Mullarkey was in Cape Town while Michael Dunford and Andrew Leary were competing in Berlin.

At the Latvian National Marathon Raivis Zakis had an excellent third place finish in a time of 2.30.06.

 OCTOBER 2008

At the County Novice Cross Country Ann Whelan took the gold medal with the silver going to Brigid Coffey and bronze to Bernie Prendergast.  In the mens Séan Stilwell took silver with Rory Moloney taking bronze.  West Waterford took gold in the men’s and ladies teams.

At the Cork to Cobh 15 Mile Road Race Sandis Bralitis ran a very steady race to win in a time of 1.18.10.  West Waterford A.C. took the team title with the team of Sandis, Trevor Mason and Martin Mc Carthy who was also 2nd 0/45.

At the Garvey’s Cross Country held at the Friary Grounds Sandis Bralitis and Corinna Walsh took two excellent races and in the process also claimed the County Senior Cross Country titles. In the men’s race Raivis, finishing in third place, claimed the silver medal with Rory Moloney taking bronze while in the ladies, Diane, also third in the race took the silver medal in the County Championships with Norma Wall the bronze.  The Ryan Family Shield went to West Waterford.  The Dwyer Family Shield was presented to Sandis Bralitis on behalf of Ballinroad with Raivis Zakis, Kevin Kenneally and Tom Byrne also on the team. West Waterford also won the team titles in mens and ladies.

In Budapest West Waterford was represented by 11 athletes who completed the marathon, while at the Dublin City Marathon Gary Mc Cormack took the Paddy Joe Delaney Memorial Shield for the first club member home.  West Waterford was well represented here and also at the Amsterdam half and full marathon.

Raivis Zakis represented the club in the Killarney 10k and just 2 weeks after his bronze medal in the Latvian Marathon he won in a time of 31.57.

NOVEMBER 2008

The autumn leagues concluded and were a success once again this year.

David McCarthy won his second Athlete of the Week accolade in America.
Rosarie Kealy ran the famous New York Marathon.
The ever popular Winter League began with a big number taking part.

West Waterford win the team bronze at the Munster Intermediate Championships. The team was Sean Stilwell, Rory Moloney, Harry O’ Brien and Kevin Kenneally. Sean, Rory and Kevin were also part of the county team that won gold on the day.

Terri Gough won a silver medal in her age category in the Dublin marathon and Ann Moroney a bronze.
The Brickey witnessed a record entry in the 5 mile race with Sandis Bralitis being victorious on the day and Corinna was the ladies winner of the 3 mile race.

On the same day at the Friary, Diane Behan was crowned the county ladies master cross country champion. Eilish Ni Aodha was second and Brigid Coffey was third. PJ Guinan won silver in the men’s race and Tomas Mahoney was 5th. Kevin Kenneally was the club’s recipient of the Athlete of the Month award for October. The Quantum Life Dungarvan 10 was launched in the Sports Centre with Mel Shanley of Quantum Life and Councillor Billy Kyne. Entries have started to pour in for what is expected to be the race of the year.
At the Intercounty cross country championships, the club was represented by Rory Moloney 28th, Sandis Bralitis 19th and Corinna Walsh 31st. Ravis was second in the Inniscarra 4 mile road race.
Individual medals were won by Diane Behan and Harry O’ Brien at the munster masters championships in Killeagh. Diane was 1st over 35 and led her team to victory in the club championship. Ann Dunford and Brigid Coffey were the other two scoring members.
The men also won bronze medals on the day. The team was Harry O’ Brien, Johnny O’ Connor, Trevor Mason and Des Feeney.
This rounded off one of the most successful years ever for the club and we hope that 2009 will be just as fruitful.

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