Good Start to Cross Country Season 2022 at
St Senan’s Open Cross Country
Thirty athletes from West Waterford AC travelled to Kilmacow on Sunday last for the first open cross country of the season. As always competition was keen with athletes from Waterford, Kilkenny, Wexford, Carlow, Laois, Kildare and Tipperary. There were strong fields in all the races with very high numbers in the younger age groups and although the numbers were smaller in the older age group the standard was very high in those races.
First up were races for under 8, 9 and 10 boys and girls with medals for the first 10. West Waterford was well represented among the medal winners in the boys races. Andy Zakis put in a great run to finish 2nd and Cillian O’Brien was 9th in the boys under 8 race. In the boys under 9 Jack McGrath finished 5th. All three boys were running in their first race with West Waterford. Also in their first cross country season we had two girls under 9 where Madeline Curran finished 15th and Sinead Donnelly not far behind in 18th.
Win for Jarlath Hurney in Boys under 10
West Waterford’s first win of the day came in the under 10 race where Jarlath Hurney ran strongly over the 600m to lead from the mid way point and claim victory. Seb Byrne was our only other competitor in the race finishing 28th.
Keeping it in the family Jarleth’s cousin Isobel Daly put in a very strong finish in the girls under 10 to take third place. Leah Kiely is improving with every race and finished 15th while Eabha O’Brien finished strongly in her first race to finish 27th.
Bronze for Under 12 Boys and under 14 Girls Teams
From under 12 up there were just three individual prizes but there were also three team prizes in each race with four athletes to score in each team. West Waterford had three teams under 12 girls, under 12 boys and under 14 girls. The under 12 girls were led home by Ava Kiely who had a great race to finish 8th. She was followed by Saoirse Kinsella 19th, Natalie Barry 34th and Emily Curran 39th. The team finished in 5th place.
We had six athletes completing the course in the boys under 12 race. Fergus Donnelly ran strongly over the 1000m to finish 6th. He was followed by Olan Deveraux 20th , Mario Zakis in 24th, Mark McLoughlin 26th, Peter Ahearne 28th and Lochlann Hurney 32th. The combined score of the top 4 athletes was 76pts which earned them 3rd team prize.
Our under 14 girls team were competing for the first time at this level, running 1500m over a very tough course. They showed they were well up to the challenge with Sophie Beresford first home in 14th place, Faye McGrath 20th a much improved Suin Cunningham 22nd and Nevah Cairns27th. Their combined score of 83 pts was enough for third place which was a great result for this novice team.
We had just one athlete in the boys under 14 where Rory Donnelly finished 17th.
Individual Silver for Grainne Moore
We had two athletes competing in the girls under 16 2000m Lauren Cliffe was first home for West Waterford in 8th place with Clodagh Cunningham in 15th.
Grainne Moore made a welcome return to competition with a fine run in the girls under 18 3000m race where she finished 2nd. Also competing in her first cross race of the season was Angelina Chizhikova who finished 5th in the same event.
Well done to all our young athletes and their parents who travelled to Kilmacow today.
Day 1 of the County Championships in St Augustine’s on Sunday Oct 2nd
West Waterford AC will host day 1 of the county championships in St Augustine’s College on Sunday next. We will meet at 10am for registration and warm up with the first race getting under way @11am. The entry fee for the race on Sunday is 3 euros for athletes and 5 euro for adults on the gate. As we are on home ground we expect all our athletes to turn out next week and we hope to retain the Babs Connors Cup for the best cross country which we won last year. If you are out of age come and run it as a training session for your own age group the following week.
Under 10 (Born 2013 & 2014) 1000m
Under 12 (Born 2011 & 2012) 2000m
Under 14 (Born 2009 & 2010) 3000m
Under 16 (Born 2007 & 2008) 4000m
Under 18 (Born 2005 & 2006) 4000m Girls 6000m Boys
