5 Individual and 1 Team Title for West Waterford Athletes at the First Day of the County Championships
Day one of the county cross country season took place at the WIT Campus in Carriganore on Sunday last. This was a change of venue for a championship that traditionally has been held in the grounds of St Augustine’s College.It was a glorious autumn day and conditions underfoot were ideal. It was a testing course with a long gradual uphill pull followed by a shorter steeper hill and this made it difficult for the older athletes who had to complete several loops of the course. The event was well organised by the County Board and Waterford AC with help from the other clubs in the county and as each race finished the athletes and parents left the area to ensure there was plenty of room to social distance and provide a safe environment for everyone.
Twenty three athletes from West Waterford travelled with their parents to compete at the event and everyone had a good run and an enjoyable day. We only had one team in the boys under 10 race and they easily won the team title. In many of the other races only three athletes from West Waterford competed and it was a pity as those athletes were so well up the field that if they had one more with them they also would have won team prizes. Now that the first day was such a success we hope to have many more athletes competing on day 2 on Saturday Oct 10th .
First County Title For Charlie Curran
Charlie Curran led from the start for a convincing win in the boys under 10 race to claim his first county and also lead the West Waterford team to the county title. He was well supported by Conor McCarthy who ran well over the 1000m to finish 5th. Peter Aherne improved three places from last year to finish 8th and Patrick Mullaney put in a great sprint finish to take the 9th place. We had just two girls in the under 10 race. Natalie Barry ran strongly in the middle of the field to finish 16th and Ciara O’Donovan improved on her run of last year to finish 22nd.
Under 12 County Titles for Kyla Flavin and Eoin Prendergast
The under 12 girls and boys were next in action and they had to complete the full 2000m lap when meant they had to take on both hills. In the girls race Kyla Flavin took off from the gun and opened a commanding lead up the hill. Isabelle Gaffney chased her up the hill and began to close the gap on the downhill section but Kyla held on strongly to win and reverse the results of last year’s championships. Shannon Radley was competing in her first county championships and finished 23rd on the very hilly course.
Eoin Prendergast was another to lead from the gun as he took on the boys under 12 field. He was shadowed all the way by Owen Morrissey as they ran together for the first 1000m. On the hill Eoin Prendergast began to pull away to win the race from his fellow clubman.
Another County Title for David Gaffney
The girls and boys under 14 were next to toe the line and race over 3000m in which they would complete a small lap first followed by the big lap. All three girls running for West Waterford were running out of their age and finished with Sarah Gaffney 6th after a very close contest with her team mate Aoife O’Donovan who finished 7th and a much improved Ami Flavin finished 9th.
In the boys race David Gaffney who missed last year’s championships was back to his winning ways leading all the way in the boys under 13 race. Liam Broderick put in a very strong finish to try and get into the medals but the gap was too great and he had to settle for 4th. Ben Qualter was another to put in a strong finish to move up to 7th place in the run to the finish.
There was a bronze for Caoimhe Prendergast in a very competitive under 16 race and also a good run from Cathy Ní Sheanlaoich in 5th place.
Cal Turry ran a year out of his age in the under 16 boys 4000m and finished strongly to take 6th place.
Sarah Nyhan wins under 18 County Title
The junior and under 18 races were held in conjunction with each other and Sarah Nyhan took the title in the under 18 race and also finished 2nd in the junior race. Lia Cunningham put in a good performance to finish 3rd in the under 18 race. In the boys event the longest race of the day over 6000m and mark Blackwell was the only West Waterford athlete competing. In a very fast paced race Mark finished in 5th place.
Upcoming Events
Saturday Oct 10th Day 2 of the County Championships under 9,11,13,15,17,19
Carriganore Waterford 10am
Sunday Oct 18th Munster Cross Country under 10,12,14,16,18,
Venue to be confirmed
