Season Ends on a High with All Ireland Medal
for Noah Commins
We thought the worst of the weather was over us after our trip to Derry two
weeks ago but we were wrong as our athletes took to the field in a muddy cold
and wet Abbotstown on Sunday. The worst of the weather was during the under
17 boys and under 19 girls races with a freezing cold wind and heavy sleety rain.
Our athletes made light of the conditions skipping across the mud and battling
through the wind and the rain. All Ireland Cross County races are always tough
and fast as only the best of each of the provinces qualify to run so WWAC was
delighted to have six athletes competing.
Noah Commins was the clubs top finisher on the day in 23 rd position a big
improvement on his 56 th place last year. Noah was a scoring member of the
Munster team that finished 2 nd in the inter provincial race and brought home an
All Ireland silver medal. Despite the worst of the weather Sarah O’Riordan battled
the elements to finish in 60 th place her best All Ireland finishing position. Naoise
mac Mhurchadha was very close to a medal finishing 28 th in his race. He also
scored on the Munster under 19 team but the team finished outside the medals
in 4 th place.
First in action for the club in the under 13 girls race was Rachel Keogh. Learning
from her last All Ireland Rachel got out much better at the start this time and
battled all the way to the line to finish 109 th . Natalie Barry improved on her
running in Munster and was a scoring member of the Waterford team that
finished 13 th . Natalie finished 110 th . It was a tough day at the office for Sheelagh
Mai as she was delayed in traffic and just made it to the start line with a few
minutes to spare. She ran well over the first two laps but had to withdraw on the
final lap.
Great Day for West Waterford AC at the
Munster Relays In Tramore
It was great to have a local venue for the Munster Relays. Well done to Tramore
AC for hosting a very well run and challenging relay event. West Waterford were
delighted to field 12 teams in this event and with three under 10 boys and 3
under 10 girls teams competing the future looks bright for the club. The club had
four teams on the podium which shows they can compete with the best in
Munster. This was the first time in many years that the club fielded teams in the
relays and it was great to see so many of our athletes competing.
Bronze Medals for Boys under 10
While most of our younger athletes came home with team medals from the
Munster cross country the one group that just missed out were the under 10 boys
but they made up for it at the relays with great team running from Tiarnach
Costin, Eoin Breathnach and Seadhna O’Tuathaigh to keep the team in contention
for the medals. A storming last leg from Cian O’Callaghan saw the team take
home the bronze medals. They finished on the same time as the second place
team and just four seconds behind the winning team from North Cork Our under
9 team of Lachlann Murray, Ryan Gaffney, Cormac Breathnach and Liam Enright
finished 7 th and the team of Caleb Roche, Micheal Guiry, Sean Wilmott and
Keeland Holland finished 10 th .
There was a very big field in the under 10 girls race and the team of Sibeal Curran,
Aisling Ní Treasaigh, Ciara Kenny and Sadie Burke finished 6 th , Rachel Curran,
Saoirse Keohan, Anna Power and Maggie Byrne finished 11 th ,while Maddie Grant,
Naoise de Burca, Emma O’Dea and Sarah Jane Flynn finished 13 th . We were also
lucky to have two subs on hand Aoibhinn Hogan and Leanne Flynn.
Bronze Medals for under 14 Boys
Another team to put in a very strong team performance was the under 14 boys
who finished third in their race behind St Cronan’s of Clare and Leevale AC. Colm
O’Muiri, Liam Hogan and Conor de Burca brought the team into the medal
winning position and Tiarnan Hogan stretched the lead in the last lap. The girls
under 14 team were unlucky not to be in the medals as Anastasis Ní Choghlainn
got them off to a flying start. Rachel Keogh and Eabha Broderick held their
position but on the final leg Maddie Connors could not hold off the fast finishers
from Blarney Iniscarra and Dundrum and the team had to settle for 4 th .
The under 12 boys had two teams competing and there was little to separate
them at the end with the team of Daniel Curran, Andy Zakis, Alex Whelan and
David Kiely finishing 6 th just ahead of Jamie Kiely, Billy O’Riordan, Shay Connell and
Luke O’Reilly in 7 th place.
First and Third for West Waterford A.C. under 16
Mixed Relay Teams
It was an all Waterford affair on the podium of the mixed relays with West
Waterford taking first and third and Tramore taking the silver medals. West
Waterford’s team of Kasey Connors, William McNally, Isabelle Gaffney and Aadi
Paniker took the lead from the start and with each leg of the race pulled further
away from the rest of the field to come home clear winners. Meanwhile the team
of Sheelagh Curran, Natalie Barry, Súin Cunningham and Aaron Connors battled
with Tramore for silver and bronze with Tramore finishing strongly to take the
silver and West Waterford the bronze. Also travelling on the day was sub Lea Ní
Chochlainn.
The AGM of the club was held on Tuesday were the Secretary’s report summed
up another very successful year for the club not just in terms of success achieved
but also in the uptick in the numbers at training and competing at county,
Munster and All Ireland events on the track, the field, cross country and relays.
Well done to all the officers, coaches, athletes and parents in the club for another
successful year without everyone working together none of this would happen,
and we are hoping for an even better year in 2026
Happy Christmas to everyone.
