Two County Titles for WWAC under 11 teams as Club Retains the Babs Connors Cup
Day 2 of the county championships were held in Carriganore last Sunday. The course was much tougher and the wind and the rain posed another challenge for our young athletes but they rose to the challenge and represented their club with pride and determination. Strong team running from all our athletes ensured the club retained the Babs Connors Cup for the Best Club at the County Championships. West Waterford finished on 27pts with Ferrybank 17 and Waterford AC 16.
Individual and Team Silver for under 9 Boys
First in action were the under 9 boys and girls and thankfully their events were run before the worst of the rain came down. We had three girls competing in the under 9 race. They were led home by Madeline Curran in 12th place. Newcomer Indie McDonnell running in her first event with the club was next home in 21st and Eadaoin Houlihan was not far behind in 24th.
Rian Flavin had a great run in the boys under 9 to take the individual silver medal. There was some great team running from Evan Radley 6th and Jack McGrath 12th with newcomer Daniel Flynn 21st completing the scoring four and helping the club to team silver medals.
Team Gold for under 11 Girls and Boys
We had big numbers running in both the girls and boys under 11 races and they showed great grit in the face of a strong wind and a testing hill to take both team titles and for good measure our second girl’s team finished third. Anna Rochford made a welcome return to competition and led for much of the 1500m before being overtaken in the latter stages of the race by Siofra Moloney Ferrybank the winner with Anna collecting the individual silver medal. Some great team running saw West Waterford girls take the gold medals ahead of a very strong Ferrybank team. Ellie Mai Dohery moved up an age group and put in a great run to finish 3rd for the individual bronze. Ruth Walsh is improving with every race and finished 5th just ahead of Isobel Daly in 6th place. Alicia Radley 7th , Amy Cosgrove 10th , Katie Mai Daly 15th and Alannah Pope 21st showed the club has great strength in depth in this age group as they took the bronze medals. We also had a group of under 10’s running for the experience and they finished strongly with Sinead Houlihan 22nd, Leah Kiely 23rd, Grace Hodge 24th, Eile de Poar 25th and Aisling Hickey 26th.
There was also team gold for the under 11 boys. Tiernan Hogan set a very fast pace in the early part of the race but the sprint for the line from 200m out decided the gold medal with Harry Dray taking it on the line by the width of a jersey from Jarleth Hurney. Tiernan Hogan finished strongly taking 6th place with Mario Zakis 10th and Olan Devereaux 11th the other scoring members of the team. Colm O’Muiri was another of the under 10s who moved up on the day and he finished 21st ahead of Eoghan Kenny 23rd and Cillian Pope 24th.
Silver Team Medals for Under 13 Boys and Girls
The under 13 boys and girls had to cope with the wind and rain as well as the tough hill but they took it all in their stride. Both the boys and the girls finished in the runners up position in the team event run over 2500m. Ellen Power was first across the line for the team in 7th place closely followed by Sophie Beresford in 8th . Luisne de Paor had a good run to finish 11th and Ciara Flavin in 13th completed the scoring four. Seoda Kinsella 21st finished just ahead of her sister Saoirse in 22nd place.
The under 13 boys had just the bare four scoring members with Cameron Flavin stepping in at the last minute to make up the team. Fergus Donnolly backed up his good run last week with another fine run out of his age to finish 5th. Conor Mc Carthy made a return to competition and also had a great run finishing 7th . Lochlann Hurney can always be depended upon to turn out for the team and he finished 14th and Cameron Flavin completed a tough 2500m to ensure the silver medals for the team.
Individual and Team Silver for Under 15 girls
The under 15 girls and boys races were run over 3500m which meant the athletes had to tackle the hill twice. Right from the start a leading group of six athletes which included Fia de Paor, Aoife O’Donovan and Kyla Flavin broke away and set a very fast pace. After the first run up the hill the group was reduced to three with Fia still in the mix. Fia stuck with the leaders right to the finish and came home in 2nd place to win an individual silver medal. She also led the team of Aoife O’Donovan 5th, Sarah O’Riordan 9th and Sarah Hallissey 12th to the team silver medals. Under 15 boys were scarce on the ground and West Waterford had just one representative Rory Donnolly who finished 4th.
Individual Silver for Angelina and Naoise in Last Races of the Day
The final girls race saw the under 17,19 and Novice women all tackle the 4000m at the same time. Grainne Moore was the clubs only representative in the under 17event. Grainne was in 3rd place for much of the race but was overhauled in the last few hundred metres and had to settle for 4th place. Angeline Chizhikova had a good run to finish 2nd in the under 19 event. In the final event of the day the boys under 17,19 and Novice Naoise Mac Murchadha took the individual silver in the boys under 17 event to complete a very successful day for the club.
Training Moves Back to 4.20 Tony’s Winter League Starts
The highlight of the cross country season for many of our athletes is the winter league (known to all as Tony’s League) which takes place over seven Wednesdays in October, November. The league will start on Wed Oct 12th and will continue every Wednesday until Nov 30th. The first two weeks Oct 12th and 19th will be trail runs after which the teams will be decided. The League is run over the full 2000m lap for the older athletes with the younger athletes running 1000m . As well as a time competition it is a race against yourself to try and bring down your own time. If you are on a team it is important that you turn up every week regardless of the weather as one missing runner can knock a team out of the running for the rest of the League.
When we start the league on Oct 12th we will move back to training at 4.20
County B Championships Sunday Next Oct 16th @11am
The county B championships for under 9,11,13and 15 athletes will be held in the Friary next Sunday with the first race off at 11am. Any athlete who won an individual medal or was a scoring member of a gold medal winning team is not eligible to take part in this event. The following athletes from West Waterford cannot compete
Rian Flavin, Ellie Mai Doherty, Anna Rochford, Isobel Daly, Ruth Walsh
Jarleth Hurney, Tiernan Hogan, Mario Zakis, Olan Devereaux, Fergus Donnolly, Charlie Curran Mark Mc Loughlin, Noah Commins, Fia De Paor, Kyla Flavin.
All other registered club athletes can run and this would be a very good event for our younger athletes. There will be medals for the first six in all races.
Munster Championships Even Ages Fixed for Riverstick in County Cork
The first day of the Munster Championships under 10,12,1,4,16 and 18 has been confirmed for Riverstick County Cork. This is a few miles beyond the city in the Kinsale direction. Parking at the course will be limited and the approach roads to the venue are narrow so expect delays so it a case of arriving early.
