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RELAYS
At least the athletes got to run and keep themselves warm on Sunday 18th January but no comfort for
the poor spectators who had to endure the biting cold wind coming off the Dublin Mountains as we gathered in Tymon Park for
the Leinster Junior and Senior Cross Country and Juvenile Cross Country Relays. This was a change of venue
for these events, having been held in Tinryland, Co. Carlow for many years, but we can’t blame Dublin for the cold and
wind. Some chose not to travel, but the loss was theirs, as the Club still performed very well and by days end most of the
juveniles that competed took home a medal of some colour. Thanks to those that substituted at short notice.
The two under 12 girls teams of Claire Fagan,
Aisling Bracken, Laura Whitelaw,
Emma Glynn, Faye Walsh, Niamh Quinn, Aisling Moody and Jennifer Coughlan battled well over 4 x 250m but couldn’t get among the medals, finishing
4th and 7th Club, but great credit to these young girls for enduring the
elements.
First medals of the day came courtesy of the under 12 boys team of Cormac
Dalton, Glen Gaffney, Oisin Quinn
and Patrick Shaw who took the lead from early on and came home in first
place, followed by our second team of Michael Moran, Kevin Giles, James O’Leannachain and Ciaran Bracken all combining and running well over 4 x 250m to finish in 5th
place, just outside the medals.
On paper, our two girls
under 14 teams looked certain of medals and didn’t disappoint, proving what talent in depth the Club is fortunate
to have in this age group. The “A” squad of Linda Conroy, Elizabeth Carr, Ciara Hewson, Lorraine Daly and substitute Lorna Moody powered
their way to victory over 4 x 500m, but the “B” team of Caoimhe
Shaw, Donna Kiernan, Ann Marie
Kennedy and Lauren Casey made sure the “A” team
didn’t have it all their own way and worked hard chasing them in to take silver. Any wonder these girls
are feared in cross country at National level, such is their unparalleled talent.
We had two teams also in the boys under 14. When Liam O’Reilly
took an early lead and passed over to Thomas Lynn who increased the lead even
more, the gold medals looked safe, barring an accident. Padraig Moran built
on the lead and it was up to Aaron Glynn to power home and secure the team 4
x 500m gold medals. Meanwhile Eoghan Moore, Eoin
Sheridan, Glen Gaffney and Oisin
Quinn tried hard but couldn’t match their Club mates and finished 4th, just one
place off a medal but Eoghan and Eoin picked up gold medals as the nominated substitutes with the other team. Unfortunately,
Gavin Moore was ill before the race and was unable to compete.
Aine O’Reilly, Amie Giles, Arlene Coughlan and Rachel Darby combined well to win the under 16 girls 4 x 500m relay, some
using the race as a warm up for the later Junior 3,000m.
The under 16 boys 4 x 500m team of Shane Kelleher, Adam Daly, Thomas
Fagan, Stephen Nea and substitute Ian
McCormack just couldn’t find the extra little bit to win but were still very pleased with their team
silver medals after an exciting race that went right down to the last runner to determine where the medals
would go.
Relay racing is all about team effort and every team member must play their full part if a team is to succeed. Our juvenile athletes showed great commitment
and ran with maximum effort to try and give as much lead as possible to their team mates. Very well dome to one and all for
their efforts.
JUNIOR & SENIOR CROSS
COUNTRY
After the relays, attention turned to the Junior and Senior Cross Country Championships. Amie Giles ran a solid race in the Junior women’s 3,000m and kept in
touch with the leading group for a long time and showed great strength to finish 14th with Arlene Coughlan not far behind, followed home closely by Rachel
Yorke with Aine O’Reilly providing the vital fourth score
to secure bronze medals for 3rd Club and 3rd County. This was a great result for these girls,
all underage again for a few more years.
Jake Byrne showed great
maturity and race experience in ignoring an early fast pace and settled in to a good race pace that eventually saw him run
down the early leader and when he took the lead he never looked back and came home a convincing winner with 8 seconds to spare
to take the Junior men’s 6,000m title. With good support from Thomas
Fagan, Shane Kelleher and Adam
Daly, the team finished 4th, unluckily just one place off team medals, but this is a young
team and are underage for a few more years.
It’s
a while since Mullingar fielded a Senior women’s team and it was good to see Eva
Ross, Ciara Dillon, Vera McCool,
Paula Murray, Brigid McCabe and
Nuala Moran running so well over 5,000m to finish 4th County,
just one place off the team medals that would have been a rich reward for their efforts.
Master athlete Ben Vaitkavichius was the Club’s sole representative in the Senior men’s
10,000m where he ran in his customary all-or-nothing way and turned in a great performance in the cold and wind against
much younger opposition.
Very many thanks to the parents and others who despite the poor weather and
road conditions travelled in number to give much needed encouragement and support.
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