At the Leinster Star Awards for 2010 in Carlow on Saturday 8th January, the Club was presented with the Morrissey Cup for best juvenile cross country Club, the Foley Cup for best juvenile cross country County, and the Quinn Cup for best juvenile track and field Club in 2010. The following day, at the Leinster Junior Cross Country and Juvenile Cross Country Relays in Kilmacow, Co. Kilkenny the Club’s athletes gave a fantastic display of cross country racing to show why they had scooped these three awards.

The first events were the juvenile cross country relays. Where we had more than one team in a race, rather than have one very strong team and a weaker team, we mixed the teams to give them better balance to try to maximize the medal return and give everyone a chance of winning a medal. Where we had substitutes, they also ran alongside for one leg of a relay rather than stand by just watching.

In the 4x250m for girls under 12, Ellen Cronin, Adeola Ojomo-Amaka, Niamh Quinn, Sarah Moloney and substitute Daria Fidgeon combined very well and despite a particularly excellent run by Adeola that brought the team into the lead at the halfway mark, were narrowly beaten into second place, while Alanna Bate, Aoife Darby, Meabh McNulty, Nicole Gorry and substitute Susan Glennon also ran a great race and were unlucky to finish in fourth place, just outside the medals.

Most of the team in the 4x250m for boys u/12 are underage again next year and giving away a year over 250m is not easy but Jack Moran, Conor McHugh, Joseph Moran, John Whitelaw and substitutes Eoin Quinn and Liam Moran gave their very best and were unlucky to finish just outside the medals in fourth place.

Mullingar’s first gold medals came in the 4x500m for girls u/14 where Niamh Nolan, Aisling Moody, Faye Walsh, Caoimhe Kelly and substitute Lucy Langley thoroughly deserved to win the race. Caoimhe had a particularly good race in which she showed tremendous pace and can look forward with relish to the indoor season ahead where she can focus on the sprint events. Our other team of Hilary Harris, Rachel Glennon, Claire Fagan and Laura Whitelaw also ran very well but finished out of the medals, though they deserve great credit for battling hard all the way to the finish.

The 4x500m for boys u/14 turned into a ding-dong battle between the two Mullingar teams. Patrick Shaw, Oisin Quinn, Declan Brady, Eoin Sheridan and substitute Niall Brady just had the edge on Mervyn Harris, Kevin Giles, Michael Moran and Senan Lynam to give the Club a gold and silver medal winning double. However, with 200m it was neck and neck between Eoin and Senan but having got the baton in the lead, Eoin was not going to surrender the lead easily and showed great strength and determination to outsprint Senan in the closing stages and carry the baton over the finish line first.

The 4x500m for girls u/16 was another great battle between the two Mullingar teams, with the lead changing between our two teams after every baton pass. The Mullingar teams went into the lead after the first baton pass and it was only with 100m to go that they were passed and went into second and third, but Victoria Harris, Lorraine Daly, Linda Conroy and Lorraine Claffey were still delighted with their silver medals, and on their heels in third were Edel Glennon, Caoimhe Shaw, Elizabeth Carr and Lorna Moody who were also delighted to win the bronze medals, giving all the girls a medal to take home.

The final relay, the 4x500m for boys u/16 saw the two Mullingar teams absolutely destroy the opposition and nearly lapped the back marker team, such was how far ahead they were at the end. Liam O’Reilly, Jack Reid, Patrick Fagan, Thomas Lynn and substitute Philip Giles didn’t have it all their own way and had to fight off the challenges of Ryan Blundell, Shane Fitzsimons, Padraig Moran and Eoin Lynam with Thomas only passing Eoin in the last 150m to take the gold medals, and Eoin close on his heels to take silver and round off a memorable day of cross country relay racing.

On to the Junior Women 3,000m where Lorraine Daly was first to finish for Mullingar with an excellent 8th place finish, and with great support from Lorna Moody, Elizabeth Carr and Anna Ryan providing the vital fourth team score, the girls were delighted to win bronze medals for third Club team.

Jake Byrne never put a foot wrong in the Junior Men 6,000m where he looked magnificent and in complete control, not at all troubled by the sharp uphill section, to cruise to a well deserved Leinster junior title. Thomas Lynn put in a great last lap to move into 3rd and earn an individual medal, just ahead of Thomas Fagan in 4th. Stephen Nea finished with his trademark sprint in 8th to provide the vital fourth team score that secured the gold medals for first Club. Ryan Blundell (11th) was next to finish, just ahead of Adam Daly (12th) who was recovering from recent illness, and with great support from Eoin Lynam, Patrick Fagan and Ian McCormack the team won the gold medals for first County too.

Nearly everyone who competed in Kilmacow took a medal home, but more importantly, all our juvenile athletes showed that their collective efforts in continuing to train throughout the recent awful weather has really paid off and they are all in fantastic form ahead of the AAI National finals in Tullamore on Sunday 16th January.

It was great to see all our young athletes and the many parents who traveled in support show great Club spirit by staying for all the races last Sunday and providing terrific vocal support and encouragement. Well done too to St. Senan’s AC on providing a great fixture with a very well laid athlete and spectator friendly course and excellent facilities in the local hall. The weather was a real bonus too and we were delighted to leave the sub-zero conditions behind in Mullingar and feel the heat of the sun in Kilmacow, which got so warm that hats, gloves and heavy coats were soon cast off much to everyone’s relief.