The athletics clubs of St Abban’s and St Michael’s were well represented at the Leinster Senior, U-23, and Juvenile Cross Country Championships, held in Cow Park, Dunboyne on Saturday.
Numerous athletes travelled to Dunboyne with the hope of progressing through to the National Championships in one month’s time.
Conditions in the early part of the day were reasonably good underfoot, but with some rain and plenty of athletes around the course, it did become a little trickier for the latter races.
St Abban’s AC
Juvenile
The action got underway with the Girls U-9 non-championships event. Ava Brophy led the field home in 1st while Maebh Kearney followed close behind in 4th.
Next up for the club was the Girls U-11, who had a 1500m loop to complete. St Abban’s two competitors were Roisin Kearney, who finished in 52nd place, and Isabelle Brophy, who came in 89th.
In the Boys U-11 1500m, Daire O’Sulivan ran a superb race to lead the team home in 5th. Edward McDonald just missed out on the individual medals when finishing in 14th.
Liam Doyle was 19th, Páidí Murin 54th, Callum Kenny 62nd, Joseph Lawler 72nd, Conor Kennedy 105th and Oran McCarthy 107th.
Overall, the boy’s team finished 3rd Club and 7th County, which will see them progress to the National Championships in Navan in 4 weeks’ time.
The Girls U-13 race was staged over 2500m. Laura Ayres continued her progress this season, finishing in 4th.
The team packed very well behind her, with Laura Malone 15th, Zoe Dunne 20th, Leah Dunphy 28th, Ellie Knowles 29th and Mollie Kelly in 63rd.
This saw the girl’s team take the Leinster title and finish 2nd County behind Meath.
The Boys U-13 were next over the same 2500m distance. With many of these athletes moving up in age group they battled hard throughout.
Eoin Dowling led the boy’s home in 17th; Shane Kelly was next for the club in 45th, Cathal English was close behind in 53rd and Harry Brennan completed the team in 65th place.
The team finished in 9th place.
The Girls U-15 ran a superb race over 3500m, with each packing close together, running a brilliant team race to take the Leinster title.
Katie Harnett ran brilliantly to lead the team home in 12th. Chelsey Dooley tracked her the whole way for 14th, Cara English was just behind in 15th and Ciara Milton’s 18th place saw them take home gold medals.
They finished just three points ahead of host club, Dunboyne AC, with the County team finishing in 6th place overall.
Will Duffy continued his fine form in the Boys U-15 race, where he once again went with the lead pack, finishing in 2nd place after the 3500m course was completed.
Kalem Buggy was next home in 23rd and Eoghan Mitchell completed the St Abban’s contingent in 64th place.
The lads all scored on the county team which finished just outside the medals in 4th place.
In the Boys U-17, Finn Craig had to settle for 9th place after 4500m.
John Delaney finished 13th after a tight sprint finish, while James Hyland was 37th, and Shane Stynes completed the team in 57th place.
Both club and county finished in 5th place overall.
Senior / U-23
The final athlete in action was Will Fox in the Senior/U23 Men’s race.
Conditions were less favourable as this stage of the day, nonetheless, Will ran a string race to finish in 14th overall and 2nd U-23.
This was a promising start to Will’s Cross Country season having recently returned from a stint at altitude training.
Dublin City Marathon 2023
“Congratulations to all our club members who completed the Dublin City Marathon on Bank Holiday Sunday,” the club said.
“Hopefully your bodies have started to come around again after the event.
“You can all take a deserved rest now before setting your sights on something else in the near future.”
Club results:
– Colin Coyne 174th, 2:45:32
– Richie Harte 390th 2:53:33
– Niamh Staunton 400th (16th Female), 2:53:49
– Damien Fitzgerald 645th, 2:58:11
– John Sourke 658th, 2:58:19
– Thomas Fitzgerald 1674th 3:16:26
– Stephen Lawlor 2050th, 3:20:17
– Aidan Maher 4731st, 3:44:51
– Caitriona McDonald 5357th, 3:49:08
– Joyce Byrne 12827th, 4:48:14
– Tara Leigh 13618th, 4:58:11
St Michael’s AC
Juvenile
St. Michael’s had a lot of athletes compete in Dunboyne as well, starting with the U-9 fun race. Rian Murphy and Victor Milligan took part in these and both lads had a super run.
The first championship race of the day was the U-11 1500m. After a lot of rain earlier in the day the course was well waterlogged and very soft underfoot.
Emma Dunne, Zara Craig and Róisin McCoubrey competed in what was the first Leinster race for the three girls, and they ran brilliantly. Emma led the charge finishing in the first 15. Zara was next in followed by Róisin.
The U-11 boys followed on the same course, with David Fanning, Louie Milligan and Seán Murphy putting in a great effort in their first Leinster race.
The boys worked very hard and gained a lot of experience in a large race.
The U-13 girls were next Hanna Luttrel, Amelie Milligan and Éabha McCoubrey all ran brilliantly. This was Éabha’s first Leinster and she had a great run.
Amelie improved on her last outing two weeks ago with a really strong run, and Hanna was just pipped on the line for a individual medal spot finishing 13th overall.
Hanna was second scorer on a silver medal county team and booked her place in the National Cross country in four weeks.
Cian Twomey was the club’s only U-13 boy. This was a very competitive field and Cian started brilliantly putting himself in a good position and ran well throughout.
St Michael’s had two U-15 girls running in what was getting to be a well torn up course. Áine O’Loughlin and Sara Fanning gained a lot of experience pushing hard throughout the race and both girls finished a very good mid pack.
The U-15 boys were the club’s only team entry. Will Craig, Riley Connolly, Dylan Yarrow, Gearóid McCann and Peter Fanning made up the team.
Will was St. Michael’s AC first runner in, after a fantastic run to win a super bronze medal. Will took on the race from the start and the club are delighted for him on his return to racing.
Riley was next in with a super top 20 finish after a blistering finish. Dylan continued his good form to finish third scorer; Gearóid had another great run finishing mid pack and Peter ran very strongly for the team.
Will, Riley and Dylan also scored on the 4th place Laois County team and have qualified for the National Cross country in four weeks.
U-17 girl, Siobhán O’Louhghlin has been having a great year, and this was another big step in her development as a runner. Siobhán put herself in a good position and finished in the top half of the race in 21st opposition.
Sean McAuliffe and Shane Maher put in a really good effort in the U-17 boys. This was Shane’s first race of the year, finishing well inside the top half of the field. Sean continued his good form and looked comfortable throughout.
St. Michael’s last juvenile of the day was Kate Connolly in the U-19 race. Kate was fresh off a 4th place in the Leinster junior and wanted to maintain her good form.
Kate set the pace for the entire race and pushed on with 600m to go, and won a super silver medal. She was first scorer on a gold medal winning county team.
Senior / U-23
This was Heather Murphy’s ‘s first Senior Cross Country and the club is very proud to see her transition from the juvenile ranks to become a very good senior runner.
Heather finished 11th overall, and first U-23 athlete. Congrats Heather on super gold.
SEE ALSO – Basketball: Heartache for Portlaoise Panthers after narrow cup defeat
