Leinster Juvenile ‘B’ Cross Country and Mixed Cross Country Relay Championship
The Juvenile ‘B’ Cross Country and Juvenile Mixed Cross Country Relay Championships held in Stradbally on Saturday, with St Abban’s and St Michael’s well represented.
This competition is for any athlete that did not win a medal at the Leinster Cross Country in 2023.
Cross County relays make for great entertainment with the mixture of boys and girls teams adding to the unique event.
The course was flat bit muddy in places to make it a little more testing.
St Abban’s
The club was very successful in the relays with the U-11 team of Penelope, Roisin, Daire and Liam claiming the gold medal.
In the U-15 relay, Cara, Katie, Adam and Will finished in 2nd place to win silver medals.
The U-17 team repeated this achievement also claiming silver medals. The team of Áine, Rachel, Shane and James put up a great effort but just missed out on victory.
These championships also include the Leinster Juvenile B competition and the club had a number of successful athletes in these races also.
In the girls U-11 the team had to settle for 5th place but they didn’t go home with Laois claiming 3rd place in the county event.
The team were led home by Naoise Buckley in 15th, Amelia Fitzgerald was 34th, Lily Knowles just behind in 40th and Aoife Lawlor completed the team in 45th.
The Boys U-11 also had a great performance with Paudie Murrin on the podium in 3rd place.
Sean O’Doherty was close behind in 14th, Callum Kenny was next in 20th and the team was completed by Reuben Kelly in 34th.
These lads were backed up by Conor Kennedy in 36th, Sean McDonald in 38th and Leo Smith in 43rd. The lads won silver medals in the club team competition and went one better in the county competition taking the gold medal.
In the Girls U-13, Eabha Farrell finished in 27th, Abigail Daly was 31st and Anna Kennedy just behind in 36th.
The Boys U-13 were the last competitors of the day from the club and they brought home bronze county medals as well as James O’Mara winning an individual medal when he finished in 8th place.
Rory O Doherty was 16th, Darragh Kennedy 19th and Charlie Conway completed the team in 36th.
“Well done to all at Oughaval AC who hosted the event, it was great to have a Cross Country event in Laois,” St Abban’s said.
St Michael’s
Mixed Relays
First up on the day were the mixed relays with teams of four (two boy and two girls).
St Michael’s U-15 team was first up, with Aoibhinn Curley, Áine O’Loughlin, Riley Connolly and Dylan Yarrow taking part.
Each Athlete ran well and finished fourth, just outside the medals.
Next up were the U-17’s. This team were third last year and they were determined to do better this year.
Shane Maher, Sean McAuliffe, Siobhán O’Loughlin, and Holly McAuliffe made up the team and they ran against a very good St. Abbans team.
It was neck to neck going into the last leg and Shane push on to win convincingly at the end earning team gold.
U-11 Cross Country
The club’s U-11 team raced over 1000m over two laps. Their two girls, Zara Craig and Roisin McCoubrey, were in the largest race of the day.
Zara ran a really clever race, sitting in fifth place for the first lap before taking the lead and finishing very strongly for the Gold Medal and a county team bronze.
Roisin also ran well scoring on the county team.
St Michael’s U-11 boys team was Conor Quinn, Brady O’Neill, David Fanning and Louie Milligan.
The four boys ran really well with Conor and Louie finishing in the top twelve for an individual medal and both scored on the count team.
U-13 Cross Country
Hanna Luttrel, Hayley Ryan, Grainne Emerson, Éabha McCoubrey, and Amelie Milligan represented the U-13s and had a successful day with the team.
Hanna took on the race from the start. She took the lead after 150m and did not take her foot of the gas. Hanna was a clear winner on the day and lead the girls to team gold and county team gold.
Amelie was next over the line in 12th for an excellent individual medal.
Hayley, Grainne and Éabha all picked off a lot of places to score well and can be delighted with their success.
U-15 Cross Country
St Michael’s girls were up first running 2500m. Áine O’Loughlin, Sara Fanning and Karen Melia were excellent when you consider they might not have as much experience as a lot of their competitors.
Áine ran a really steady race moving in to fifth position with 1000m to go and held that position till the end for an individual medal and county team.
Sara has competed well this year and we are delighted for her to end the cross country with a county team medal.
Karen ran a good race, holding her position throughout.
The U-15 boys were probably the most successful with four individual medals, team gold and county gold.
Riley Connolly, Dylan Yarrow, Gearóid McCann, and Peter Fanning are the backbone of our u15-16 team and it is nice to see them to continue being successful.
Riley was first in after taking the lead with 1500m to go. He pushed hard on the last lap and gained a big advantage between him and second place.
Dylan had a super race to take a convincing third place. Gearóid paced himself well and finished strongly for 5th and Peter pushed hard in the 400m to come in an excellent 12th place.
U-17 Cross Country
The U-17’s weren’t the largest races, but they had good quality in them, and they covered 3000m.
Siobhán O’Loughlin and Sean McAuliffe were our two athletes in this age group. Siobhán was up first, and she placed herself well to win bronze on the day.
It was a great race to watch with four Laois girls taking the lead. Siobhán was really solid and only lost some ground in the last 500m but work hard to the finish.
Sean McAuliffe has been developing nicely over the last year and looked confident throughout the race today.
He took the lead early on and continued to increase the distance between himself and second place for the entire race, claiming a great win.
“Well done to all the athletes today. It was a wonderful experience for them, and they did themselves proud,” St Michael’s said.
Laois Senior Road Championships Ballyroan
Ballyroan Abbeyleix and District hosted the Laois Senior Road Championships in Ballyroan on Sunday with athletes undertaking a challenging course from the village towards Abbeyleix.
The addition of a stiff breeze on the day made for testing conditions for each of the athletes.
In the women’s event, St Abban’s had only two competitors meaning we could not impact on the team event.
Nonetheless Siobhan Burke and Claire Phelan had excellent runs around the 4000m course. Siobhan was first home for the club in 5th place with Claire just behind in 7th place.
In the Men’s event, the club fielded a strong team with Laois Senior Cross Country Champion Jack Fenlon leading the charge.
He was joined on the start line by Cian Kelly who won the silver medal in the Cross Country as well as Brian Kelly and Stephen Hunter.
Ballyroan also fielded a strong team and it was clear that very little would divide the teams on the day.
As the men made their way around Jack and Cian McDonald of Balyroan had bridged a gap from the rest of the field.
Cian Kelly and Barry McEvoy were battling for 3rd and 4th place with another battle taking place for 5th and 6th between Brian Kelly and Jack McMahon.
When they came back in along the main road, Jack Fenlon had made a significant move to take victory. Cian McDonald was 2nd with Barry McEvoy just getting the better of Cian Kelly with a sprint.
Jack McMahon was next and then Brian Kelly in 6th place.
Stephen Hunter completed the team in 8th place which meant St Abbans claimed victory over Ballyroan Abbeyleix by six points.
“Well done to each of the athletes and their coaches involved,” St Abban’s said.
“Many thanks to Ballyroan Abbeyleix and District for their hosting of the event and the refreshments served afterwards.”
St Abban’s AC Primary School Table Quiz
The two semi-finals in the St Abbans Primary Schools Quiz have now been completed and schools who have qualified for the final will have been notified in recent days.
The final will take place at St Abbans AC in Monavea on Wednesday, February 28 at 7:30pm.
“We wish all schools the very best of luck on the final,” the club said.
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