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Caron and Ross Sweep to Connacht Victories!
Craughwell AC's U17 Boys - Connacht Cross Country Champions 2018
Sean Cotter, Oisin Davis, Kyle Moorhead, Luke Burke
Our athletes hit the M17 yet again for another day out at the second day of the Connacht cross-country which was held in Beleek, Ballina. One of the finest cross-country courses in Connacht, I can still recall my first trip here for the primary school’s cross-country finals way back in 2003 when Craughwell NS raced to a terrific first Connacht title in the Senior Girls 1000m. The hills haven’t gotten any smaller since then and coupled with very cold and sometimes wet conditions today, it made for a very formidable challenge for our young and not so young athletes.
Our U11 Girls were first into action at noon for their 1500m. With the wintery showers just starting to bite before the race, it was a very tough race for the girls. But as the saying goes, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going” and our girls put in an exceptional performance to race to a fantastic team silver. Keevagh Barry and Emma O’Donovan got off to a brilliant start and battled hard all the way around with Keevagh finishing in an impressive 9th place and Emma 21st. Emma was followed swiftly by Kelly Hallinan in 23rd, Ciara O'Connor 24th, Amelie Bocquet 26th, Aeveen Kelly 31st and Erin Dillon 45th in a field of over 70 runners. You could see the cold written all over the faces of the girls at the finish line, so to run so well and take team silver was just fantastic.
Craughwell AC's U11 Girls - Connacht Silver Medallists 2018
Pictured on the start line before their 1500m
The U11 Boys were up immediately the girls finished and straightaway Keelan Moorhead got out fast with the leading group and held on strongly right through the race to take a brilliant 6th place, with Declan O’Connell hot on his heels in 7th. Declan had gotten blocked in a little at the race start but made massive progress up through the crowded field on the first half of the race for a brilliant finish. Cian Brady has an outstanding run in his first Connacht final to take 15th place and was followed closely by Orrin Gilmore in 23rd, Stephen Ruane in 25th, Jack Farrell 31st and Josh White 72nd. The boys’ efforts were rewarded with team silver, a brilliant achievement and the 4th time that the club have medalled in both U11 races on the same day.
Carughwell AC's U11 Boys - Connacht Silver Medallists 2018
Pictured at the finish after their 1500m
We didn’t have enough runners for teams in the U13 2500m races but nevertheless there were some fine individual performances, with Holly O’Boyle racing to 32nd place and Claudia McGuiness close behind in 37th. In the boys’ race, Conor Cahill made his debut for the club with a fine 33rd place finish a year out of age and Sean Liston had a strong run to place 42nd in a quality field.
The U15 Girls were our next team into the fray where Fauve Aylmer put in another outstanding performance to take 4th place overall, sticking with the leading group of 5 for most of the 3500m and only drifting back into 4th in the final 1000m – a super performance out of age. Clodagh O’Meara also stepped up a gear, moving up multiple places in the latter half of the race to take brilliant 8th place. Emily Miskella had a fantastic race also – steadily getting back to her brilliant best with a 10th place. Aoibhinn Keane completed the team scoring with a 29th place finish to help the team to the team silver with a good score of 51 points. The girls’ performances also earned county gold for the Galway team, with 3 of the scorers from our club.
Craughwell AC's U15 Girls - Connacht silver medallists 2018
Emily Miskella, Clodagh O'Meara, Fauve Aylmer, Aoibhinn Keane
Next one of the highlights of the day for the club and indeed one of the highlights of recent years of cross-country where Ross McGuinness powered around the Beleek course as if the hills didn’t exist and literally ran away with the Connacht title by a huge margin – an exceptional run and one that was rightly hailed by the on-course commentator as one of the performances of the day.
Onto the U17 girls 4000m which was ran in conjunction with the U19 4000m, where Ailbhe Miskella put in a trojan race to take individual 4th place – unlucky not to make the podium but Ailbhe’s highest placing yet in Connacht cross-country and one that is richly deserved for an exceptionally dedicated athlete. Our U17 Boys were next into action in their 5000m where led by Sean Cotter, they put in a brilliant team performance to take the Connacht title with a score of 26 points. Sean led the team home with a brilliant bronze medal, followed by the ever-improving Oisin Davis in 5th, Kyle Moorhead 8th and Luke Burke 10th with all 4 of the lads also scoring for the Galway county team that took team gold. We didn’t have a team in the U19 boys 6000m but this didn’t deter the Noonan brothers Patrick and Sean from putting in a tremendous display of running to take 6th and 10th place, with both scoring on the county team that took team gold. What was even more impressive was that their runs came less than 24 hours after competing in the Irish Kayaking Trials where Sean placed 1st and Patrick 6th with Sean’s performance earning him selection for the Irish Junior team for the forthcoming Kayaking International. Luckily a kayak was not required to negotiate the cross-country course in Beleek today!
Ross McGuinness - Connacht U15 Cross Country Champion 2018
With the juvenile races done and dusted, it was now time for our athletes to shine in the senior races. Caron Ryan fresh from her dominant performance in last weekends Connacht U20 4000m, put in another splendid performance to comfortably win the Senior Women’s 4000m – an impressive performance from an athlete who is going from strength to strength in every race. And in the senior men’s race, marathon specialist Kevin Mooney only 2 weeks after his brilliant club record run in the Dublin marathon, made his debut on the turf with a superb 5th place finish in the Senior Mens 8000m. Kevin was followed in by the sprightly Mark Davis with a brilliant 13th place finish despite carrying an injury and by Jack Miskella with a strong 17th place finish, one that will place him on or close to the podium in the Novice men’s category when the results of the 3 Connacht senior races are tallied.
So another great day for the club and well done to Moy Valley AC and the Connacht committee on a very well run event despite the wintery conditions.
Info on Connacht XC Sunday 11th Nov Beleek, Ballina
Click here for Google maps link to Beleek Ballina and read on below for more information in regard to travel and parking. Please arrive at least an hour before your race to give time to warmup and familiarise with course. Races start at noon sharp.
Connacht Uneven Ages,
&
Novice, Senior, Masters Cross Country League – 3rd Round.
Belleek, Ballina
11th November 2018
Start time: 12.00 NOON for Juveniles &
2.00pm approx for Seniors.
U11 Girls & Boys – 1500m
U13 Girls & Boys – 2500m
U15 Girls & Boys - 3500m
U17 & U19 Girls – 4000m
U17 Boys – 5000m
U19 Boys – 6000m
Senior League – Ladies & O’65 Men – 4000K.
Men – 8000m
Read more: Info on Connacht XC Sunday 11th Nov Beleek, Ballina
Launch of New Development Plan with Night at Dogs
Connacht Titles for Caron, Sean and Fauve!
Connacht U16 Cross Country Champions 2018 - in the distant shadow of Ben Bulbin!
Sean Cotter, Ross McGuinness, Oisin Davis, Luke Burke
A hardy band of Craughwell AC athletes travelled north to Sligo yesterday for day 1 of the Connacht juvenile cross-country held in Sligo racecourse.
The day got underway with the U12 girls 2000m where Claudia McGuinness and Amelie Bocquet had solid runs to place 32nd and 41st. The U12 Boys were off next in their 2000m with a strong performance from Fionn Higgins in 12th place leading the team home to 4th place and just outside the medals. Fionn’s performance earned him team silver with the county team and he was followed in by Darragh Reidy in 19th, Jack Farrell 29th and Sean Lavan 30th.
Craughwell AC's U12 Boys who placed 4th in the Connacht Cross Country
The U14 Girls toed the line immediately afterwards for their 3000m, faced with 2 laps of the tough Sligo loop and its never-ending steep incline at the end of each lap. What goes up must come down however and the girls made the most of the downhill with some remarkable performances. Fauve Aylmer is going from strength to strength, rattling off PBs in 800m and steadily rising up the cross-country ranks as the years go by. As an U11 in 2015 Fauve placed 53rd in the Connacht cross-country. Yesterday Fauve’s performance was inspirational when taking the race out hard in the early stages and leading from the front, she battled to a brilliant Connacht title – her first Connacht cross-country title and the first girl from the club since Dearbhaile Walsh in 2011 to become Connacht Cross Country Champion and joining Dearbhaile and Linda Porter as the only girls from the club to do so prior to today. And with an equally brilliant performance, Clodagh O’Meara also put in a fantastic race, staying in contention with the leading group right throughout the race and putting in a lung-busting final 600m to move from 6th or 7th up into 4th place, almost getting into the individual honours – a fine performance from another super athlete. Not far behind Siofra Davis and Holly O’Boyle raced home in 20th and 26th place to help the team to the silver medals just 1 point adrift of the team winners GCH, a really super team performance from the Craughwell girls.
Craughwell AC's U14 Girls who won team silver at the Connacht Cross Country Championships
In the U14 Boys 3000m, pre-race favourite Mathys Bocquet had an unfortunate calf niggle at the start-line and had to withdraw early in the race. Cian Lavan stepped up in his place to lead the team home with a brilliant 14th place, followed in by Evan Hallinan in 25th, Sean Liston 32nd and Ryan McDonnell 37th with Cathal Fitzpatrick also having to withdraw with a foot injury. The team placed 4th and a big shout-out to Ryan McDonnell for coming in as 4th scorer despite feeling quite ill in the latter half of the race. The Co Galway team took the silver county medals in the race with Cian as 4th scorer.
Craughwell AC's U14 Boys who placed 4th at the Connacht Cross Country Championships
In the U16 Girls 4000m, Aoibhinn Keane stepped up an age from the U15s and had a solid run in 24th place, great experience for her own age next week where she will be part of a strong team. It was a tough race as it was combined in with the U18s and U20s. Ailbhe Miskella had a super run in the U18 category, taking 7th place amongst her age group. But the star of this race was our sole U20 Caron Ryan who blitzed around the course to take a super Connacht title in a very competitive race. It was Caron’s first Connacht clubs cross-country title and what a way to finish off your Junior days prior to entering the seniors. Her victory throws up a few interesting statistics – making it now 4 girls from the club to hold Connacht club titles – Caron, Fauve, Dearbhaile and Linda; and making it the most successful day ever at an individual level for girls from the club in Connacht cross-country.
Fauve Aylmer and Caron Ryan
Connacht U14 and U20 Cross Country Champions 2018
The U16 Boys got underway next in their 4000m where they gave an exhibition of front-running with Sean Cotter, Ross McGuiness and Oisin Davis breaking away early in the race into a leading group of their own. Floating around the course like Kenyans in the Rift Valley, the 3 lads cruised home to take the top 3 places with Sean followed by Ross and then Oisin. And only slightly behind Luke Burke completed an incredible team score when taking 6th place with a super performance.
The U18s were off next in their 6000m where Patrick Noonan is steadily returning to his elite self from his younger juvenile days with a fine 5th place finish, equalling his 5th place finish as an U11 in 2012. He was followed in by a super run by Kyle Moorhead in 14th. Unfortunately, Ben Ryan had to withdraw from the race after approx. 4000m.
And massive runs also from Jamie Fallon 2nd in the senior race and from Jack Miskella – Mark has already described their performances in a separate article and we will have some serious competitive senior teams in the not too distant future with Jamie and Jack and the calibre of the younger lads coming through and our emigrant in the US when he returns (Damien O’B) plus some of the impressive marathon runners in the senior club fresh off big PBs in recent marathons.
So, all and all another great day for the club. I keep a chart of juvenile performances in Connacht cross country here if anyone feels like a bit of reading.
Jamie Shines in Sligo Connachts
The road back to competitive running after a long layoff is tough! It takes motivation, patience and immense faith as you wait to turn the corner. Last Tuesday at training, Jamie Fallon was cruising through his intervals as usual but something was different about him - you could tell he was enjoying himself and his old stride and flow was back - he was going to be a dangerous man come Sunday!.
A large field of over 50 hardy athletes lined up for the second leg of the Connacht Cross country today which was run over four 2-kilometer laps, with the famous Sligo drag of over 400m to cope with on each lap. The big guns of Sligo athletics had lined up - including standout athletes like JP Carty and Emmet Dunleavy (iaaf profile), alongside the best of Mayo, Roscommon, Leitrim and Galway. Jamie took the race by the scruff from the start and soon formed a breakaway group of two with Dunleavy hanging on to his heels. It was a fascinating battle to watch unfold as the classy Dunleavy dug deep and responded to surge after surge from Jamie. Dunleavy who has a 1.53 800m is known for his phenomenal kick and he duly used it to push for home from 400m - up that hill and win by two seconds. A brilliant race to watch! Well done to Jamie and his longtime coach/mentor Jimmy for getting him into such terrific shape so quickly.
Jamie (center) and Jack (right) pose with a fan
Jack Miskella also had a fine run in a field of serious quality. Jack is primarily using the cross country to build a base of strength for his favoured track season and races like this should definitely do the trick! He got off to a strong start - slipped a little in the middle but rallied again at the end for a great finish - well up in the top quarter of the strong field.
Unfortunately on this occasion the club didn't have a team as some that were travelling to the event weren't quite able to make it in time. Galway was well represented however as GCH and Castlegar had big teams there and were very strong with good runs from many of their guys. Hopefully we can field a few more in the mix next week in Belleek, Ballina - perhaps even a few ladies!
550 Happy Halloweens!
Happy Halloween to all of our members! The club‘s juvenile membership recently burst through the 550 mark yet again – the 5th year in a row that it has done so and the only club in the country to do so in any of those 5 years.
Its testament to the hard-work of the many dedicated coaches in the club. Our younger ages in particular are bursting at the seams with over 70 kids attending U9s training on Wedensdays and over 80 kids attending U10s training on Thursdays. We are always seeking new parents to help out so if you have an interest and would like to get involved please let us know … just tell the lead coach of the training group in which your child is in and she or he will do the rest to get you involved.
It’s being a wonderful year so far both from a competitive perspective and a participation perspective. We consistently have the most competitors taking part in Galway and Connacht competitions, significantly the most in fact as illustrated by the entry fees bill that we pay to Galway and Connacht. And we had our best year ever at National indoor and outdoor competition with the highlight being the qualification of our U20 girls for next year’s European Club Championships.
We will very shortly be publishing our facilities plan for the next 6 years. With the help of grants and loans and parents support, we hope to extend our track around 1 bend next year to over 200m long as part of its eventual extension into a full 400m track and hope to complete a throws area and a perimeter pathway around our new field and a toilet block next year also, as well as 36m x 24m sportshall by 2023.
We hope to launch these plans with a Night at the Dogs in early December – more information to follow on this.
And we would like to keep encouraging parents to support our club Lotto at https://www.locallotto.ie/localhome.asp?LL_ID=1388.
Our Lotto is an essential part of our plans to fund facility development for existing members. Every cent that the club generates is going into the development of facilities for the existing members – we don’t do savings as to do so would mean fundraising and not spending it on the members who give the funds. So please continue to support us and click on our club lotto. And thanks as always for all the support to date, we have a fantastic club and a fantastic support base and the signs of this are evident at every training session on the happy smiles on our members’ faces.
Mooney Goes Wild at Dublin Marathon!
In absolutely perfect running conditions, Kevin Mooney dug deep and delivered on his fantastic form of recent months by knocking over a whopping 4 minutes from the Club Marathon record. This corny headline had to be used at least once and this provided the perfect opportunity!!
Kevin powering through at Mile 22
After an exceptional half-marathon in Charleville, few doubted that Kevin would break the magical 2.35 barrier, but the marathon can be a cruel beast and many fantastic athletes have stumbled at the distance over the years: "there are no guarantees here". For many, the big question was if his legs would recover from his Galway bay marathon win (2:40) of less than a month ago - not something you often see on marathon training plans! So basically - he still had to pull it out on the day - and pull it out he did!
Kevin started with intent, clocking out the 3:20 to 3:30 kilometers to pass through 10k in a little over 35 minutes. He continued to push the pace, incredibly passing through half way in a remarkable 1:14.55 - a sub-2:30 pace, and ahead of many athletes that actually ended up breaking the 2:30 mark.
Through the latter stages of the second half, he started to feel the pinch - particularly over the last 10k where the uphill sections of the course took their toll. From mile 20 to 22 his pace dipped by almost 20 seconds a kilometer. Some abuse from fans like Barry, Gerry and myself (though more likely some downhill sections) may have helped him rally a litte from mile 22 to 24 but the last two miles were again tough - leading to a second half almost 3 minutes slower than the first. Splits like this just indicate massive potential for improvement!
At the end his time is an unofficial 2.32.59 - a BRILLIANT personal best and a fabulous new club record which I wouldn't bet on staying this side of 2:30 for very long! Well done to Kevin - splits are below if you click "read more".
Crew from Craughwell all Smiles at the start!
PB's too for Piotr and Others!
Kevin wasn't the only Craughwell AC Athlete in marathon action today - Piotr Prokop SHATTERED the magical 3-hour barrier in Frankfurt with a great 2:58 - well done Piotr, it's not every day you will get a 13 minute PB - enjoy it!
Back in Dublin - only some Craughwell athletes were listed as such in the results search engine, so will add others as we get them but among the other great performances were:
- Aisling Roche - 5:03
- Dean Roche - 4:27
- Elisha Daniels - 4:06
- Colm McAllen - 4:54
- John Melia - 3:22
- Mick Gallagher - 4:11
- Reena Deely - 4:19
- Aideen Gillespie - 4:19
- Brian Gorman 3:42
- Katie Gorman 3:43
- Brian Matthews 3:42
- Cathriona Leen 3:54
- Sharon Gilligan 4:00
- Fiona Gleeson Keane 4:56
- Lorraine Craven 4:18
- Declan Craven 5:47
- Dave Callanan 4:14
- Treasa Callanan 3:55
- Kay Touhy 3:54
- Tony Nevin 3:58
- Marita Carolan 5:24
Well done all, fantastic achievements and please let me know if I missed anyone else!
Athletes Shine at Connacht Primary Schools XC
Ballymana NS's Keevagh Barry on her way to a fantastic
Connacht title in the Junior Girls 1000m
The Connacht Primary Schools cross country took place on a rain-sodden day in Bushfield Loughrea at the weekend but it failed to dampen the spirits of some wonderful performances by athletes from the club.
Foremost amongst them was Ballymana’s Keevagh Barry who raced to a superb Connacht title in the Junior Girls 1000m, emulating the achivement of former pupil Linda Porter several years ago in the senior category of the Connacht primary schools cross country. Having placed 20th in the county semifinals, Keevagh had a superb run in the county finals to take 4th place. But her Connacht final performance was one of the finest performances by an athlete from the club, running out a comfortable winner and clearly enjoying the wet conditions!
It was a super day also for the junior girls from both Craughwell NS and Clarinbridge NS with Katelyn Walsh leading Craughwell to team silver with a brilliant 17th place followed by Mia Hollingsworth 24th, Ciara O'Connor 29th, Kelly Hallinan 36th, Lauren Morgan 51st and Lillian Walsh 67th; and Clarinbridge’s Sadbh Walsh claiming 18th place to lead her school to team bronze with Erin Dillon 44th, Aeveen Kelly 49th, Aishling Lavan 58th, Niamh Kilgannon 71st and Zara Black 107th. A downpour erupted before the Junior Boys race where Killeeneen’s Declan O’Connell had another fine run with a 12th place finish, He was followed closely by the ever-improving Jack Cahill in 15th place and Keelan Moorhead in 16th, who together led Craughwell NS to a fine team bronze with Alex Ryan 51st, Daniel Farrelly 72nd, Iarlaith Doyle 84th and Ben Moran 92nd. Ballyglass’s Orrin Gilmore also had a fine run to take 27th place. In the Senior Races, Siobhan Carr (Scoil Mhuire Clarinbridge) was the club’s only representative with a strong run to place 47th.
Also in action on the same day, Craughwell had 3 participants in the senior races with Jack Miskella having 1 of his best days in cross country with a fantastic 5th place finish in the Senior Men's event and 3rd in the Novice Men category and Piotr Prokip a very strong 14th and 5th in the Masters men category while Ailbhe Miskella made her debut in Senior Women's cross-country with a fine 13th place finish out of the 40-strong finishers and 1st junior home.
Laura claims National Pentathlon Title!
Laura Cunningham (Pres Athenry)
National Senior Champion at Irish Schools Combined Events held in Athlone IT
Laura Cunningham wrapped up an outstanding 12 years of juvenile athletics when taking the National title in the Senior Girls Pentathlon at the Irish Schools Combined Events Championships held in Athlone IT at the weekend. Laura’s cleared 1.50m in the high jump, raced to a 10.40s PB in the 2’9” 60m hurdles, heaved the 4kg shot putt out to 7.93m, leaped 4.78m to win the long jump and claimed the National title with a fine PB of 2:43.24 in the final event of the day the 800m. It caps a glittering juvenile career for Laura which included an Irish vest in the Celtic Games in 2017, numerous National podium finishes in long jump, high jump, triple jump, pentathlon and relays as well as 3 National titles in the triple jump and countless Galway and Connacht titles in a range of disciplines.
Promising start to the 2018 XC Season
Promising start to the 2018 XC Season
X Country season kicked off today in the Palace Grounds in Tuam with Day 1 of the County Championships.
We had a fantastic representation from all age groups and it was wonderful to see so many Craughwell vests. The day was perfect for x country running, although a little blustery, temperatures were mild and the rain held off.
The first race of the day was the U10 Girls. This would be considered to be one of the tougher courses with plenty of long hills. However, all girls battled bravely and each and everyone of them had fantastic races with 6 of the runners finishing in the amongst the top 16 runners. Running today were Aeveen Kelly, Aisling Lavan, Gemma Cloonan, Laura Morgan. Mia Hollingworth, Megan Smith and Remy Alymer. They were all delighted to finish the race and even more delighted to discover they had won the U10 Gold County Team Medal.
U10 Girls Galway County Champions
Next were are U10 boys team was made up of all U9 warriors; Daragh Higgins, Calum McMahon, Alan Hallinan and Sean Cloonan. These boys would only have a handful of races beneath their shoes, and yet still understood and embraced the challenge. Alan ran a brilliant tactical race to finish 1st overall and his team mates had strong performances and although they missed out on a team medal they managed to storm into to 4th place overall.
U10 Craughwell AC Boys Team
In the U12's girls race we had only 2 runners and Ameile Bocquet (younger sister of Shauna and Mathys) had a strong race to finish in 19th place followed by Claudia McGuiness with a fine finish in 24th place.
Although U12 boys were unable to field a team, 3 brave runners (Fionn Higgins, Keelan Moorhead, Darragh Kelly) battled hard throughout the race to come in 6th, 16th and 26th positions.
The girl's u14 was a close contest over the 3000m course with Craughwell girls winning Silver in the teams. Despite having just run a big new 800m pb two days ago, Fauve Aylmer had a fine battle at the front all the way with eventual winner Isabella Burke of GCH. A gap built, which Fauve was making inroads into over the last 500m, but not before the finish line arrived! Clodagh O'Meara also ran a standout race, building from the mid pack and catching athletes all the way. With 100m to go she caught and passed the 3rd placed athlete from Ballinasloe, but was unable on this occasion to hold her off for the Bronze, finishing 4th. Next home for Craughwell was Siofra Davis in 16th place, followed by Alana Grogan (18th), Holly O'Boyle (19th), Erin Kelly (21st) and Muireann Leen (23rd).
Silver-medal winning u14 Girls Team
In one of the performances of the day, Mathys Bocquet stepped up in age from the u13s and put on a masterclass of front running to win with ease. The talented athlete dominated a strong field of older athletes from the start, building an unassailable gap early on and extending it all the way. Cian Lavin shook off a recent injury to power his way to a strong 7th place finish, not far ahead of teammate Evan Hallinan (9th). Sean Liston (12th) rounded out a very strong Craughwell performance good enough to take Silver.
Silver Winning u14 Boys Team including Athlete of the day Mathys
The Craughwell U16's boys had only 3 athletes in this one, but they made up for the lack of a team by taking all the individual medals. With his excellent track season, Sean Cotter of Craughwell was the clear pre-race favourite and he lived up to his billing by taking clear victory. Running together with teammates Oisin Davis and Ross McGuinness, they used excellent teamwork to reel in and overtake the early South Galway leader and continued to extend their lead until Sean made his solo break with 1km to go. Oisin finished second with Ross a very close third.
U16 Boys County Winners: Sean Cotter Gold, Oisin Davis Silver, Ross McGuiness Bronze
U16 Boys at half-way
Gold Team Medal for U18's boys.
The start line saw an array of massive talent a wide range age categories U18-Senior Men.
Patrick Noonan (U18) immediately took off like a bullet and charged away from the crowd down the first hill. He soon settled into a very steady pace along this hilly 6km route. He maintained a fine position throughout the race and appeared very comfortable coming in the final straight to take a Bronze County Medal. Next across the finish line was Kyle Moorhead (U17) who stepped up from U17’s to help field a team and had a solid run and just missed out on the medals coming in at 4th place.
William Fitzgerald (U18) who is normally seen taking the lead and dominating the race, went out hard, but found it difficult on this occasion to stay with the leaders as fatigue in his legs set in quickly. Nonetheless he had a great 6th finishing position.
Sean Noonan (U18), has taken almost a year away from distance running and we are delighted to see him back in the field. After only a week’s training he agreed to run and help make up an U18 team. He retained a steady position throughout the race and coming into the home straight charged up the hill to take over a runner and finish in 8th place.
U18 Gold Medalist - Ailbhe Miskella
This is a superb start to Ailbhe's X Country season and a deserved award for an athlete that has put tremendous effort and demonstrated both patience and consistency in her approach to training. Ailbhe stepping up from U17 to U18 dominated her age group from gun to tape. Each Km split was run with precision. Amongst a field of athletes ranging from junior to senior athletes she placed along with her Gold U18 medal, 4th overall in the race showing a very promising season for her.
Along with their gold U18's team medal our fine Craughwell team (Patrick Noonan, Sean Noonan, Kyle Moorhead and William Fitzpatrick) also gained a county junior mens Silver Team medal.
A big thank you to Mark who provided information on many of the races above and for the report below.
Senior Men's report by Mark
The Senior Mens team is finally starting to show "Green Shoots" after a few years and a changing of the Guard in the squad. Jamie Fallon, ever-brave took to the front of a high-quality field and led strongly the chasing pack of Brendan McDonnell and Keith Fallon for the first 3km of the 8km course. Young American McDonnell of GCH & NUIG showed incredible class to take charge from half way despite the weight of a 70-minute half marathon in his legs from yesterday. He was irresistable on the day and when he made the push he quickly built an unassailable lead on his rivals for the remainder of the course. Despite getting passed, Jamie pushed on and appeared to solidify Silver with a lap remaining, the gap growing to 15 seconds between himself and Keith. However, stranded in second without a target is a hard position to defend and Keith is a formidable athlete with a "rabbit" to chase! In the home straight Keith duly struck home to nick Silver. Bronze for Jamie, but another brilliant performance from a man still very early on his comeback trail.
Jack Miskella had a lovely performance to take 8th overall and 7th Senior (which I think secures a position on the Galway County Cross Country team). Jack had a great first half and conceded some positions in the second half and is only starting to scratch his potential. Another 800m specialist with even less endurance work under his belt is Gavin Cooney - Gavin put on a sterling performance to come 16th overall and 8th Senior. Despite his reservations, David Evans answered the call and without him we wouldn't have had a team. The M50 athlete is made of incredibly tough stuff and ran brilliantly to take 22nd position - he embodied the spirit of cross country and emptying the tank. The results are provisional but David almost certainly secured an individual M50 medal, I'm unsure yet of the colour. The team score was 49 points which was 3rd, ahead of big town teams like Tuam and just two behind Castlegar on 47..
Overall - to me, Galway Cross country running is starting to look a little healthier! Some positive signs for me:
- Quality:The first 3 athletes were of the highest quality showing some support from the "elite" of galway running. Let's make this a "best of the best" event at the front!
- Youth: Of the top 10, 8 were "Senior" runners and only two were "Veteran" runners. Compare this to, for example last years race where in the top 11 we had only ONE senior, and all the rest were vets!! Nothing against veterans (I am one!), but really they should be the exception in the Galway XC top 10, not the rule.
- Diversity: Being a west-city club and fortunate enough to have access to the NUIG track (and often, its athletes), GCH will always be a powerhouse of Galway Senior athletics, and this was very evident yesterday in the Senior race with the flock of red and white in the top 10 - however there is a sense of buzz starting in some other clubs that I hope will continue - the more colour the better! Powered by Sean McDermott's charisma, Castlegar look to be on the rise and Tuam and ourselves are on the comeback too - and I know there are some brilliant athletes in other clubs like South Galway who haven't really started the cross country bug yet. Hoping Athenry and Loughrea rise from the ashes soon to bring some more interest to affairs! Looking forward to watching (who knows, even participating in?) some interesting battles over the coming months and years ahead!
- Talent Shifts: It's interesting to see the trends in clubs supporting talent at younger level. Craughwell has continued a record to be proud of here and this was clear in many age groups, especially from u14, u16 and u18 where we were very strong, and won the u10 as well. However - at the under ages I was particularly impressed with host club Tuam AC who won 3 races strongly and were 2nd in another. This is a great sign of the good work being done there and if they can keep these involved in the sport it will be super for the county.
The Senior Team with a couple of fans!