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Medals Galore at Connacht X Country Championships

U16 Boys & U16 Girls - Galway County Gold Medalists

Glorious blue skies, and warm sun greeted runners in Sligo last weekend (Sunday 29th Oct). With magnificent views across the rolling land scape towards the Keelogyboy mountain range and Lough Gill, today was one of the days that the best possible thing you could do is run cross country.

Notwithstanding the fabulous day, those of us who have been to Calry before, know how tough this course is. Running downhill between two adjacent fields through a narrow gap, is hard work for even the best x country runners. There is also a deceptively long incline of 250m that not only has to be climbed every km that is run, but also it makes up the finishing stretch coming up to and into the shoots.

We had Craughwell AC representation for most ages today and lots of fantastic performances. The first race kicked off with the U12 Girls, 2000m race, that consisted of 2 full laps. Running in this race were Claudia McGuiness and Muireann Leen who both had fantastic starts, and joined the leaders for the first 200m, however, the leaders charged ahead and our girls maintained fine positions throughout the race with final positions of 55^th (Claudia) and closely behind 57^th Murieann.

U12 boys were next to the line and with one of the finest performances of the day Mathys Bocquet in a race with 58 contenders stormed to 2^nd place taking an individual silver medal, first Galway boy in and helping the Galway team to a Silver Country medal. Other U12 boys included; Darragh Kelly 11^th Galway runner in (placing 46^th overall), Eoin Spellman, 12^th Galway runner in (49^th overall). Much to his disappointment Eamonn Corban picked up an injury into the first lap and had to pull out of the race.

U14 Girls only had one Craughwell runner; Aoibhin Keane who had a great race to finish in 27^th position and at the same time brought home a Galway County Gold Medal.

Next to run were the U14 boys (3000m); were Ross McGuiness and Darragh McCartin. Ross charged ahead with 2 other runners who held comfortable leads throughout the first 2k. On the final and exhausting last km, Ross fell back a few places but still managed to finish 6^th overall. Ross was the 2^nd Galway County runner to cross the finish line. Darragh had a very steady run maintaining throughout the entire race his 16^th position. Both boys were exhausted but delighted to have achieved this today. Ross and Darragh both stood on the podium for bronze County Galway medals.

There was little or no time between any of the races today and as soon as U14 races were complete it was straight to the line for the U16 girls. Without rain today, the fields although “muddy” were nothing compared to previous years, and although there had been 4 races completed, under foot conditions were still fine. Craughwell AC had 2 U16 girls; Ailbhe Miskella and Ciara Sheppard. Both girls got off to fantastic starts and Ailbhe in her customary style immediately charged to the front to run alongside the top 10 in this race. With her fabulous ability to maintain her position during races, she sat in and around 9^th position for the first 2 laps, Ailbhe’s endurance ability coupled with her power, usually allows her to work her way up to over take a few runners. With 2 laps completed and coming into the third lap, Ailbhe gained a few places and with the last hill to go even managed to close the gap between herself and the 7^th place finalist, with only 50m between the two, Ailbhe sprinted up the hill to finish 8^th. Ailbhe was the 3^rd Galway girl in. Ciara also put in tremendous effort and although preferring to hold back a little at the start of the race, (to avoid the “rampage” that occurs), ran steady first 2 laps and then began her strategy to gradually gain places. With 1km complete Ciara was sitting in 15^th position, appearing comfortable and preserving her energy for the second half of the race and gradually she  began to gain places and overtook 5 runners to storm to the finish line with a brilliant 12^th position. Ciara was the 5^th Galway girl in and both herself and Ailbhe helped the Galway Team to a Gold County Medal

Unfortunately, neither U16 girls or U16 boys were able to field a team in their races, but with fine performances from all individuals Galway County Gold Team medals were achieved.

                             Galway Country Gold Medalists                     U16 Bronze Medalist- Sean Cotter (U15)

                         (missing from photo is Ciara Sheppard)

With U16 boys lined up and ready to go with Sean Cotter, Kyle Moorhead and Liam Leen (only recently came back to x country), from the gun start Sean stormed ahead to take an immediate lead. Within the first 100m he was joined side by side by 2 other runners who accompanied him for most of the race. This is a tremendous achievement as Sean is an U15 and particularly as I observed him “hobbling” out of school last Thursday evening, following an injury to his foot. He rested for a few days and somehow managed to charge into the Sligo hills (“bog”) with the determination we are now used to. During this 4000m race Sean held his strong position, fighting off any contenders. However, during the last 1000m he began to fall back to third position and the gap widened and made it very difficult for Sean to fight for first or second place. Sean still managed victory with an individual bronze medal and earned his place on the Galway County Team (Gold Medallists). Next U16 Craughwell runner to charge up the hill towards the tape was Kyle Moorhead, (16th) followed closely behind by Liam Leen. Both runners held their positions throughout the race and Liam Leen (running out of age and with very little training behind him in the last 12 months) coped incredibly well with the steep accents to finish in 20^th place.

Dearbhla Walsh, who has taken some time out from running this year to pursue other sports and study put in a fine performance in the 4000m girls U20 and coming around the first lap was in a strong 4^th position and was only overtaken by one runner throughout the entire race and finished in 5^th place.

The last and final race of the day was the U18/U20 and men’s race. Although it was great to observe the talent of these endurance runners it was at the same time a “battle field” in terms of the numbers of runners and a real task to work out who was in which age group. Piecing together the results proved incredibly difficult with 81 runners in total. Jack Miskella U20 had a superb race and held his 2^nd position throughout the entire race to take home anIndividual Silver Medal. William Fitzgerald was the first U17 Craughwell athlete to cross the finishing line in 5^th place followed by Patrick Noonan and Sean Noonan (15^th & 18^th). All performed incredibly well and their overall race positions (amongst U18-Senior men) were 6^th, 18^th, and 21^st.

U18 boys came away from Sligo with Silver County medals.

Full results of the day are here:- 2017.10.29.amended.ConnachtEvenAgesXCResults.pdf

Laura Claims Bronze in National Combined Events!

Ben Garrard (Yeats College) and Laura Cunningham (Pres Athenry)
who placed 4th and 3rd in the Senior Boys and Senior Girls categories
at the Irish Schools Combined Events Championships in Athlone

The Irish Schools Combined Events Championships took place yesterday with some exhilarating performances by the club’s athletes. In the Senior Girls grade, Laura Cunningham (Pres Athenry) put in a fantastic series of jumps to clear 1.61m on her first attempt to win the high jump. Next event up was the 60m hurdles where Laura was leading the race as she crossed the final hurdle but disaster struck as her trailing leg just caught the hurdle and brought her down in a heavy fall. Laura bravely got up and crossed the line in a time of 12.85 losing over 400 points as a result of the fall.

But despite bad grazing on elbows and knees, the undeterred Laura leaped 4.76m to take valuable points in the long jump and move into 3rd place and followed it up with an 8.08m PB with the 4kg shot to hold 3rd place going into the final event 800m. With a margin of just 43 points separating 3rd from 4th which equates to a gap of just 4 seconds in the 800m, it was all to play for in the final event. With a time of 3 minutes from the Connacht championships Laura ran an exceptionally well-paced race to better this time by 11 seconds when running 2:49.24 and in the process, seal the bronze medal – an incredible performance considering the heavy tumble she took in the hurdles which possibly denied her the gold medal.

Also putting in a series of brilliant performances, Ben Garrard (Yeats College) put himself in contention for a podium finish when running an impressive 9.47 in the hurdles and 24.70 in the 200m, leaping 5.68m in the long jump and heaving the shot out to 8.66m. This placed Ben 4th going into the 800m 157 points adrift of 3rd place or approximately a 10 second gap to recover in the 800m. Ben put in a remarkable run to open a substantial gap on his opponents, blazing around the first 400m in 60 seconds and finishing in an excellent time of 2.02.93.

As we waited with bated breath by the scoreboard for the official results and updated scores, the official arrived with the sheet and alas despite such an outstanding 800m, Ben hadn’t close the gap to 3rd place who had recorded a time of 2.09.37 – Ben would have needed him to run 2.12.56 to have overhauled him. So close but an excellent effort from Ben … a 2.02.93 off very little 800 training in the last 4 months augurs very well for the future.

Also in action in the younger age groups, Ellie Cronin (Pres), Freya Bohan (Pres) and Alisha Larkin (St Raphael’s) battled hard in the Junior Girls and Chloe Farragher (St Brigid's) in the Minor Girls. Ellie ran a brilliant hurdles despite a wobbly start and recorded an excellent 9.92. The long jump didn’t go as well for Ellie and a break on the first jump was followed up with a 3.73m from behind the board and the third jump was a narrow break – unlucky for Ellie. Her high jump went well with a first time clearance of 1.51m to finish 2nd in that event and she followed this up with a 6.93m shot putt. Freya battled hard also with an 11.60 hurdles, 4.53 long jump and 1.36m high jump while Alisha did well also in her first multi-events with an 11.37 hurdles, 5.55m shot, 4.32m long jump, 1.27m high jump and 2.59.42 800m. In the minor grade, Chloe raced to 11.60 over the hurdles, 7.37m in the shot and 1.21m in the high jump.

Full results are here:- girls    boys

Well done to our raffle prizewinners!

Well done to the prize winners in our raflle which was held on Friday night last. The winners are listed below ... hope you enjoy your prizes! And thanks to everyone for supporting the draw, the proceeds of which all go into our facility development in Crinnage.

Club's Fancy Dress Halloween Disco This Friday!

Connacht Secondary Schools Multi-Events

Shauna Tobin and Laura Cunningham pictured in Athlone IT at the Connacht Schools Multi Events
with former National Senior High Jump Champion Cathriona Farrell who now teaches in Coláiste Bhaile Chláir
and was chief official at the high jump for the day

The strength of the club in the teenage age groups was very much in evidence at the Connacht Schools Multi Events which were held in Athlone on Thursday where athletes from the club were representing their schools including Calasanctius Oranmore, Coláiste Bhaile Chláir, Pres Athenry, St Raphael's Loughrea, St Brigid’s Loughrea and Yeats College.

Official results are unavailable as yet other than Laura Cunningham's (Pres Athenry) victory in the Senior Girls grade where she had some fine performances particularly in the high jump where she leaped a new PB of 1.65m and in the hurdles. The high jump provided some of the top moments of the day for athletes from the club with Leanagh Gilligan (St Brigid’s) leaping a PB of 1.55m to take top spot in the Intermediate Girls high jump, Shauna Tobin (Pres Athenry) clearing a PB of 1.40m in the same event, Ellie Cronin (Pres Athenry) leaping an amazing 1.61m to win the Junior Girls high jump, Aíne Kelly (St Brigid’s) 2nd in the same event with a huge PB of 1.58m, Freya Bohan clearing a PB of 1.50m, Emma Jane Moran a huge PB of 1.45m in the Minor Girls and Jade Moorhead clearing 1.40m in the First Year Girls.

I will add official results to this article as soon as they are available.

Freya Bohan, Aíne Kelly, Ellie Cronin and Aoife Kelly pictured in Athlone IT at the Connacht Schools Multi Events

There were many more fine performances across the grades including in the Senior Boys Ben Garrard (Yeats College); in the Intermediate Boys Oisin Lyons (Yeats College), in the Junior Girls Aoife Kelly (Pres Athenry), in the Junior Boys Conor Roberts (Coláiste Bhaile Chláir), Kyle Moorhead (Pres Athenry), Conor Trehy (Pres Athenry), James Furey (Pres Athenry), Oisin Davis (Pres Athenry), Pascal Walsh (Pres Athenry), Sean Cotter (Calasanctius); in the Minor Girls Ava Finn (Pres Athenry), Edel Farrelly (Pres Athenry), Lauren McNally (St Brigid’s), Alisha Larkin (St Raphael’s), Chloe Farragher (St Brigid’s), Triona Furey (Calasanctius), Anna Molloy (Calasanctius), Annie Dehora (Calasanctius), Hannah Hynes (Calasanctius); in Minor Boys, Ludaigh Morgan; in First Year Girls Millie Geraghty and Jade Moorhead (Pres Athenry); in First Year Boys Robert Urquhart and Tom Doran (Pres Athenry).

Ava Finn and Emma Jane Moran getting their high jump marks at the Connacht Schools Multi Events

Ellie Cronin attempting 1.65m at the Connacht Schools Multi Events

Next Clothes Recycling Collection in 2 Weeks Time

Our first cheque from cash4clobber arrived in the post today ... €325 from the recyling appeal we launched at the start of September. Not bad for 1 collection!! The next collection is in 2 weeks time so please continue to leave your unwanted old and new clothes with us ... see here for more details. 

If everyone was to get behind this, with over 300 familes in the club it can generate an ongoing income stream against which we can borrow funds for facility development. For every €100 of predictable income, we can borrow €1000. So if say clothes recycling were to generate an annual income of €3000 every year, we could use that to borrow €30,000 to develop facilities immediately. So get recycling and use your unwanted clothes to help build your facility ... its a win win for everyone.

Magnificent Performances in Kilcornan!

Craughwell AC's massive U9 cross-country team in Kilcornan

The second day of the Galway club cross-country took place today in Kilcornan, Clarinbridge in ideal racing conditions on a challenging course.

Hats off to the County Board and also to neighbouring landowners Ciaran and Gussy on some last minute work to roll parts of the field to reduce the bovine footprint. And just in case the Director of Climate Change in the United Nations is reading this – what I mean is flattening out the cattle hoof marks and recycled grass to make it more comfortable for runners! Well done also to Athenry's Iain Shaw on getting the results out so promptly.

This year’s participation rates in the Galway club cross-country have been at their highest in at least 12 years with close to double the numbers from 2006 taking part. A fabulous day for the club saw its athletes race to individual victory in 7 of the 12 races.

   
Some members of the Craughwell U11 and U9 Boys teams in Kilcornan

The races got underway with the U9 Girls 800m where Craughwell AC had a huge number of participants with 26 girls taking to the field. Saoirse Mullins again showed her super talent for cross country running with a brilliant victory and leading her team to gold with Lauren Morgan 7th, Aisling Lavan 9th, Mia Hollingsworth 11th, Emily Hewitt 15th, Ellen Stenson 20th, Gemma Cloonan 23rd, Alva Horan 25th, Laura Flynn 29th, Erica Coye 30th, Madison Ryan 34th, Abbi Donoghue 35th, Ava Doyle 37th, Melissa O'Connor 41st, Sarah O'Gara 42nd, Leona Coye 45th, Kayleigh Rabbitte 47th, Megan Smith 48th, Caoimhe Moynihan 49th, Caoimhe O'Connor 50th, Rebecca Doyle 54th, Asha Knight 55th, Ava Whyte 56th, Emily Rabbitte 57th, Caoimhe Harrington 58th and Ciara Byrnes 59th.

The U9s boys 800m race was off next with U8 athlete Alan Hallinan (a semi-reluctant participant!) racing to an incredible victory and leading Craughwell AC to team silver and bronze with Eanna Morrissey 5th, Eóin Middleton 9th, Tom Malone 10th, Ethan Whyte 11th, Liam Reilly 12th, Iarlaith Doyle 15th, Leo Molloy 17th, Ethan Horan 19th, Darragh Higgins 25th, Patrick Carr 27th, Darragh Farrell 35th, Jake Barry 36th and Ethan Stace 40th.

Craughwell AC's U11 Girls cross country team on the start line

In the U11 Girls 1500m, the Craughwell team ran brilliantly to place 5th led home by Sara Craven 6th, Claudia McGuinness 15th, Amelie Grogan 22nd, Amelie Bouquet 32nd, Erin Dillon 39th, Aoife O'Meara 40th, Isobel Doyle 41st, Jessica Ross 42nd, Erin Fahy 44th and Ayla Hollingsworth 57th. While in the U11 Boys 1500m the team raced to the silver medals with Fionn Higgins leading them home in 9th place followed by Sean Lavan 10th, Darragh Riedy 16th, Darragh Kelly 17th, Keelan Moorhead 18th, Luke O'Sullivan 22nd, Riley Stenson 29th, Eoin Woods 43rd, Peter Martyn 44th and Rian Middleton 49th.

The U13 Girls 2500m got underway where another brilliant run by Clodagh O’Meara and Fauve Aylmer in 5th and 6th place led the team to silver medals with strong running also from Aoibhe Carr 8th, Siofra Davis 19th, Jade Moorhead 21st, Erin Kelly 33rd, Claire Coulahan 36th, Muireen Leen 37th, Sarah Byrne 38th and Grace Leen 39th. The U13 Boys also raced to silver medals in their 2500m led home by a magnificent individual victory for Mathys Bocquet with Cian Lavan just missing out on the top 3 with a 4th place finish, followed by Luke Flynn with an impressive late surge in 9th, Daniel Galvin 11th, Evan Hallinan 13th, Cormac McFadden 21st and Michael Woods 28th.

Craughwell AC's U13 Girls cross country team prior to race start

Craughwell AC's Ross McGuinness and Oisin Davis
Silver and bronze medallists in the Galway U15 3500m Cross Country in Kilcornan

Aoibheann Keane and Lauren McNally both ran really well in the U15 Girls 3500m.  Aoibheann ran strongly throughout, starting the last lap in bronze position and ran down her oppponent over the last lap to claim a magnificent Silver.  Despite not having done much distance training this year, Lauren McNally showed amazing character to run strongly throughout and finish in 6th place.  Ross McGuinness and Oisin Davis were in the leading group of 3 throughout the U15 Boys 3500m, eventually claiming excellent Silver and Bronze respectively.

Craughwell U17 Boys Galway 4000m Champions 2017 and Luke Evans Galway U19 Champion 2017
Finbarr McFadden, Ben Ryan, Patrick Noonan, Luke Evans, Kyle Moorhead, William Fitzpatrick
(missing from photo - Sean Noonan)

Ailbhe Miskella stormed to victory in the U17 Girls 4000m with Ciara Sheppard in 4th place while Ben Ryan also took an excellent victory in the U17 Boys 5000m with William Fitzgerald taking silver and followed by Patrick Noonan 5th, Kyle Moorhead 6th, Finbarr McFadden 7th and Sean Noonan 8th to take the team victory.

Caron Ryan added the U19 Galway title to the Junior crown that she won last weekend in Tuam and Luke Evans continued his fine progress in cross-country with victory in the U19 Boys 5000m.

Craughwell AC's Ailbhe Miskella (Galway U17 Champion 2017), Ciara Sheppard (4th place) 
and Caron Ryan (Galway U19 Champion 2017)

So another great day out for the club in times of increasing competition from the other clubs as evidenced by the huge increase in participation. Connachts now to look forward to next with the Primary Schools om Saturday 21st October in Roscommon, the club even age groups on Sunday 29th October in Sligo and the club uneven age groups on Sunday 5th November in Longford.

And just a quick note for parents of our younger athletes in U9s and U10s. There are no races in the Connacht club competition for those age groups but U10s may step up to the U11s if they wish.

Full results of the day are here. 

Info for tomorrow's cross country

Timetable for Sunday:

Stewards may park in car park at entrance to swimming pool.  Everyone else to park one of the other car parks. 

Please obey the steward’s instructions.

The course in in Kilcornan, adjoining Clarinbridge village - ref google maps.

Coming from Galway drive through Clarinbridge, after bridge/shops turn left up Kilcornan Avenue.  Continue for about 1km.  Stewards will direct you to car parking.  Please drive very slowly on avenue.  This is not a public road and is used by many pedestrians, cyclists etc.

Races may run ahead of schedule, listen to announcements

Number pick up from noon at the PA box

Please bring any rubbish away with you!

There will be a shop available in swimming pool building serving tea/coffee and snacks.

Clarinbridge Oyster festival is also on this weekend.  There is a free Festival Family Fun Day in the marquee alongside Paddy Burkes that may be of interest after racing around Kilcornan.

Craughwell AC Major Fund-Raising Raffle

Craughwell AC are launching a major fund-raising draw in parallel with our 5k race and inflatable colour run which take place on 16th Sept this month. Tickets/lines will be on sale via our members right through September and October with the draw held on Friday 27 October at the club's halloween disco - please note the change in date.

There are 4 exceptional prizes on offer as shown below including fabulous helicopter trip, priceless jersey signed by the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Champions, hotel weekend away and BT hamper.

With €5 per line or €100 for card if single buyer, it is hoped that our members really get behind promoting the draw. All funds go directly towards Phase 3 of the provision of facilities at Craughwell AC Sports & Recreation Park which will include 400m track, throwing areas, walking pathway, toilets/changing areas and indoor training area. The exact timing of these faciltiies will depend on funds raised, grants and loans.

The 19th September was the 3-year anniversary of the club purchasing its 8-acre grounds and in those 3 years the club has made remarkable progress with Phase 1 purchase of field, development of grass running routes, floodlighting and Phase 2 carpark, jumps areas, sprint track, more floodlighting. The club has spent almost €470,000 in those years through a combination of loans, grants and fundraising.

Detailed plans will be made available to all members once the situation in regard to grants is known later in the autumn. We have approximately 300 families in the club and if each get behind the raffle and sell a card, it will raise an amazing €30,000 for these facilities. So please support it and enjoy the benefits of improved facilities every year.

Largest Juvenile Club in Ireland!

The club retained its status as the largest juvenile club in Ireland confirmed by figures published by Athletics Ireland today.

The fantastic work being done by everyone involved in the club is evidenced by the fact that only 9 clubs in the country have more than 300 juvenile members, with Craughwell AC proudly sitting at the top with 526 juvenile members - more than twice that of most clubs in Ireland. The top 9 clubs and their juvenile membership numbers are as follows - great to see Tuam AC with such large numbers too:

• Craughwell AC 526
• Bandon (Cork) 499
• Leevale (Cork) 482
• Dundrum South Dublin 432
• Fingallians (Dublin) 342
• Letterkenny (Donegal) 333
• Blackrock (Dublin) 323
• Tuam AC 310
• Kilkenny City Harriers 305

Autumn Training Plan.

We are pleased to announce the return of high performance director Sebastien Locteau for a 10 week training module starting Wednesday the 4th of October at 7.30 at the senior track. Suitable for all levels of running, the training is tailored to suit all grades and levels of running and distances.

All Members welcome.

The lights go on at the track at 7 every evening all members welcome. autumn training is as follows.

Monday 7.30 Fit4life

Tuesday 7.30 Meet and Train.

Wednesday 7.30 Seb's Training session.

Thursday 7.30 Fit4life.

Palatial Performances at the Palace Grounds!

Some of the participants in the Galway Senior Men's 8000m Cross Country race
being snapped by the legendary John O'Connor

Day 1 of the Galway club cross country took place today in the Palace Grounds in Tuam on what turned out to be a pleasant day for cross country in somewhat muddy conditions! Well done to Tuam AC on expertly preparing the course to avoid the worst of the wet ground and to South Galway AC and Iain Shaw on coordinating the entries and results. And great to see large numbers from up and coming clubs taking part including Tuam AC and Clare River Harriers. I’ve been keeping stats on number of finishers in Galway juvenile cross country since 2006 and today was the largest participation in those 11 years with 269 finishers, 30 more than last year and over 100 more than in 2007 – so great work being done by all the clubs to promote cross country amongst the juvenile ages. Keep an eye on John O'Connor's flickr page for his customary great set of race photos.

The races got underway at 1pm with the U10 Girls 1000m. New recruit to the club Saoirse Mullins from Ardrahan put in a fantastic run to take the victory and still has the U9s to look forward to next week – an incredible achievement in her first club race to become Galway Champion! Saoirse was followed in by Kelly Hallinan in 5th, Lauren Morgan 11th, Kaelyn Walsh 12th, Ciara O’Connor 14th, Amelie Bocquet 15th, Emma O'Donovan 20th, Erin Dillon 22nd, Caoilin Corban 23rd, Jessica McGlynn 27th, Chloe Keane 28th, Katie Ross 32nd, Lillian Walsh 33rd, Alison Canavan 35th, Shauna Killeen 52nd and Maria Gorman 53rd. A strong team performance saw Craughwell take the silver medals with a total of 29 points.

Craughwell AC's U10 squad prior to their 1000m race

Up next the U10 Boys 1000m where Keelan Moorhead is following in the footsteps of his older siblings Kyle and Jade and proceeded to take 3rd place with a strong finish and led his team to team gold with a score of 33 points. Keelan was followed home by Riley Stenson in 4th, Declan O'Connell 12th, Ben Moran 14th, Iarlaith Leen 15th, Jason Greaney 16th, Paul Barry 17th, Alex Ryan 20th, Gavin Clarke 25th and Cathal Gallagher 30th.

The U12 Girls were in action next in their 2000m and just missed out on a team medal with a 4th place finish and a points’ score of 110. The team were led home by Muireann Leen in 23rd place, followed by Erin Doyle 24th, Jessica Ross 31st, Claudia McGuinness 32nd, Niamh O'Connor 35th, Holly O'Boyle 42nd and Catherine Gorman 44th.

Mathys Bocquet had a stormer of a race in the U12 Boys 2000m, taking an early lead and increasing that throughout the race to take the Galway title in style. Mathys was followed in by Liam O'Connell in 16th, Eamon Corban 18th, Darragh Kelly 21st, Alan Connaughton 22nd, Sean Lavan 25th and Eoin Spellman 26th. The team claimed the bronze medals with a score of 56 points.

Craughwell AC's U14 Girls - Galway silver medallists 2017

A large field of 29 athletes took to the slippery slopes of the Palace Grounds for the U14 Girls 3000m where Clodagh O’Meara and Fauve Aylmer put in super runs to take 5th and 6th place and were followed swiftly by Aoibhinn Keane in 14th, Jade Moorhead 16th, Siofra Davis 19th and Siena Greaney 20th. Great running all around and for most the first time to race over this distance and for Siena, a great debut in her first cross country race. The team raced to the silver medals with a strong score of 41 points.

In the U14 Boys 3000m, Ross McGuinness and Darragh McCartin battled incredibly hard at the front of the race holding 1st and 2nd place at many stages throughout the 2-mile distance and eventually settling for 2nd and 3rd – great running from both athletes. They were followed in by Evan Hallinan and Cian Lavan in 8th and 9th to take the Galway team title with a low score of 22 points.

Craughwell AC'S U14 Boys - Galway Champions 2017

The U16 4000m got underway next with the girls and boys running at the same time. It’s a tough distance – particularly for the girls as it’s the same distance that adult women run. The club had 2 girls in action and both had fine runs with Ailbhe Miskella taking the individual silver and Ciara Sheppard just missing out on silverware with a 4th place finish. In the boys race, Sean Cotter again demonstrated his remarkable talents for distance running with a fine victory to add to his victory last weekend in the Castlegar 3000m. Kyle Moorhead also had a fine run to take individual bronze with Finbar McFadden hot on his heels in 4th place, Liam Leen 6th and Oisin Davis 8th – with the team coasting to team gold with a low score of 14 points.

Craughwell AC'S U16 Boys - Galway Champions 2017
Finbar McFadden, Liam Leen, Kyle Moorhead, Sean Cotter, Oisin Davis

In the U18 Boys 6000m, Ben Ryan had a fine run to take the individual bronze medal and lead his team to the silver medals with 23 points, with William Fitzpatrick 4th, Patrick Noonan 7th and Luke Evans 9th in his first cross country race for the club. Caron Ryan powered to victory in the U20 Women’s 4000m, establishing an early lead and running out a comfortable winner of both the U20 and Senior races. Jack Miskella was also in fine form when taking the silver medal in the U20 Men’s 6000m with a strong run.

Craughwell AC's U18 Boys - Galway silver medallists 2017
Ben Ryan, Luke Evans, Patrick Noonan, William Fitzpatrick

And in the final race of the day, Gavin Cooney was the club’s sole representative in the Senior Men’s 8000m. 800m is Gavin’s forte so this race was 10 times his normal racing distance - but the challenge posed by the 8k cross country race is great for middle-distance runners in the off-season and Gavin rose to the challenge, placing 12th overall and taking the Galway Novice Men’s title.

Next up on the cross-county scene is day 2 of the club championships next Sunday which will be held in Kilcornan. With U9s to U19s in action and a local venue, the club will have a large number of participants who are eagerly looking forward to the day.

Well done to all of the participants today and roll on next week!

Provisional results of day 1 are here:- 2017_Galway_XC_Even_Ages_Results_v2.pdf

Craughwell AC's Jack Miskella - Galway Junior Men's silver medallist 2017
and siblings Ben and Caron Ryan, Galway U18 bronze medallist 2017 and
Galway Junior Women's Champion 2017