by Richard Hawkins
The County Juvenile ‘B’ Championships were hosted by Togher AC in the Showgrounds, Curraheen on Sunday 9th November. Carraig Na BhFear AC juveniles hit top form with stunning performances. Darcey Brosnan had a brilliant win from the of the U11 girls’ race, followed closely by Edie Mae Browne (3rd) and Megan Prendergast (6th) taking individual medals. Sophie Ryan (23rd) completed the scoring for a convincing team gold. Well done to the rest of the team who all ran brilliantly: Fiadh McSweeney, Aoife Mackey, Ella Melican, Emma Lynch, Edel Murphy, Ivy Forde, Sophie Keenan, Olivia Pierse, Caoimhe Allen, Nia Gorman and Eabha Lynch.
Our Boys U11 team had a solid 11th place from 16 teams. Liam Walsh, Cian O’Neill, Sean Collins and Aidan Walsh were packed closely together from 39th to 44th, Darragh Keating also putting in a strong performance. There was yet another team medal for the U13 girls’ team who claimed the silver medal. Cliona Collins was in the leading group from the start and finished strongly in 8th place. A notable feature of this performance was how the team packed together and worked their way through the field effectively. Great running by Kate Lynch (15), Isabel Browne (18), Laura Hosford (20), Saoirse O’Neill (22) and Matilde Ribeiro (68). The U13 boys were not to be outdone with a team podium place winning bronze. Excellent performances from Cathal Walsh (15), Aaron O’Sullivan (16), Sean Ryan (23), Dara Quinlan (28) and John Forde (44).
Our U15 girls won a well-deserved team gold. Allie Phillips produced another excellent individual performance to win individual silver and led home Hannah Coffey (8th), Emma Johnson (9th) and Rebecca McCarthy (17th) to a convincing team victory. Robyn Maher won an individual bronze in the girls U17 race with a fine run, Anna Mullins also going well in 8th place. And another individual bronze to cap a hugely successful and enjoyable day out with Cian Ryan finishing 4th in the boys U17 race. Well done to all the athletes and coaches, the hard work paying off handsomely!
The adult squads were in action also in the Novice ‘B’ races. The women’s team gave their all and finished as 5th team, just 3 points off West Muskerry in 3rd place. Well done to Orla Coffey, Cliona Lynch, Eileen O’Riordan, Una Reidy, Fiona Holmes, Cora Lynch and Anita Casey. Finally, our mens’ team finished 9th of 12. Good performances from Conor Kelly, Jack Ahern, Willie Walsh, Paul Ryan, Richard Hawkins, Dave Mullins, Cathal Glackin and Paddy O’Brien. Impressive numbers out again and cross-country debutantes on both teams! In fact, this season so far we have had an unprecedented 19 male and 15 female athletes turn out for the club which is a great example to the younger athletes so well done all!
Our girls U11 and U13 teams were on a roll so stepped up for the Munster ‘B’ Championships in Riverstick the following week, Sunday16th. The U11 girls had a convincing win with a 16-point margin From North Cork AC! Edie Mae Browne led home this time in 5th position with Darcey Brosnan in 8th, both girls scoring for the county gold-medal winning team! They were well backed up by a strong team of Megan Prendergast, Aoife Mackey, Emma Lynch, Sophie Ryan, Ivy Forde, Edel Murphy, Fiadh McSweeney, Sadbh Power, Caoimhe Allen and Nia Gorman, all doing a great job taking points from other teams. Our U13 girls team had a very creditable 5th place from 10 teams, plenty of potential here. Strong running from Cliona Collins, Kate Lynch, Saoirse O’Neill and Laura Hosford. Cliona was also part of the Cork County team who won silver. Our U15 girls team finished 4th overall, just 4 points outside the medals. The team was Allie Phillips,
Hannah Coffey, Emma Johnson, Bella Quinlan and Rebecca McCarthy. Congratulations to Robyn Maher who won an individual bronze placing 5th in the girls U17 race and was 2nd scorer on the gold medal winning Cork team. The U11 boys’ team of Aidan Walsh, Sean Collins, Liam Walsh and Cian O’Neill placed 7th of 11 teams. It was a breakthrough performance by Aidan Walsh finishing 13th overall and scoring for the gold medal winning Cork team. Cathal Walsh, Aaron O’Sullivan, Sean Ryan, Dara Quinlan and John Forde placed 5th team U13 boys.
In Summary a very successful week of cross-country running, best of luck to Edie Mae Browne and Cliona Collins who have been selected on Cork Teams for the National Even-Age Championships in Derry next weekend.
Other News: Timmy Hawkins ran a super 2-mile leg in 10:55 for the UCC ‘B’ team who finished in 11th place from 40 teams in the InterVarsity relays in Maynooth on Saturday. Willie Walsh ran 19:53 in the Tramore Valley Parkrun. A few members took the opportunity on a lovely Sunday morning to support the BHAA Clearstream ‘Celebration of Life’ 5k in the Marina. Well done to Peter Hawkins (16:52), Grace Crowley (17:54), Conor Kelly (18:15), Richard Hawkins (19:51 & 3rd in Category) & Michael Mulcahy (20:15).