CLUB ATHLETES EXCEL ON NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL STAGE
Shane Mullaney represented the Club at the GloHealth National Senior Track & Field Championships in Morton Stadium, Santry on Sunday 9th August. Competing in the 5000m, Shane ran in Race No. 1 posting a seasons best of 17.52.42 to finish in 12th place. Well done Shane on such a great result.
A BIG Congratulations to Club athlete, Ciara Mockler who was an integral part of the Tipperary County Women’s Team that won gold in Division 1 at the National League Final in Tullamore on Sunday 2nd August. Ciara competed for the County in the Discus & Javelin earning valuable points for her team. 2011 was the last time the County had teams entered in this competition so it was a fantastic result to top Division 1 having won Round 1 & 2 earlier in the Summer. Ciara will also receive her Leaving Cert results this week so we wish her the very best of luck & hope all her hopes & dreams come true. The Tipperary County Men’s team finished in 2nd place in the Premier Division at the National League Final which was another great result for the County. Daniel Ryan competed for the team in the Long Jump & 100m in Round 1 in July but was on International Duty for Round 2 & the Final. It really is great for the Club to have 2 representatives on the County Teams with both David Ryan & Sean Mockler eligible to compete for the team next year
David Ryan was one of three Tipperary athletes selected for the Irish team to compete at the Celtic Games in Grangemouth, Scotland on Saturday 1st August. His second time to represent his Country in two weeks, David competed in the Boys U/16 Long Jump, jumping out to a personal best of 6.88m & a second place finish to round off his season in style. The Irish Team finished 2nd overall behind Scotland. David was one of 6 athletes selected for the Irish Boys U/16 team, all of them National Outdoor Champions in their events. David has enjoyed a great Indoor & Outdoor season this year in this event winning the Boys U/16 Munster & Irish Indoor & Outdoor Long Jump titles & the Junior Boys Schools title in this event as well as setting a new AAI National Outdoor record of 6.62m & winning the Tailteann Games Michael Farnan Memorial Trophy for the Best Long Jump of the competition with a jump of 6.77m. At the SIAB Schools International two weeks ago, he jumped out to a new personal best of 6.86m to finish 4th. Congratulations
To round off a fantastic few weeks for our Club, Daniel Ryan returned from the European Youth Olympics in Tbilisi, Georgia to a hero’s welcome from his Club & parish on Monday 3rd August. Daniel produced an excellent result to finish 4th in Europe in the Long Jump Final on Wednesday 29th July. He jumped a best of 6.84m in the final round to finish just an agonising 5cm away from a silver medal & 4 cm away from bronze. Qualification for the Final of the Long Jump took place two days earlier on Monday 27th July with Daniel drawn in the stronger Pool B, where he finished 3rd with a jump of 6.75m & placed 5th overall between Pools A & B to book his place in the Final. Daniel arrived home to the village of Two Mile Borris escorted in by member of the Club Committee, Billy Purcell & Jim Martin & Club runners Paddy Cummins & Shane Mullaney. The main street of the village was lined by well wishers, supporters, family & friends with speeches by Club Chairperson, Kay Cantwell & local Politicians Michael Lowry & Seamus Hanafin. Daniel himself said a few words thanking his family friends, supporters & the Club for all their support over the years & proceedings then moved into the village hall for refreshments. Many thanks to everyone who came together to organise this event & to all who attended. It was a momentous occasion for the Club to welcome our young Olympian home, the first of many such events we hope. This was a great achievement for Daniel & the valuable experience gained will be of great benefit to him in the future. Congratulations Daniel, we are very proud of you.
A BIG CONGRATULATIONS to Club athlete, Adam O’Dwyer who won a silver medal with the Tipperary U/13 Mixed Cross Country Relay team at the National Community Games Finals in Athlone on Sunday 16 th August. Having easily qualified out of their heat on Saturday, the team stormed to a silver medal victory in the Final. This is Adam’s first National Community Games medal, one of many for the future we are sure. Well done also to Alex Tully who competed very well in the highly contested National Community Games Boys U/12 Freestyle Swimming & although he was outside the medals on this occasion, we are sure it will be very valuable experience for the future.
Our Senior athletes have also been busy recently competing on the road racing circuit. On Friday the 31st of July Paul Bowe ran the Kilcommon Festival 10k in 42:42. On Friday the 7th of August in the Cashel 5k, Paddy Cummins was 9th in 18:35 & Paul Bowe was 18th in 19:46. On Sunday August 16th Shane Mullaney was 22nd in the Monaghan 10 Miler in a time of 62:18. Well done to all.
Well done to our 4 Senior athletes who competed at the County 10 Mile Road Championships in Ballynonty on Sunday 30th August. Paddy Cummins was first across the finish line for the Club in 13th place in a new personal best time of 61mins 29 seconds with Shane Mullaney home next in 18th place in 63mins & 11secs. Back from injury was Sean Healy who was 24th in 64mins 44seconds. Sean & his fiancée Melissa are expecting their first child shortly & we wish them all the best in the future. Our 4th member of the team was Paul Bowe & unfortunately Paul picked up a knee injury around the 5 mile mark and was unable to continue & we wish him a speedy recovery. Well done to the 4 men on their efforts, it was great seeing the Club field a team in this event for the very first time. Keep up the good work boys.
A BIG CONGRATULATIONS to our Club athletes who competed with great success at Weekend 2 of the National Community Games Finals in Athlone on Saturday 22nd & Sunday 23rd August bringing home individual gold, silver & bronze a bronze Relay medals. On Saturday the first Tipperary medal of the weekend came from Anna Ryan in the Girls U/14 Long Jump when she jumped out to 4.79m to win bronze. Having just turned thirteen the day before, it was her best birthday present ever to win her first National Community Games medal & she is still under the age next year for this competition. Sean Mockler followed the medal trail later in the evening when he won a magnificent silver in the Boys U/16 Discus throwing over 43m on his 6th & final throw to bring himself up from 5th to 2nd . Sean is also the age again next year for this competition. On Sunday, there was a sensational gold for Anna’s brother, David Ryan in the Boys U/16 200m when he powered home to victory with over 10 metres to spare in the final, a worthy winner, having easily won his heat & semi-final with the rest of the medal winners a year older than him. This is David’s last year in Community Games & he finished on a high note adding gold to the golds he won already in the U/14 Long Jump & U/16 Triple Jump & a Pewter medal for 4th in the U/12 Relay. To finish off a great weekend our Boys U/16 4 x 100m Relay team of Oran Mulhall, Sean Mockler, Jack Ryan & David Ryan (subs: Ben O’Dwyer & Liam McDonagh) stormed home to a bronze medal finish in the second last race of the day. Other athletes who competed over the weekend were Ben O’Dwyer who ran very well in the heats of the Boys U/16 1500m to finish in 8th place, just outside a qualifying place in the final. His brother, Ronan also put in a terrific effort in the Boys U/11 Gymnastics, gaining valuable experience for future years. Daniel Ryan who finished his Community Games competitions last year attended this year’s National Finals in a Volunteer capacity helping out at the Field Events over the weekend. He & his fellow European Youth Olympic team-mates were given a special welcome by the National Community Games Committee on Sunday before the Finals which was a lovely touch. Memories to last forever.
CLUB’S ANNUAL ROAD RACE
Our Annual Road Races took place on Friday 21st August in Two Mile Borris with record numbers participating. With 77 athletes in the 7km race, the top three home were Tony Fogarty, Templemore A.C. (23.56), Liam Shanahan, Thurles Crokes A.C. (24.02) & John Fitzgibbon, Thurles Crokes A.C. (24.23). Top 3 Ladies were Aine Roche, Clonmel A.C. (19th in 27.29), Carmel Fitzgibbon, Thurles Crokes A.C. (20th in 27.38) & Phil Ryan, Ballynonty A.C. (27th in 28.38). In the 5km Fit4Life, we had 64 participants & the top 3 home were Aaron Quigley, Derg A.C. (17.19), Noel Marum, Portlaoise A.C. (17.27) & Trevor McCormack, Portlaoise A.C. (17.45). Top 3 Ladies were Ciara Cummins, Nenagh Olympic A.C. (5th in 20.22), Ann Marie Hayes, Moycarkey Coolcroo A.C. (8th in 21.36) & Sarah Healy, Moyne A.C. (10th in 22.49). Well done to our 1k Juvenile Competitors – 1st Adam O’Dwyer, Moycarkey Coolcroo A.C., 2nd Jerry Hayes, Dundrum A.C. , 3rd Cillian McDonagh & 4th Liam McDonagh, Moycarkey Coolcroo A.C. Well done also to our Club athletes who competed very well, Paddy Cummins (8th in 25.16), Shane Mullaney (9th in 25.28), Sean Healy (14th in 26.24) & Paul Bowe (23rd in 28.14).
A massive thanks to everyone for supporting our races, we hope you all enjoyed your run. Thanks to those who travelled from Antrim, Laois, Cork, Kilkenny, Limerick, Templemore, Clonmel, Cashel, Cahir, Thurles, Moyne, Nenagh, Ballingarry, Killenaule, Carrick-On-Suir, Fennor, Rahelty, Moyglass, Gortnahoe, Mullinahone, Golden, Coolquill, Borrisoleigh, Dundrum, Ballynonty, Fethard and all the local support too. Thanks also to all the helpers on the day with special thanks to Sean Hennessy for Bus Transport, Bannon’s Bar for providing the venue for the post race refreshments, Martina, Josephine & their assistants for all the wonderful catering, Donal Hayes for the Yogurts and Tully’s Gala for helping out with the water, all very much appreciated, Full results can be found at www.moycarkeycoolcrooac.com.
