The second day of the County Juvenile Cross Country Championships took place in Galbally and for the 33 athletes who donned the green and gold, each one of them gave it their all to secure five individual medals and four sets of team medals.
Our star performers on the day proved to be our young Boys U/9 team who claimed the County Championship team title following great performances from all seven athletes, some of whom were running cross-country for the first time. Over a testing course Senan Phelan ran a terrific race to finish 4th with Darragh Maher hot on his heels in 6th. Fionn Phelan powered his way home in 18th place with Daniel Delaney just two places behind in 20th and these four combined to win the County title. Geoffrey Morrissey, Zach Ryan, and Leo Cullen were also vital members of this team, and they came through for 23rd, 29th and 35th respectively. Well done to all seven athletes. The Girls U/9 were also a very young team with first time competitors and in finishing 4th club they showed their ability to mix it with the more seasoned campaigners. Doireann Quinlan led them home in 14th followed by Anna Concagh 21st, Eva Maher 23rd and Poppy Lyons 27th.
The Girls U/11 were the next team to feature on the podium and with Caoimhe Slevin collecting an individual bronze medal following her 10th placing this gave a great platform for the team. Muireann Casey ran a great race to finish 11th followed by Caoimhe Doyle in 13th and Cathleen Cussen 22nd to secure County silver team medals in 2nd place. Another vital athlete at this age group was Abbie Delaney who finished in 37th place. Five athletes took to the start of the Boys race with Bill O’Neill and Cathal O’Reilly mixing it with the best to claim 21st and 25th places respectively. Gerard Delaney got up to take 30th with Michael Doyle in 41st and William Morrissey 49th. The boys finished 5th in the club event.
Aisling O’Reilly collected her first individual medal with a great run for 6th place in the Girls U/13 event and with the backing up of Ciara Joyce in 11th, Ailis Concagh 15th and Olive Spillane-Leane in 16th the girls won the silver medals in the team event. Laura Fogarty in 18th and Maria Doyle in 20th completed the club athletes in this race. It was left to Dáithí Cussen to fly the flag for Moyne AC in the Boys U/13 race and he did his utmost claiming 30th place overall.
The trio of boys at U/15 level, Adam Spillane-Leane, Adam Phelan and Bill Cussen all finished in the top ten following places of 6th, 8th, and 9th respectively and with no teams supplying four athletes for a team, the awards went to teams of three and here the boys took the silver medals. Our final athletes out on the course were Aaron Moore and Michael O’Mahoney who contested the Boys U/17 race. Run in conjunction with the U/19 and Junior races it gave the athletes the extra edge in competitiveness with Aaron taking the bronze medal following his third place and Michael finishing 4th.
Cross country running is one of the toughest events in athletics and all our athletes deserve great praise for their performances. From our young 8-year-olds to our 16-year-olds you all did yourselves proud. Thanks to all the parents and club members present on the day for all your support. This proves invaluable to all the children.