The Irish Life Health Juvenile B and XC Relays, Intermediate and Masters Cross Country Championships were held in Clarinbridge, Co. Galway on Sunday last, February 11th. Despite the snowy and almost freezing conditions 22 Moyne athletes competed.
First off were the Under 11 Girls where there was a field of 103 athletes competing. First home for Moyne AC and the Tipperary team was Saoirse Doran who placed a wonderful 14th position despite sticky and mucky underfoot conditions. Next followed Alana Spillane, Dearbhla Gleeson and Blathnaid Lloyd who ran strongly to finish 67th, 73rd and 82nd respectively. All four athletes helped place the Tipperary A team in 5th position and the club 9th. Next it was the Under 11 Boys who toed the start line. They had the same distance as their Under 11 Girl counterparts of 1,000m. Adam Phelan ran a terrific race and finished 37th, followed by Denis Brolan 51st. Hot on the heels of Adam Spillane Leane was Frank Doyle, where they finished 70th and 72nd respectively with Fred Power 105th. The boys placed the Tipperary team 7th overall and the club 11th.
The Under 13 Girls race saw Helen Cleere finish strongly in 25th, followed by Mary Cussen who finished a respectable 43rd, followed by Louise Hickey 57th. Unfortunately, Tara Gleeson was unable to finish the race due to injury. There were five athletes competing for the club in the Under 13 category. Aaron Moore ran very convincingly to finish 20th. Not far behind him were Conor Gleeson 32nd, David Doyle 47th, Bill Brolan 61st and Cormac Burke 69th. The boys helped the Tipperary team to 5th overall with the club placing 6th. Emma Gleeson was our sole representative in the Under 15 Girls race. Despite the mucky and soft conditions she finished strongly in 23rd position. In the Under 15 boys category our only competitor was Tomas Cussen who finished in 40th.
In the Masters competition, Ray Power ran a tough 7 km race to finish 30th in his category. Well done to all athletes who competed as they represented the club and Tipperary magnificently despite very difficult conditions.
