Even Age County Cross Country Championships 2023
Our athletes were eagerly awaiting the commencement of championship cross country racing this weekend, where the Moore Abbey Milers welcomed Tipperary clubs slightly over the border for the first race of the season. Weather conditions were fantastic with the ground holding up the club’s performances on the day were excellent with two County champions being crowned!
The girls U10 got the day off to the most perfect start with a clean sweep of medals. There was a couple of anxious moments as halfway through the 800m race when the Moyne girls appeared to be well down the field however, to give them credit, their strength and track speed came to the fore on the latter stages. Lily Murphy broke clear with 300m to go and came home a convincing champion. A fantastic title to her name. Annie Ely, went in pursuit of Lily and she too broke clear from the long time leaders coming home a brilliant runner up. And if that was not enough Meadhbh Hall was definitely not settling for 4th place as she used that 60m speed by clenching the important bronze right on the line!! Incredible running from these young ladies whilst under pressure and to pull out all the stops! Aoibheann Doyle who would be out of age today was the important 4th scorer finishing 12th overall and thus making it very clear that the U10 team were team champions also! Beibhinn Maher, also out of age today ran really well too as she finished in 26th. She and Aoibheann will be well in the hunt next week at the uneven ages.
Not to let the girls have all the limelight, Darragh Joyce went out very hard in the boy’s equivalent and led the race gun to tape! Never to be caught on the closing stages, Darragh clearly relished ground conditions and was also crowned U10 champion. Ben Delaney followed Darragh home in 44th place. Well done to Ben for all his efforts.
The team of Saoirse Joyce (22nd), Doireann Quinlan (26th), Faye Murphy (27th) and Abbie Manton (31st) were well packed together in the Girls U12 race. They covered 2000m in distance and all ran extremely well. The girls were outside the medals on this occasion finishing in 6th place but will come on from the run as the season progresses. In the boys U14 we had two soldiers in Darragh Maher (13th) and James Ryan (21st) who also covered 2000m. Both these boys are out of age also and look forward to racing again in Moyne on Sunday.
Next up was the U14 event, here the girls squad looked to have a great shout at delivering a positive result and that they obliged with Caoimhe Slevin leading the club home in 5th placed followed in by Muireann Casey (6th), Abbie Delaney (8th), Arlene Flanagan (13th) and Amber Doherty (15th). This bunch of girls ensured Gold was theirs as they came away with the team title. Congratulations to them! The boys also had great day with Jack Renehan leading the club charge coming home in (11th), Conor Leahy had his first run for the club and did very well finishing in 13th place. Billy Flanagan (17th) and Michael Doyle (18th) were the team on the day and they all combined to place 2nd in the team event. Excellent running over the 3000m distance.
Final club juveniles on the day was our girls U16 of Aisling O’ Reilly, Kate and Emma Delaney. These girls have had a wonderful couple of years and are developing into fine athletes. On Sunday they raced over 4000m and as the race commenced, Aisling was in the leading pack of 4, she was impressive as she hung on as the pace quickened and worked very well to come in runner up overall behind Eavann Duffy of Clonmel. Kate Delaney finished in an excellent 5th place! A brilliant result for Kate. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Emma’s day as she picked up an injury during the race. Hopefully it is not too serious and she will have a speedy recovery, better days are ahead from Emma! Get well soon!
As the juvenile programme concluded it was the turn of our more seasoned athletes to get out on course. The Novice race always attracts a good field with lots of juniors progressing to senior ranks it can be an interesting race and this edition of the competition was won impressively by Niamh Cunneen of Nenagh Olympic. Our girls of Edel Delaney (6th), Aisling Maher (12th) and Lisa Quinlan (16th) gave it a go and were rewarded with the bronze in the team event. It was a tight battle for any medal throughout, so well done to them for nailing the bronze on the day. The mens race concluded proceedings at the foot of the Galtee’s and here the club were well represented. Stephen Flanagan led the charge with a top 6 finish and raced brilliantly on the day. Stephen was followed in by Harry Hogan who wore the vest his Dad John wore back in the day! A sentimental garment that carried much success over the years! Harry was clearly delighted to be running today, smiling all the way round and working hard as he ran credibly well to finish in the top 20 in 17th place! Brendan Delaney again ran a consistent race and finished in 23rd place. Patrick Bowe swapped the Vaporflys for the XC spikes and showed his versatility running well over the country to finish in 34th. Our 5th man home was the John Renehan, again solid running from John he crossed the line in 37th. As the scores were counted, the Moyne men finished in 5th place in the team standings, a really good result that they should be happy with. Plenty of more opportunities in the coming weeks. We hope the troops continue to train and meet up for sessions as the winter approaches.
All in all, a super day for the club with 2 county champions, 5 individual medals in total along with 4 team medal coming back to Moyne. Credit to all who turned up a ran today, it was very much appreciated. This Sunday, 8th of October, the club will host the uneven Age Cross Country. We are encouraging as many athletes as possible to support this event. Please give your entry to Ber Spillane no later than Tuesday 3rd October if you wish to compete. We will also require help on the day with the organisation of the competition. Please contact any club officer if you are willing and able to assist on the day at the Castle Field.
Split the bucket was won this week by William Ely, €160 is on its way to you! Please continue supporting this fundraiser regularly.
