St Joseph’s under-15s power to cross-country win

THE streets of Raheny were turned into a sea of red on Sunday when more than 50 Drogheda & District AC members took part in the Raheny AC 5 Mile Road Race.

This year’s race attracted a top-class field and in excess of 4,000 runners lined up in the hope of getting some fast times on this sometimes tricky course.

Brian Martin was D&D’s first finisher in 27:30 and hot on his heels was Shane Larkin who crossed the line in 27:44.

The battle for club honours were on in earnest and Ruaidhri Nolan had to go hard when running 28:22 to just hold off Paul Smith who finished four seconds behind.

Martin Russell continues to improve at a rapid rate and his time of 32:08 shows that consistency is the key when it comes to running well.

The club’s first lady finisher was Ciara O’Reilly who’s getting stronger by the week. O’Reilly ran a useful 33:41 for this testing course and will go quicker with some more races in her legs.

Roisin Coade ran a very solid 36:32 as she normally runs middle-distance track events. Aoife Harmon also ran well when finishing in 36:38, with Frank McCarthy not far behind in 37:21.

New club captain Jim Nolan clocked a solid 36:32, while lady captain Mary Reilly ran 55:44 for the course.

The Irish Life National Junior and Under-23 Indoor Championships took place on Sunday at the AIT complex in Athlone, where two of D&D’s finest sprinting talents were in action against the best that Ireland has to offer.

Lee McGuinness, who’s a real find for the club, was third in his 60m heat in 7:35 but wasn’t quick enough to qualify for the final, but ST JOSEPH’S CBS athletes lived up to their reputation as strong cross-country runners as three of their teams and one individual qualified from last Friday’s North Leinsters for the upcoming provincial he then ran a storming bend in his 200m race to qualify for the final in 22:88, the fifth fastest time of the day.

Despite being drawn in lane 2 which is a difficult draw given the tight bends on this indoor track, McGuinness ran well to finish fifth in 23:32 and will have gained valuable championship experience. championships.

A late change of venue from ALSAA to Phoenix Park proved no inconvenience to the Newfoundwell crew and pride of place went to the Junior (under 15) team

Clubmate Andrew Kelly, running in the U-23 200m event, ran 7:53 in his heat in which there were a number of false starts and failed to qualify for the final. Later in the day, he ran a good race when finishing fourth in his heat of the 200m in 24:54 against some very good opposition.

At the North Leinster Schools as Victor Esosa, Emmet Delaney, Emmet Murray and Mark Odubera powered to victory in their event. Tadgh Donnelly led home Peter Meegan, Tom Cummins and Neal Hodgins as the Intermediate (under Cross-Country in Phoenix Park last Friday, Tadgh Donnelly (St Joseph’s) was second in the Intermediate Boys 4k and Oliver Clutterbuck (Ballymakenny College) third in the Junior Boys 2.5k.

Abi Tegart (St Oliver’s) just missed out on qualifying for the Leinster Schools but still had a very strong run, placing 17th in the Intermediate Girls 2.5k.

Chloe Doherty (Ballymakenny College), competing in the Junior Girls 2k, finished well inside the top 25 and Liam McGreehan O’Grady (Ballymakenny College) ran well in the Minor Boys 1.7k, finishing just outside the top 50 in a field of more than 200.

Tadgh and Oliver now progess to the Leinster Schools CC in Santry Park in two weeks’ time.

Some of D&D’s finest track runners made the short journey to the National Indoor Arena Live Athletics Meeting in Abottstown last Wednesday evening.

With conditions perfect for fast running, much of the talk was whether young James Nolan would break the two-minute mark for the first time in his 800m event.

Nolan has gone so close lately, coming within a tenth of a second on two occasions, and hopes were high for him.

Running smoothly right from the gun, Nolan quickly moved up into fourth place and things were looking good with just one lap of the 200m track left. 17) team claimed silver medals.

Earlier, the St Joseph’s Minor Boys (under 14s) secured third place in their event, with Jamie Donagh, Tristan Rowe, Aaron Garvey and Bailey Kerr starring for them.

Holding good form, Nolan chased hard after the leading runners and crossed the line in 2:00:18, just outside his target.

Some of the club’s leading Masters runners were also in action in their 800m race, with Robbie Maher - who’s really coming good - running a fine 2:11:84 when finishing fourth in a quality field and Brian Pentony close behind in fifth place in 2:13:73.

Orla O’Connor didn’t go so well in her 800m event where she finished fifth in 2:26:10, but less than half an hour later she ran a very useful 1:04:64 and the strength will come for the longer distance.

Hugh Callan, a member of the sprint group, ran a good early season opener when finishing fourth in his 400m race in a fine 55:07.

In the ALSAA Winter League 3,000m on a rather windswept track, Gerry Mullins ran to a steady tempo and produced a strong finish to record 12:41 for the distance on his first track outing this year.

Also running were Christy Duffy who finished in 13:32 and Gerard Fay who ran 14:05.

Just three D&D members lined up for last Saturday’s Oldbridge Parkrun and leading the way home in 10th place overall was Joe Rooney who ran a decent 24:15 given the soft underfoot conditions.

In 24th spot was Seamus Roe in 27:16, with Linda Bowe finishing 43rd in 32:06.

The closing race of the day, the Senior Boys (under 19), resulted in a fine ninthplace finish for Diarmuid Mc Keown who will also have a tilt at the Leinster Finals in Santry on February 21st.