St Joseph’s reach All-Irelands
ST JOSEPH’S CBS’ intermediate (under 17) team put in a memorable performance at last Wednesday’s Leinster Schools Cross-Country Finals to secure a coveted spot at this year’s All-Irelands.
Having qualified as silver medalists from the North Leinster zone where they trailed an impressive Mullingar CBS by 50 points, an All-Ireland seemed an unattainable goal, but such was the desire and hunger from the Drogheda sextet that their total points tally of 44 tied them for second position.
They were led home by Drogheda & District clubman Tadgh Donnelly in sixth place, with Peter Meegan 14th, Tom Cummins 24th and Neal Hodgins 44th. Frank and Hugh McClean (45th and 55th respectively also ran splendid races over the 4,500m at Santry.
A countback eventually gave Mullingar silver and St Joseph’s bronze, with victory going to Belvedere, but nevertheless a shot at All-Ireland glory beckons on March 10th on the banks of the Suir in Waterford.
In the other age groups Esosa Victor and Diarmuid Mc Keown also qualified for the All-Irelands as individuals in the Under-15 Meite, Lily Cummins and Siofra Devine, gave a sterling performance and with slick changeovers and gutsy sprinting they finished in a super bronze medal position overall. They will also be heading to Athlone for the National Finals in March.
The Girls U-12 team were unlucky to miss out on a place in the final, finishing in fourth place in their heat, but nonetheless it was a great learning curve for Eimear Cooney, Kate Culhane, Shola Lawrence and Isabella Garcia, who all ran superbly in their first and and Under-19 competitions respectively, as did another Drogheda & District clubman, Indoor relay event.
Likewise, the Boys U-12 team also made their relay debut on the indoor track, and with some fantastic sprinting from Alex Robertson, Shea O’Donnell, Sean Cummins and Oliver Carolan the boys qualified for their final, much to the delight of the many Boyne supporters and coaches present.
The final saw the boys finish in an admirable sixth place overall, out of a field of 33 teams, not a bad day’s work for these young men, two of whom are still only in the U-11 age group. Oliver Clutterbuck, who was 12th in the Junior Boys race for Ballymakenny College.