Sheil a master of his art
THE COUNTY Wexford Masters cross-country championships took place in Adamstown on Sunday, with the local club playing host to the event, which is open to all athletes registered with Wexford athletics clubs who are aged 35 and above.
The races took place around the one field, which made for excellent viewing for the spectators who had a great view all the way round as the ladies competed over four kilometres and the men raced over six kilometres.
Conditions were quite good considering there had been such a heavy frost overnight, with the course still white in parts as the ladies toed the start line at noon.
There was a good atmosphere, with plenty of supporters from competing clubs, bulked out by the fledgling athletes and their parents waiting for the county Juvenile relay championships which took place immediately after the Masters championships.
A total of 27 ladies set off at a brisk pace for the opening Masters race, with Kilmore team-mates Fiona Kehoe and Jackie Carthy to the fore throughout.
Over the second half of the race, Fiona steadily pulled clear and finished a comfortable winner, with Jackie a clear second.
There was a good battle going on further back for bronze, with Nicola Murphy of United Striders having a strong last lap to add a Masters bronze to the medals won in her debut year last season.
In the age-category competition, newcomer to cross-country and club running, Lisa Byrne of S.B.R., AC won Over-40, while Ciara Bowe (also of S.B.R.) won Over-45.
Catherine Power-Ronan of United Striders won Over-50, while Catherine O’Connor of Menapians won Over-55, and D.M.P’s top-class evergreen athlete Ann Sullivan won Over-60.
In the team competition, not surprisingly Kilmore won gold, following the efforts of Fiona Kehoe, Jackie Carthy and Sinéad O’ Brien, as they saw off S.B.R. by five points, with United Striders a further five points back in third.
Then it was on to the men’s race, with a very strong field of all the best Masters runners in the county on show.
The field was well grouped for the first couple of kilometres, but once Joe Lillis of United Striders upped the pace, the leading pack started to whittle down.
Defending champion Niall Sheil of St. Killian’s was the first to go after Joe over the final couple of kilometres, with a group of four seasoned runners (Pat Foley, Brendan Lyng, Myles Gibbons and Alan O’Connor) a short distance behind should either of the first two falter.
However, Niall showed his trademark turn of foot over the final kilometre as he opened a race-winning lead and came home six seconds ahead of Joe Lillis, with Pat Foley a further five seconds back in third.
In the age-category competition, Alan O’Connor of United Striders won a very strong Over-40 section, while Brendan Lyng, also of United Striders, finished fast over the final kilometre to claim the Over-45.
David Kehoe made it an even better day for United Striders by claiming Over-50, while the hard-running and ever-dependable Ger Maloney of St. Paul’s won Over-55.
Michael O’Gorman was yet another of the Striders to win gold, this time in Over-60, while Martin Kelly of Menapians won Over-65 and Billy Harpur of S.B.R. won Over-70.
There was a good battle for the team prize, with United Striders coming out on top with 25 points thanks to the efforts of Joe Lillis, Brendan Lyng, Alan O’Connor and David Kehoe.
Croghan were five points behind in the silver position, with S.B.R. winning bronze with a total of 55 points.
This event now brings down the curtain on the Wexford cross-country scene for adult runners.
We will have some of our top athletes in competition over the coming weeks in national cross-country competition, so best of luck to all competing.