Form book turned on its head SCHOOLS CROSS-COUNTRY
THE SCHOOLS cross-country season slipped and slided its way to a muddy conclusion on Saturday at the national championships at the WIT Arena, Carriganore.
While the sun was shining and the day was mild, this was definitely not one for the faint-hearted with an abundance of muck and steep climbs. When one hears the old-timers reminiscing about ‘real’ cross-country, it is surely conditions such as these they are recalling.
This was one of those days when the form book was, in several races, turned on its head, a day when expectation often turned to frustration, when patience and dogged persistence reaped dividends.
In the Junior girls’ 2,500m race, Elizabeth Gahan of Gorey C.S. and Claragh Keane (Presentation Wexford) knuckled down as they applied themselves to the energy-sapping task at hand.
Claragh typically likes to keep a close eye on the leaders. However, the early pace and the fact that she may still be a little below par, especially given the conditions, saw her slip back.
Elizabeth ran a more even-paced race and should be happy with her 26th-placed finish, less than 25 seconds outside the top twelve.
A weary-looking Claragh ended up one place, and one second, further back.
Elizabeth’s schoolmate Joe Byrne was hoping for big things in the Junior boys’ race. With the distance a gruelling 3,500m, there was exhaustion and pain etched on many a mud-splattered face well before the half-way point.
Joe felt some of that pain. He did not look his usual self and he never really got a chance to engage in the big free-striding running which normally comes so easily to him.
That he went on to place a very respectable 14th speaks volumes about the young S.B.R. athlete’s strength of character.
In the Intermediate girls’ 3,500m, Róisín O’Reilly of Loreto Wexford chose to go with the leading pack from the gun. She wisely eased off on the throttle midway through the first lap as the field became strung out Indian file.
Notwithstanding a fall on the long slow ascent on lap two, she held on to her top 20 spot. She had enough on the third and last lap to rally before the final descent and sprint to a good 15th place finish.