ST KILLIAN’S AC
Brian O’Shaughnessy flew the St Killians flag with distinction last weekend as our sole representative in the county intermediate cross country championships.
It turned out to be a cracker of a race with a competitive field and the lead changing throughout. Brian seemed to revel in the conditions and put in a sterling performance to finish in 8th place.
The Waterford Half Marathon was one of the most sought after tickets this year with the race selling out well in advance. St Killians had three athletes competing.
Conditions were close to ideal on the day and it was great to see Jay Kehoe back competing and he made it look easy to finish in a time of 1 hour 32min. Paul Murphy had a great run to finish in 1 hour 48 min with Gail Kavanagh going from strength to strength and capping off a great year to finish in a super time 2hour 11min.
Niall Sheil travelled to Clonakilty to compete in the half marathon. This is fast becoming a runners favourite for it’s stunning scenery and fantastic atmosphere with nearly 1000 registered in the half this year. Gale winds and the notorious hills combined to make it extra challenging. Niall was going for his hat-trick of wins but had to settle for second place, 87 seconds behind Sergui Ciobanu who finished in a time of 1 hour 13min 29sec.
St. Killian`s Athletic club held their AGM in Crossabeg national school on Tuesday night of last week where there was a good attendance.
Chairperson Anne Marie Forde welcomed all the delegates and in her speech thanked the hard working coaches, and in particular Mick and Nicky who focus mainly on the juvenile section, while Pavel is the main task master for the seniors.
She thanked all the officers who worked tirelessly during the year, the parents who helped out at county competitions supervising the children.
Officers elected: The following officers were elected at the annual general meeting of St. Killian`s Athletic club last week, Nicky Cowman (President) Fr. Jim Finn (Vice President) Anne Marie Forde (Chairperson) Niall Sheil (Vice Chairperson) Kathryn Kinlough/Anne Marie Forde (Secretary/ Competitions Secretary) Niall Sheil/ Alice Devine (Joint Treasurers) Anne Cowman (PRO) Mick Kehoe/Therese Finan (Child Officers) Padraig Moriarty, Brian O`Shaughnessy, Evelyn Boggan, Gail Kavanagh, Paul Kinsella (committee members). Coaches for the year are Nicky Cowman, Mick Kehoe, Pavel Kolesnikov, Paul Kinsella, Anne Marie Forde. It is also hoped to encourage some parents to train up as coaches and thus ease the load of the present coaches.