Duleek rookie doesn’t do it by halves

DULEEK & District AC were well represented as the flagship event of spring-time road running in Meath took place last weekend in Bohermeen - the annual Meath Half-Marathon and Bohermeen 10k.

Both events took place on the same day in a very well-hosted event and this year’s races attracted large fields as 334 went to post for the 10k and 519 for the half-marathon.

First off on a beautiful spring morning was the 10k, with this year’s race having been given extra prestige with the awarding of the Rennicks Cup to the winner.

For Duleek & District, Greg Dixon opened his 2017 account in fine style with a sub-40 performance in the 10k as he led the club home.

Race sharpness is proving no issue for Robert Kierans as he clocked up his fourth race of the year for the club and has clearly carried his recently impressive 5k form up to the longer distances following an impressive time of 43:56.

Derek Sheridan has also had a very bright opening to 2017 and it was no surprise to see him clock another PB of 46:57 for the distance.

There were equally impressive performances in the half-marathon which doubled up as the Meath Half-Marathon Championships.

Eric Devine, having recently gained entry to the New York Marathon later in the year, whetted his appetite for the Big Apple with an impressive new PB of 1hr 33min.

Graham Byrne ran another great race in a location that has proved to be a happy hunting ground for him in the past as he posted an excellent time of 1hr 51min.

The performance of the day, though, was that of Olive Wall who completed the half-marathon distance for the first time.

Olive only joined the club in 2016 through the Couch to 5k programme, but she has continued to go from strength to strength and has been training for this event since the turn of the year.

There are a number of upcoming events involving Duleek & District athletes.

At club level the Meath Track & Field League is in full swing, with the next round happening on Wednesday March 22nd and further dates in April, May and June.

Among the adults, attention now switches to the Captains Race Series, with a number of upcoming local races on the horizon. SUNDAY’S 18-hole singles stableford: 1st Gerard Monaghan jnr 42pts, 2nd Michael Malone 41pts, 3rd Brendan Healy 40pts, Gross Alan McAuley 40pts.

Saturday’s 18-hole singles stableford: 1st Michael Rossiter 44pts, 2nd Justin Connor 43pts (ob9), 3rd Brendan Healy 43pts. LAST Wednesday’s 18 hole stableford: Class A - 1st Rita Black 34 ob6, 2nd Mary Gaynor 34; Class B - 1st Noeleen Cunningham 35, 2nd Allison Gough 33; Class C - 1st Angela Finnegan 35, 2nd Jacinta Muldoon 31. SUNDAY’S singles stableford; 1st Kevin Smith 37pts, 2nd Antone Murphy 36pts, 3rd Edward O’Rourke 36pts.

Saturday’s singles stableford; 1st Thomas Nolan 39pts, 2nd Anthony Whyte 37pts, 3rd Francis McGovern 35pts. THE incoming Captains for 2017 had their drive-in on Sunday as Marie Black and Martin Flood led a large field in the first event of this 25th anniversary year.

The winners of the event were Leo Gibney and Paddy Travers with a 44.5 nett and the runners-up were Frank Andrews and Ian Farrelly with a 45.5 nett. SUNDAY’S club singles stableford: 1st Thomas Collier (6) 40pts, 2nd Gavin Tuite (13) 40pts ob9, Gross prize Gerard Dunne 36pts. SSS 36pts (non-qualifying).

Saturday’s Scotch Foursomes strokes competition, sponsored by AIB Drogheda: 1st Kevin McCabe (16) & Niall McCabe (10) 65, 2nd Brian Heraty (12) & Stephen Ward (23) 65.5, Gross prize Mark Gannon & John Mullen 72; Senior winneres Joseph Leech (13) & Mahon Ronan (17) 35.5.

March 5th club singles stableford: 1st Peter McAuley (6) 41pts, 2nd Mahon Ronan (17) 40pts ob5, Gross prize David Murray 36pts. SSS 36pts (non-qualifying). RESULT from the Breffni Shield foursomes greensomes/stroke event which ended last Tuesday:

1st Anne Landy (20) & Ena Gilsenan (21) 69.6 nett; 2nd Deirdre Gray (17) & Carmel Kierans (18) 74.6 nett. Sponsors: B Kelly, G McLoughlin & R Brannigan. SUNDAY’S Spring League 2, sponsored by Jack Doran Motors, Drogheda: Cat 1 winner Richard Culhane (7) 65, 2nd Padraig Rafferty (4) 67, Gross prize Thomas Mulligan (-3) 72; Cat 2 winner Danny Brady (14) 70 ocb, 2nd Thomas Butterly (13) 70, 3rd Harry Barry (18) 71 ocb. CSS 72.

Saturday’s Captains’ Drive-in: Front nine - 1st Gary Tierney (3), Paul Branagan (9), Ann McAuley (11) & Phyllis Power (19) 25.9; 2nd Pat Rooney (4), Eric Leonard (14), Ellie Metcalfe (4) & Olwyn Kirkpatrick (18) 26.0. Back nine - 1st Richard McDonnell (11), Kieran Mongan (11), Kevin Kelly (12) & Donal Lynch (9) 26.6; 2nd Danny Black (11), Aimee Wickham (12), Ray Lawless (19) & Brian McGinn (10) 27.4. ON Sunday, MacBride Club Captain Tommy Dyas got the 2017 season under way with the Captain’s Pitch-in. Club members turned out in great numbers to support Tommy and wish him well for the year ahead.

Before play commenced, the presentation of Winter League prizes took place. Congratulations to team winners Barry Thornton, Owen Campbell and Liam Flood. The club would like to acknowledge and thank Winter League sponsor Alan Cooper who was in attendance on the day to present the shield to the winning team.

Winners in last weekend’s 18 nett/18 gross combined competition were as follows: Grade 1 - David O’Brien 93 nett; Grade 2 - Marco Vogelaar 100 nett ob9.

This coming weekend’s competition will be an 18 nett. Times of play are Saturday at 1.30pm and Sunday at 10am. THE County Board Spring Alliance Scramble was held at the Oldcastle club on Saturday and results were as follows;

Winners: Stephen Moore (Oldcastle), Seamus McAuley (Rathfeigh), Gerry Plunkett (Castletown), Niall Winters (Trim); 36 Gross: Dom Scully (Laytown), Peter O’Toole (Trim), Willy Cribbin (Castletown).

This week’s Spring Alliance Scramble will be held in Rathfeigh Pitch & Putt Club at the earlier time of 10.20am and the next County Board meeting is in Navan on Monday March 20th at 7.30pm. SUNDAY’S Open Two-Person Team Event: 1st Keith Baker (10) Down Royal & Alan Stewart (11) Kirkstown 46pts; 2nd John Foley (13) & Michael Smyth (16) 45pts; 3rd Colin Pentony (14) & Noel Reilly (7) Co Louth 43pts ocb.

Winners from Saturday’s Spring League competition, kindly sponsored by LMFM: Overall - Davy Kemp (12) 43pts ocb, Gross prize Paul Dyas (3) 34pts; Cat 1 Shane O’Keeffe (5) 41pts, Cat 2 Aidan Thornton (11) 41pts, Cat 3 Martin McArdle (19) 43pts.

Last Tuesday’s Open Stableford: 1st Gary Wade (2) 41pts, 2nd David Connell (11) 40pts, Gross prize Peter Rogers (2) 38pts, 3rd Noel McNally (17) 36pts. THE results from last weekend’s 18 gross competition:

Senior - 1st Johnny Campbell snr 45, 2nd Fechin Rath 46 (ob9 21). Inter - 1st Darren McKenna 46, 2nd Anto Mullen 47. Junior - 1st Colin Campbell 50 (ob6 15), 2nd Jim Donnelly 50 (ob9 24). Ladies - 1st Noelene Bedford 54 (ob9 24), 2nd Marlo Everitt 54. CSS: 46

This week’s competition will be an 18 nett. Times of play are Friday at 2.30, Saturday at 2pm and Sunday at 9.30am.

Please note the change of time for St Patrick’s Day. LAST weekend’s competition: 1st John Coen 20pts, 2nd Dessie Johnston 18pts, 3rd Michael Reilly 18pts. Dessie Johnston won the mid-week prize with 20 points.

The February 25th/26th competition was won by Kevin Donnelly with 19 points, and Dessie Johnston also won the mid-week competition for that week with 20 points.

Teresa Leech was the winner of the February ladies lamb competition.

The Captains’ Drive-in takes place next Sunday (19th) where the scramble will commence at 1pm sharp.