Santry’s day in the sun!
The first of two big days out for our national qualifying cross country athletes took place last Sunday in Santry at the national even age and junior championships.
The return of the national championships to Santry’s public park after nearly a decade being held in Athletics Ireland’s purpose built cross country course in Abbotstown was a nostalgic return to great days out from the past for those old enough to remember. Abbotstown’s course holds special memories for our current crop of young athletes but Santry has the terrain and location to provide a better atmosphere and spectator friendly event that this group definitely enjoyed. From the flat, fast ground and the tight course that winds its way around the massive pine trees that are dotted around the park, it made for a magnificent day’s racing. The finishing straight lined by massive pines and screaming crowds is almost like an amphitheatre to cross country.
The weather played its part too to add to the spectacle with wonderful blue skies and bright winter sunshine warming the faces and hands that were exposed to the cold temperatures as frost still held on the grass in the shaded areas of the park. Twenty three of our underage athletes were amongst over 1,700 entries having qualified for this year’s even age competitions on Munster, Cork and four of our own club teams. The biggest and most competitive fields for many years must have been partially due to the return from pandemic lock downs and the lack of racing for almost two years. Female participants outnumbered their male counterparts for the first time ever and shows how athletics is truly a level playing field for all.
U12 GIRLS
The first of our athletes into action was U12 first timer Ellie Cafferkey. Ellie is in her first year with the club and has taken to this cross country season like a duck to water, qualifying as the 10th member of the Cork team. Ellie put in a performance that belied her relative lack of experience with an impressive 58 place finish out of a massive field of 181 girls. Ellie also was desperately unlucky not to take a medal on the gold medalling Cork team as the 7th over the line with six to score. A wonderful debut from Ellie and we’re all excited to see what her athletics future holds in store.
U14 GIRLS
Our next into action was Faye O’Riordan with an excellent display in Cork red taking 25th place out of 163 finishers. Second scorer on the Cork team wasn’t unfortunately good enough to secure Faye a medal as Cork were fourth in the county team competition. To compound Faye’s misfortune she ran so well that she would have been fifth scorer on the provincial team that took bronze but hadn’t been selected from the Munster qualifying race. So Faye had to be contented with the satisfaction of a wonderful performance, possibly her best ever, and the confidence that must bring as she gets a second bite of the cherry in Kilkenny in two weeks at the unevens.
U14 BOYS
Cian Ryan, like Faye before him is an old hand at such a young age at competing on the national stage cross country. Running up in age Cian raced magnificently to a 19th place finish out of 162 finishers. Always within striking distance of the first 12 individual medals Cian held his own in a ferociously competitive competition.
Cian secured the clubs first medal of the day as the third scorer on the silver medalling Cork team and although getting the fourth place on the provincial team, Munster were fourth in the provincial competition by a single solitary point to Ulster. Another hard luck story for one of our athletes but a fantastic individual performance will fill Cian with confidence for Kilkenny in two weeks.
JUNIORS TRAINING GROUP
It is always the ambition that athletes will peak for the Nationals, the pinnacle of their season. However, in a year that saw a compacted track season morph into the cross-country season this seemed aspirational at best given that several athletes had been competing at a high level on an almost weekly basis for some time. However, in Carraig na bhFear AC we are fortunate to have very experienced group of coaches, all well-versed in the dark art of tapering. Taking athletes who have pushed themselves hard in training and competition, adding just the right blend of recovery training, intensity and rest over a period of a few weeks and letting the magic weave its spell. In the week preceding the nationals, a spring in the step in training and a renewed enthusiasm and confidence early indications that a plan was coming together and some big performances were imminent. Four qualified teams from our older teens was just rewards for the time and effort put into this group by athletes, parents and coaches.
U16 GIRLS
One of those big performances came from Leah Dunne, not running in the Cork colours on this occasion but nevertheless being the 5th Corkonian to cross the line in 46th place of 152 finishers, a significant achievement for Leah who has been steadily improving throughout the season. Áine Sheridan fell foul of the dreaded stitch but showed great determination to persevere, finishing in 69th position. With Laura Prendergast in 74th and Sarah O’Donoghue in 87th positions running excellent races, the girls finished a very creditable 9th team of 16. Well done on a great effort from this team that have only come together this last while with Sarah and Laura in their first season.
U16 BOYS
Aidan Maher, wearing the Munster blue singlet looked very comfortable throughout with his best ever performance to finish in 23rd position, winning team gold with Cork and a silver medal in the inter-provincial competition. Cathal Whooley (another running his best race to date) and Bobby O’Riordan were next in the tightest of finishes in 74th and 75th positions respectively with the ever-consistent Timmy Colbert being the fourth team scorer. Peter Hawkins was running up in age but looked very comfortable at this level with Luke Mullins completing the Carraig team that matched the girls’ 9th of 16 team placing.
U18 GIRLS
Both the boys and girls U18 races were a combined race with the junior U20 athletes. This added some complexity, with 170+ runners in each race it was difficult for the younger athletes not to get caught up in the fast pace at the start, with the big occasion and atmosphere boosting the flow of adrenaline.
Many athletes in both races falling victim to going out too hard. Rebecca Kelleher already running up an age found herself in unfamiliar territory well back in the combined field of runners but showed her experience to stay focused on her own running and was duly rewarded with a place on the Cork team winning a silver medal. Mary Dorgan, Cliona Lynch and Carol Halpin Hurley all ran excellent times and again Carraig finishing in a very solid 11th of 15 teams in the U18 competition.
U18 BOYS
The boys combined race was similarly confusing with the added complexity being that the winner of the overall race Nick Griggs and 7th place Harry Colbert have yet to turn 17 years of age, making it very difficult to know who the direct competition was. Eoin Quirke found himself in the leading pack on the first lap but showed great maturity to draw on past experience and ease off the throttle, finding his own race pace to finish in an excellent 10th position U18, winning an individual medal. An added bonus was a gold provincial medal and a silver medal with Cork.
Starting from the back of a field of 175 runners in a national final would be a hard sell to a coach as a cunning plan but Timmy Hawkins was steadfast in backing himself to execute, which he did to perfection. Having qualified in 9th position on the Cork team, Timmy worked his way up the field to finish 4th Cork scorer and bag a silver medal, his first in a national A cross country competition. Timmy even added a sprint finish to his repertoire for good measure, much to the delight of coach Rhona. Backed up by great runs from David Maher, Aaron Sheehan and Rian O’Luasa, the lads finished as 5th club team, a mere 20 points off the bronze medal. Given that 4 of the team were running up in age that is a significant result amongst some of the biggest clubs in the country and a great credit to the team.
JUNIOR MEN
With places on the U20 Irish team for the European Championships up for grabs, a stacked field was guaranteed. However, Daire O’Sullivan looking very comfortable at this level, running a superfast time of 19:56 for the 6k course finishing in 26th place overall in the Junior race. Daire was also 3rd scorer on a strong Cork team taking the silver medal in the county competition.
Eoin Quirke also picked up a medal as part of the Cork junior team, his fourth of the day which made Carraig the only club with 2 scorers on a team, which is a significant achievement for a club the size of Carraig na bhFear AC.
SUMMARY
What a wonderful days racing we witnessed in Santry with all the excitement and prestige that a national final deserves. Memories for a lifetime and good vibes for months ahead for all involved. All our young girls and boys did their club proud and are a credit to all involved in their athletic development.
LOOK FORWARD
As the season draws to a close before our Christmas holiday break we have one final big push to get ready for the national uneven age cross country championships which 19 of our athletes and three club teams will represent in Gowran, Co Kilkenny on December 5th.