Carraig march on in Munsters

The postponement of the Munster Schools Cross Country due to Storm Franklin meant that Carraig AC athletes faced a challenging schedule with cross country on Thursday, 3rd March and a quick turnaround before travelling to Nenagh for the Munster Indoor Club championships the following Saturday. All in a week’s work for our hard-working athletes who were undaunted by the prospect.

Riverstick was again the venue for the Munster Schools Cross-Country finals. A crisp and frosty start to the day gave way to calm, mild conditions with a definite hint of spring. Firm conditions underfoot made for ideal racing conditions. A place in the schools’ finals in Belfast’s’ Mallusk Playing Fields on 12th March the coveted prize for the first 15 individual finishers and 3 teams in each race.

JUNIOR GIRLS

Laura Moore (Loreto Fermoy) converted a 13th place in the South Munsters to a 7th place finish at the higher level of competition, a very impressive progression for Laura who was an agonizing 1 second outside of the medal positions but qualifies for Belfast. Lucy Lynch finished in 35th place for St Aloysius Carrigtwohill who were edged in to the bronze team position and will go to Belfast full of confidence.

INTERMEDIATE GIRLS

Áine Sheridan (Colaiste Mhuire Cobh) looked comfortable throughout, a 9th place finish another relative improvement on the South Munsters and a place in the finals assured.

INTERMEDIATE BOYS

In this ultra-competitive age group St Colmans Fermoy with Aidan Maher as second scorer in 14th place will be strong contenders for a team medal in Belfast, having taken the gold medal with 32 points to spare over the second placed team, St Brendans Killarney. Bobby O’Riordan (PBC Cork) also featuring well helping his team to a 5th place finish.

SENIOR GIRLS

Sinead Kearney was second scorer for Loreto Fermoy who finished in 6th position. Feeling the distance in her legs by her own admission, nonetheless a good performance capping a fine cross-country season for Sinead.

SENIOR BOYS

Team gold never in doubt here, St Flannans boasting 3 internationals who also form the backbone of the Ennis track team who won the European Junior club cross country gold in Portugal recently. Just one point off the perfect 10 score in cross country, a battle with local favourites St Malachys College an added bonus for anyone travelling to Belfast.

Just 5 points separating these teams when they last met in 2019 pre-Covid. Timmy Hawkins (Rochestown College) and David Maher (Coláiste an Phiarsaigh) showing real intent from the gun to be a part of what promises to be an epic final race of the cross-country season. The 6km hilly course demanding maximum effort and both lads gave everything. Timmy qualified in 13th place with David following close behind in 18th place.

FANTASTIC PERFORMANCES IN NENAGH

Nenagh Olympic Indoor Stadium was the venue on Saturday 5th for the U12 to U19 Juvenile relays, U16 to U19 1,500m and U17 to U19 400m championships. Steeped in history, there has been sporting activities under cover at the venue since 1956 with the current tartan on concrete track installed in 1990 by a German company. Built largely by the generosity of locals inspired by the recently deceased Sean Naughton, it is still the stagegate for Munster athletes to qualify for national events at the more modern tracks in Athlone and Abbottstown.

Polar opposite descriptions of the ‘best in the world’ by Frank O’Mara (not today or yesterday it must be said!) and a ‘cowshed’ by Eamonn Coughlan and others lobbying for an indoor track in Leinster, Nenagh Olympic continue to invest in this unique (but always cold!) stadium that welcomed our athletes back after too long an absence.

1,500M BOYS

Three very different races for the spectators to enjoy. The U17 boys race was run as two heats with places awarded by times. Aidan Maher ran what would normally be an impressive tactical race with an explosive kick over the last 200 metres to take second place, However, being placed in the first and slower heat Aidan didn’t have visibility of the main contenders, so it was essentially a time trial with Aidan ultimately finishing in 5th place.

The boys U18 race had 9 starters, the same as the U17s but this was run as a straight final which made for a better race. A pedestrian start forced Carraig’s Timmy Hawkins to force the pace early on. When eventual winner Cian Hodgins made his move Timmy covered the break leaving a gap to the main pack. For the remaining 3 laps it was all about digging deep and forcing tired legs to hold off the inevitable pressure from the kickers which he did to perfection winning provincial silver and qualifying for the national finals. In the U19 boys race the places were decided early on with David Maher using his tactical experience to assess the situation and take an excellent bronze medal and the 3rd and final qualifying spot in the national final in Athlone.

400M BOYS

Cathal Whooley running in heat 2 had a good season opener taking over a second off his outdoor PB to finish in 5th place with a time of 57.61 secs. We look forward to seeing Cathal on the track this year as he continues to work hard and develop.

RELAYS (4 X 200M)

We had 3 girls and 1 boys team from U17 up competing which in itself is an achievement, for all teams to medal and qualify for nationals was beyond our expectations.

U17 GIRLS

Our best result of the day with the girls taking silver. A tactical gambit to start fast and secure the crucial lane 1 (difficult to overtake on the steep banks) paid off as Sinead Roche on the anchor leg battled bravely to defend a late charge from a strong Doneen AC team in third place. Lucy Lynch, Rebecca Akinkoulie and Leah Dunne completed the team.

U17 BOYS

A bronze medal for the team of Cathal Whooley, Ruadhri Boyle, Bobby O’Riordan and Timmy Colbert. A slick performance from the lads who had to hold off the challenge of Limerick AC in a heat which also included national medal contenders in Doneen AC and Midleton AC. Aidan Maher completed the squad having already competed in the middle-distance race.

U18 GIRLS

Another very competitive final with Doneen AC and Leevale AC fielding experienced teams. Caoimhe Geoghan, Ciara Keohane, Rebecca Kelleher and Abbie Akinkuolie impeccable in their changeovers under pressure from Waterford AC taking the bronze medal by over 3 seconds.

U19 GIRLS

No let-up in the standard as Leevale AC set a championship best time with Doneen AC taking the silver. Undaunted by the opposition, our team of Lily O’Riordan, Carol Halpin-Hurley, Caoimhe Geoghan and Abbie Akinkuolie executed another polished Carraig performance to take bronze. All performances today reflecting the work put in on the UCC track on recent Sunday mornings by both coaches and athletes.

In summary, a medal in the hand and a smile on the face of every teenager - more than we could have hoped for when setting out for Nenagh. Great to be back competing indoors as a club again, an added bonus more to look forward to on a national stage.

INTER VARSITY CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Carraig’s Daire O’Sullivan was competing for UL in Santry Playing Fields in one of the major events in the Inter-Varsity calendar. A stellar field was assembled reflecting the high standard in Irish distance running currently including many familiar names from Irelands’ U23 Eurocross winning team. With 6 to score every place was crucial. Daire was the all-important 6th scorer in 40th place helping UL to take the bronze medal from UCD in 2nd place and winners NUIG. Congratulations to Daire on a wonderful achievement.

BHAA CIT 5K

No rest for Rebecca Kelleher as she followed up on Saturday’s relay success with a 74th place from 356 finishers in Sundays BHAA 5k. An excellent time of 20:53 completing a good weeks’ work for Rebecca.

LOOK FORWARD

The main event for next week will be for our athletes who will compete in the National Schools Cross-Country finals in Belfast. However, a busy week of activities ahead, stay tuned to our social media feeds for regular updates from our PRO.