CLUB CALL
UNITED STRIDERS A.C.
The Striders Juveniles had a very successful time at day one of the Wexford track and field championships at a sun-drenched Enniscorthy.
Cosmo Hewlett’s gold-winning javelin throw was the pick of the field performances. Conor Murphy equalled his high jump P.B. to win silver, and Eanna Grennan also took silver with a fine performance in the long jump.
On the track, competition was very tough and medals were hard won. Aisling Power and Grace Costello both put in fantastic efforts and gold-winning 1,500m performances.
Also amongst the medals for the girls in the middle distance events were Erinn Shannon, Louise Doyle, Rebecca Bawden and Alannah Byrne. Rebecca was our sole sprint medal winner for the girls, over 100m.
The Striders boys fared particularly well on the track, with Aaron Browne winning gold in the sprint hurdles event, in one of the day’s first events. Ryan Kielthy took bronze in the same race.
Oisín Mac Eochaidh was our sole sprint winner, but also making the podium in the sprint events were T.J. Murphy, Sam Myers, Tommaso Hickey, Cosmo Hewlett, Myles Hewlett, Darragh Flannelly, Aaron Browne and Nic Walkden.
In the middle distance events, the Striders boys were dominant, with Myles Hewlett, Adam O’Connor, Aaron Browne, Nic Walkden and Aedan Rogers all winning.
In addition, Olan Delaney, Sam Myers, Cosmo Hewlett, Ben Myers, Darragh Flannelly, Aidan Shannon and Ryan Kielthy all won medals.
The last action of the day were the sprint relays, where the following Striders were all on medal-winning teams: Lily Meekens, Maéve Burke, Leah Kehoe, Ava Kehoe, Romy Belton, Kelly Corbett, Ciara Murphy, Hazel Hickey, Isabel Bawden, Aoife Nic Eochaidh, Louise Doyle, Eve Byrne, Aisling Power, Claire Doyle, Grace Costello, Alannah Byrne, Rebecca Bawden, Aoife Muldoon, T.J. Murphy, Fionn Mac Eochaidh, Donagh Grennan, Maitiú Wall, Adam Burke, Seán Lennon, Tommaso Hickey, Sam Myers, Olan Delaney, Ronan Shannon, Eoin Hannon, Charlie Alfred, Luca O’Connor, Myles Hewlett, Aidan Shannon, Eoin Shannon, Dara Flannelly, Cosmo Hewlett, Aidan Kehoe, Ben Myers, Oisín Mac Eochaidh, Ryan Kielthy, Adam O’Connor, Conor Murphy and Aaron Browne.
Well done to all the other Striders who competed, including Moya Belton, Aoife Moran, Gearóid Byrne, Cormac Delaney, Fionn Kehoe, Jacob McPhillips, Roan Kavanagh, Rúairí Lyng, Max Murphy, Heather Costello, Moya Corbett, Aoife Lyng, Caolan Costello, Finn Kelly and Clodagh Foran.
KILMORE A.C.
A massive well done to our athletes who competed in the county Novice road race in Camross. It was great to see a few first-timers running county races for Kilmore.
Well done to our women’s team of Shauna Cousins (twelfth, 13.28), Paula Devereux (36th, 17.12), Suzanne Foley (26th, 14.25), and Sinéad Fortune (21st, 13.59).
Well done also to the men who were led home by Michael O’Flaherty (eleventh, 22.10). Our men packed well with Niall Crosbie (24.41), Ger Power (24.52) and Nicky Foley (24.52) finishing 28th, 29th and 30th respectively. Adrian Reville finished 37th in 25.21.
On a glorious day in Enniscorthy it goes without saying our Juvenile athletes really shone on day one of the county championships.
Seeing new athletes taking part in their first county championships is great, but also seeing the progression of our athletes across the board is something that our club and especially our wonderful coaches can be very proud of.
Getting the ball rolling for us was a returning athlete, Ross O’Flaherty. Ross won the 250m hurdles and also had success in the Under-15 long jump.
Determined not to be outdone by the exploits of her older brother, another returnee, Kate O’Flaherty, placed a magnifecent second in the Under-14 girls’ high jump.
Arwyn Thompson is another of our athletes who is without question showing constant progression. She placed an exceptional second in the ultra-competitive Under-14 girls’ 100m and followed that up with a third place finish in the 1,500m.
As is well documented here, Eimear Fortune really is one of the shining lights in the Juvenile section of our club at the minute. Eimear placed a strong second in the Under-15 1,500m, with her preferred event, the 800m, still to come on Sunday.
Katelyn Boggan, despite battling injury, put in another stellar performance in the Under-15 100m. In a nail-biting finish, Katelyn came second.
In the older ages, Rory Cassidy front ran to finish second in the boys’ Under-18 1,500m. Liam O’Flaherty was so close to taking a medal in the Under-17 boys’ race, just being pipped in the last 100m.
In the relays we produced some great performances. It would be remiss of me not to mention the great success of both our Under-9 and Under-11 girls’ teams, finishing fourth.
In the Under-13 girls’ relay, Niamh Fortune, Niamh O’Flaherty, Freya Thompson and Aine Fortune came a great third.
In the Under-15 equivalent, Eimear Fortune, Arwyn Thompson, Katelyn Boggan and Dawn McKenna were first. Well done girls.
Finally, it is great to see the increase of top ten and final places, particularly in the sprints, happening this year. Credit to both athletes and coaches.
Day two of the Mr Oil county track and field championships takes place on Sunday, May 27, in Enniscorthy.
Congratulations to Jackie Carthy and the Irish team on their second place in the Over-35 10,000m in a hotly-contested European championships in Alicante, Spain, on Saturday. Campeones, campeones, oe oe oe!
Congratulations to Fiona Kehoe the ladies’ K.A.C. team on their wins in the county Senior road championships in Murrintown on Friday. Well done also to the men and women on strong performances on a hot and hilly course again this year!
The course had less Forth Mountain and more hills but plenty of heat. The first 2-3k were uphill on a road seemingly without turning.
This did nothing to slow the pace of the front runners - Fiona Kehoe, Anne O’Sullivan (D.M.P.), Katie Wilson (D.M.P.), Elaine Cardiff, Sharon Cloney, Helen Doyle, Sinéad O’Brien, plus Catherine Roche and Mary Gorham (both Slaney Olympic) who separated from the main pack in the first kilometre.
Fiona drove the race on to power home in 18.04 minutes, a very strong time considering she had spent two hours driving from Dublin after work that afternoon.
Second place was taken by Ann O’Sullivan (19:51) who was followed closely by her D.M.P. clubmate Katie Wilson (19:54). Elaine Cardiff was fourth (20:14) in a sprint finish with Catherine Roche of Slaney Olympic (20:18).
Sharon Cloney proved that she is back on track literally after the birth of daughter Darcy who cheered on her Mammy to a strong sixth place finish (20:33). Helen Doyle ran a solid race to finish seventh (20:43), edging out Mary Gorham of Slaney Olympic (20:44) in the final few metres and thus sealing the deal of first team for Kimore.
Next home for Kilmore was Sinéad O’Brien, finishing ninth (21:26), and first of the women’s second team also consisting of Fidelma Rossiter, 16th (22:30), Carol Devereux, 31st (24:27), and Suzanne Foley, 32nd (25:11). Suzanne and Carol were particularly happy with the P.B’s both achieved.
In the men’s race, Michael O’Flaherty led our contingent home with an impressive time (38:36) for 32nd place, followed by Adrian Reville, 54th (45:51), and Kevin Walsh, 61st (52:43). Unfortunately, Nicky Foley was unavailable due to injury.
Well done all on excellent performances on another hot and hilly course this year. Thanks to Wexford Marathon Club for hosting a well-organised event.
It was a glorious day in the Morton Stadium, Santry, on Wednesday for the Irish Life Health Leinster schools track and field day one. Our club had one athlete competing, Eimear Fortune in the Junior girls’ 800m for Loreto Wexford.
Before this race Eimear’s P.B. was around the 2:35 mark, dating back to her appearance in the Leinster indoors in March this year. However, she broke 2:30, finishing in a time of 2:27:44.
In fact, Eimear finished fourth in the race overall which was an outstanding achievement, finishing ahead of the girl who beat her in the South Leinsters, and in doing so she hit all of coach Fiona Kehoe’s three pre-race targets.
In what turned out to be quite a bittersweet moment, Eimear’s time was only 0.01 seconds off third place, and a photo finish was required to determine the result. Between second and fourth, only 0.4 of a second separated them.
Eimear ran the race of her life. The battling spirit she displayed was phenomenal, and I have no doubt she’ll come back even stronger from the fourth place finish.
With the county 800m on May 27 and the Leinster 800m in mid-June, Eimear certainly has an exciting summer of running ahead. The future looks very, very promising.
Well done to our relay team members who competed at the Leinster relay championships in Enniscorthy. We had five teams competing, with our Under-15 girls making it into the final.
Under-11 girls, fifth in heat (1:09:39): Emma Power, Ava Barry, Amy Burton, Rayna Thompson.
Under-12 girls, sixth in heat (1:05:79): Niamh O’Flaherty, Katie Foley, Rayna Thompson, Aine Fortune.
Under-13 girls, seventh in heat (1:04:11): Aine Fortune, Niamh O’Flaherty, Freya Thompson, Niamh Fortune.
Under-14 girls, seventh in heat (1:00:11): Dawn McKenna, Kate O’Flaherty, Niamh Fortune, Arwyn Thompson.
Under-15 girls, eighth in final (56.74): Eimear Fortune, Katelyn Boggan, Dawn McKenna, Arwyn Thompson.
Next weekend sees day two of the county Juvenile track and field championships in Enniscorthy. After a strong day one where Kilmore A.C. athletes took home a total of ten medals, hopefully there is more to come.
ST. KILLIAN’S A.C.
One of the blue riband events for Wexford athletics took place in glorious conditions in Murrintown on Friday, the county Senior road race championships.
Our friends at the Wexford Mar- athon Club wanted to make sure everyone competing had a true test with a challenging, tough hilly course. This did not deter the St. Killian’s men who rose to the challenge.
Slaney Olympic’s Ger Forde made his intentions clear from the start and was not going to make it an easy run, setting a scintillating pace from the gun.
Niall Sheil kept him in sight and pushed hard over the last couple of kilometres to claw him back, but Ger held strong to finish in a super time of 32 minutes 49 seconds given the course. Niall had a great race and finished 20 seconds adrift in 33 minutes 9 seconds, with S.B.R’s Paul Lynch taking the bronze medal in 34 minutes 53 seconds.
Brian O’Shaughnessy dug deep and put in a great performance to get a sub-37 minutes to finish in a time of 36 minutes 47 to take 17th place.
Our newest member, John Egan, showed he meant business to finish in a time of 37 minutes 53 seconds for 24th place, and he will be a great addition to our club and our men’s team in the future.
Well done to all involved, and in particular to Wexford Marathon Club for hosting a super event and having a lovely spread afterwards which was really appreciated and welcomed by everyone.
The Juvenile members too had a busy time recently. Jack Forde was once again making news. He competed in the Leinster secondary schools in Santry last week in the Intermediate boys’ high jump and triple jump.
He finished in third place in the high jump with a best of 1.80m, and a third also in the triple
jump with a jump of 12.02m. Well done Jack.
His sister, Amy, was competing for Loreto Wexford in the Senior hammer last week in Santry and finished in third place with a throw of 33.63m. Well done Amy.
On Sunday the club sent two young teams to the Leinster relays which were held at The Hub in Enniscorthy.
Kayla Doyle, Siofra Bowe, Emma McEldowney and Keelin Boggan were competing in the Under-10 event. The youngsters gave of their best and should be proud of themselves, even though they did not progress out of their heat.
The Under-12 team of Chloe Reck, Emma McCarthy, Aoife McEldowney, Kara Morrissey and substitute Eabha Bowe were also in action. The girls gave a good account of themselves and finished in fourth place in their heat. Well done to one and all.