CALL
GAA Centre at 6.30 p.m. for juvenile members.
See training programmes for details. Young runners must be seven years old already this year to qualify under Athletics Ireland rules. New members welcome, parents can contact us on Facebook, Twitter (@ClubKilmore) or by emailing kilmoreathleticsclub@gmail.com.
Couch to 5k! - Is one of your New Year’s resolutions to improve your health, fitness and wellbeing. Well, if so Kilmore AC has got you covered. Every Tuesday at 7pm in Kilmore GAA Grounds we will hold our Couch to 5k Programme. It would be great to see you come along and improve your fitness!
BREE AC
Bree AC athletes travelled to the Leinster Indoors Championships in Athlone for Day 1 and Day 2.
Day 1 on Saturday we had the 60m Sprint. Up first we had the under-12s, Kiera Wilson made the semi-final and Ciara Laffan had a good run in the final placing sixth.
Under-13 Katie Doyle also placed sixth in the final. Abbie Doyle, under-14, went in to the final with the fastest time and came away with a third place and a new PB.
On day two, we saw the turn of the hurdles. But first, Ciara Laffan and Keira Wilson competed in the long jump. Keira Wilson just missed out on the final and Ciara Laffan came fourth.
In the 600m, it was Maura Doyle and Cathal Ennis’s first indoor run they both placed sixth gaining great experience. Conor Doyle placed in seventh under-16 800m getting himself a new PB.
In the hurdles, under-12 Kiera Wilson clipped the first hurdle in the final placing fifth.
Ciara Laffan ran a brilliant race, coming first in the hurdles.
Under-13 Katie Doyle placed second with a new PB of 10.36.
Under-14 athlete Abbie Doyle was winning her semi but hit the last hurdle just missing out by one place for the final.
Under-17 Darra Casey was first, winning with brilliant technique and a new PB.
Sophie Codd (under-18) placed in fourth just outside the medals.
Leinster indoors Day three and four are on March 2 and 3 in Dublin’s Abbotstown. Well done to all our athletes that traveled up to Athlone.
ST JOSEPH’S AC
Where to start? Two weekends of hectic indoor, cross country and road race action ending in St Josephs athletes achieving qualification for the European Indoor championships, winning national cross country gold, breaking Leinster indoor championship records and turning in great performances on the road.
The Athletic Ireland indoor national championships were held two weekends ago in Dublin with most top Irish athletes competing.
Among them was our own Sophie Becker who is the current Irish U23 indoor 60m and 200m champion.
However, in Abbotown, she was competing in her specialist event, the 400m.
At the starting gun, Sophie was first out of the blocks and 53.66 seconds later she crossed the line as the national 400m champion and thus qualified for the European Indoor championships in Glasgow in March. Congratulations to Sophie from everyone in St Josephs Athletic Club.
At the same championships, Shane Power finished third in the pole vault clearing the same height as the previous weekend, 4.10m. Eoin Power made a welcome return to the track in the 60m hurdles, but unfortunately had to pull up during the race.
The national Intermediate, Masters and Juvenile ‘B’ Cross Country Championships were held in Dundalk and the Kilkenny ladies team ran superbly to take gold back to the county for the first time in decades.
Proudly playing her part was Sally Forristal, finishing in seventh position. Frances Mullally kept the club flag flying in the master’s race finishing eleventh O50.
Well done to the juvenile athletes who travelled all the way to Dundalk to compete.
Aisleann Mullally finished 78th in the girls under-11 race, and her sister Eabha was 34th in the under-13 race. She placed fifth on the Kilkenny team who won bronze national medals.
Last weekend saw juvenile athletes from throughout Leinster travel to Athlone for the first two days of the indoor champioships.
Jordan Knight, inspired no doubt by Sophie Becker, is now making the 400m his own.
Last weekend, Jordan, competing at under-17 level, won his 400m heat breaking the existing Leinster record and then smashed that time again by winning the final in a fantastic 52.27. Multitalented as he is, Jordan also won the long jump.
Evan O’Toole finished third in the under-16 high jump with 1.65m.
At under-19 level, Linda Lawlor finished fifth in both the 400m final and 60m. Rachel Foley finished 11th in the long jump with a new personal best of 4.17m, and sixth in the 60m heats. Day 2 results to follow next week.
Back on the roads, two of the big spring races in the south east, the John Treacy 10-mile in Waterford and the Enniscorthy 10km took place in the past two weekends with great St Josephs representation.
First home in the John Treacy 10 mile was the evergreen Seamus Power in 1:10:48 followed by Breda Hennessy in 1:17:47, Siobhán O’Leary 1:18:00, Maggie Helen O’Connor, 1:19:16, Sinéad Croke, 1:23:06, John McDonald, 1:29:11, Fiona Ryan, 1:34:24, Alma Barron, 1:35:25, and Shauna Power 1:42:54.
Sally Forristal led the club home in the Enniscorthy 10km last Sunday finishing third lady behind Irish internationals Fionnuala McCormack and Linda Byrne in 37.48.
Next to cross the line was Patrick Bookle in 38.38 and finishing second O50. Maria Griffin was third home in 43.01 followed by Siobhan O’Leary in 47.39 and Maggie Helen O’Connor in 48.22.
The efforts of Sally, Maria, Siobhan and Maggie Helen earned them second team prize.
St Josephs Athletic Club annual dinner dance and awards night will be held on Friday, February 22, at 7.30pm in the Rhu Glenn. Music is by Bottle Brothers.
WEXFORD HOCKEY
It was another busy weekend for Wexford Hockey Club as both their first and second team were in action.
On Saturday, the Ladies 1s travelled to Kilkenny for the third week in a row, this time to table toppers Kilkenny 1s home ground in Kilkenny College for the closest thing either team has to a local derby, having played each other for many years at South Eastern level.
It was the visiting Wexford side that started the stronger, finding the Kilkenny net through a strike from Avril Jones within the first ten minutes.
Wexford’s midfield line of Jones, Leonie Grant, Miriam Joyce and Sinead Dempsey continued to frustrate the Kilkenny middle line while Miriam Lambert and Joanne Grant ran good lines up front.
Wexford kept the pressure on and were rewarded with a short corner about halfway through the first half. From the initial shot by Lambert, the ball broke in front of the goal and, amidst the scuffle, Lisa Codd found the back of the net with an opportunistic sweep.
Kilkenny, however, never lost their focus and the last 15 minutes of the half went all their way. A high shot, which was called wide by the umpire, much to the home side’s discontent, signalled their intent.
A left wing run and end-line cross found their incoming forward who deflected the ball past ‘keeper Anna Hayes’s for Kilkenny’s first goal.
Their second goal came shortly after that when a well struck shot from a short corner found the bottom left corner of the goal.
The home side continued to launch wave after wave of attack and Wexford’s back line of Chloe O’Connor, Anna Corcoran, Sinead McDonnell and Ciara McGrath were kept on their toes, as was Hayes in the goal who smothered a one-on-one effort as well as making a good glove save from a short corner shot.
However, the relentless pressure paid dividends and Kilkenny hit their third, shortly before half time, when a ball was slipped through to an unmarked forward who blasted the ball into the roof of the net.
The second half started in the same vein as the first half ended with Kilkenny having much of the possession and looking increasingly dangerous.
Wexford tried to maintain their shape and play their own game which had proved fruitful in the first half but found themselves on the defensive for most of the second half.
Despite the sustained period of pressure, however, the visitors managed to hold the home team scoreless for the second 35.
Kilkenny’s best chances came from two short corners: the first, a shot which was heading for the bottom left corner, was deflected away by Hayes off the kicker. The second, a well executed drag flick, was also brilliantly saved by a diving Hayes who palmed the ball away with the glove.
Wexford, only a goal down, began to take the game to the home side towards the end of the half and pushed up to hunt for an equaliser but, with Kilkenny very dangerous and quick on the counter attack, couldn’t get as many attackers forward as they would have liked.
Both goals remained unbreached for the second half, leaving the final score at 3-2 in favour of the home side.
Wexford: Anna Hayes, Chloe O’Connor, Anna Corcoran, Sinead McDonnell, Ciara McGrath, Avril Jones, Leonie Grant, Miriam Joyce, Sinead Dempsey, Joanne Grant, Miriam Lambert, Isobel O’Connor, Glenda McKeown, Trish O’Dowd, Lisa Codd. Sideline: Tom Dempsey. On Sunday, the Wexford 2s continued their campaign in the round robin of the Sunday League Cup with a home fixture against Carlow 2s.
The team had the honour of being the first in the club to play a competitive fixture on the new pitch at Loreto Wexford and a number of spectators turned out for the special occasion.
There was plenty of back and forth play for the opening half with both teams having chances, including one good breakaway run from Cora Rafferty that just got away from her in the circle. On the other end of the pitch, Carlow had a good chance snuffed out by keeper Dot Byrne who, beaten by an initial cross, made a diving save and proceeded to shepherd the ball clear.
Carlow broke the deadlock shortly before half-time with a good move through midfield to a waiting forward who slotted it past Byrne.
Wexford regrouped in the second half and had some good passages of play with Charlotte Breen unlucky not to convert midway through the half.
Carlow, through two players in particular, were able to turn the tide in their favour and they won three short corners in a row, the third of which they converted with a hard shot to the bottom right corner.
Wexford never dropped their heads and continued to fight through the remainder of the game, with all players working tirelessly until the final whistle.
The club thanked all who attended to support.
The Wexford 1s team will play their first fixture on the new pitch in Loreto Wexford, against Bray 2s, on Saturday at midday.
MENAPIANS AC
It’s been a busy few weeks for Menapians’ juvenile and senior athletes.
At the AAI National Indoor Club League at the end of last month our Mens team, with a mixture of youth and experience, finished 5th overall.
At the Junior and U23 Indoor Championships in Athlone Sabia Doyle qualified for the final of the Junior Women 60m Sprint where she got a new PB of 7.89 in a very competitive race, Aaron Smith won silver in the Junior Men 60m Hurdles with a PB of 8.27 and David McDonald qualified for the final of the U23 200m with a time of 22.12.
At the IUAA Irish Universities Indoor T&F Championships in Athlone on 8th February Aaron Smith took the 60m Hurdles title for WIT Vikings taking down a long standing WIT record with a new PB of 8.38. David McDonald, Shaun Donohue and Aaron Smith were members of the Mens 4x200m relay team that won Bronze, setting a new WIT record in the process. Shaun Donohue had solid runs for WIT Vikings in the 200m with times of 23.09 and 23.03 (PB) and also ran the 400m in 50.83. Mel O’Callaghan ran well in the 60m and 200m for WIT and Emmanuel Ogbonna made the final of Men’s Triple Jump for WIT, finishing 8th. Conor Wilson, representing AIT, had a great start in his 200m heat but unfortunately had to pull up, speedy recovery Conor.
Well done to all our athletes who competed at the first two days of the Leinster Juvenile Indoor Championships over the weekend of February 9 and 10 in Athlone.
Kara Morrissey won Silver in the under-13 Long Jump with a jump of 4.24m and made the final of the under-13 60m Sprint. Sabia Doyle won Bronze with another PB in the under-17 60m sprint.
Triini Jurisoo finished 8th in the under-16 long jump with a best of 4.41m. Ruby Reynolds won silver in the under-14 long jump with a jump of 4.69m and had a great run in the under-14 60m hurdles to take the gold.
Menapians road runners travelled to Enniscorthy on February 10 to support the Enniscorthy 10k organised by Slaney Olympic AC.
The first Menapian Man home was John Dier in 48:06 followed by Tadhg Henderson in 48:37, Micheal Kinsella in 50:30 and Ger Mulhall in 53:13.
The first Menapian Woman home was Paula Gondard in 51:52 followed by Helen Sinnott in 53:37 and Sharron Dier in 1:26:09. Well done, everyone, great running on a tough course.
The fourth annual Menapians 5k road race will take place on Friday, July 12.