Medal winning start to cross country season

MULLINGAR HARRIERS NOTES

A big squad of over 50 Mullingar athletes travelled to Meath last Sunday for the Star of the Sea AC Open Cross Country, the traditional season-opener for Mullingar for many years. The event had to move from its normal course but the new course nearby was just as hilly and with a cold wind on the day, it proved quite testing for everyone, but the Mullingar athletes gave great accounts, winning 16 individual juvenile medals, including 4 gold. Seven juvenile teams won medals, our women team was second club, and Conor Sherwin finished second place in the men race. An added bonus to the day was when Olympic athlete Andrew Coscoran of Star of the Sea AC appeared and stayed for a long time, chatting with athletes, presenting some of the medals, and happy to pose for photos, an opportunity taken by many of the young athletes from Mullingar.

The first race of the day was the U9 girls 500m where Cara Hickey raced to second place, ahead of Mia Barry in third, and with Tara Coyne, Adele Bertolo, Cliodhna Fitzpatrick, Sophie Whitelaw, Marie Harte, Aoife Gavigan and Eanin Staunton putting in great efforts, there was little surprise that the girls finished first club. Shay Gavigan was pipped right on the line of the U9 boys 500m to finish fourth, but with great support and team packing from Austin Keaveney, Matteo Fitzpatrick, Luke Cosgrove, Senan Whelehan and Cian Clifford, it was first club again for Mullingar.

We got our first individual win of the day with Emily Rose Coyne racing clear in the U10 girls 500m, but despite great efforts from Rachel Robinson, Elsie Hegarty, Madeleine O’Brien and Rosie O’Brien, the girls were very unlucky to finish fourth club, missing the bronze team medals by just 3 points. We had no team in the U10 boys 500m but Emmet Walsh ran a very good race, finishing fast and strong and even though he finished out of the medals, his performance will give him confidence for the season ahead.

Seeing Lauryn Smith race to fifth place in the U11 girls 1,000m, just ahead of Helen McGrath in sixth with Roisin Keane right behind her, and backed up by Kate Horohoe, Lyla Lennon Currill and Rose Harte, hopes were high of team gold, but it wasn’t to be, though the girls were still very pleased to finish second club, just 3 points off the gold. Our second individual victory of the day came in the U11 boys 1,000m where Donagh Bourke won well after a great race, to lead the team of Olly Wright and Huw Keaveney to second club, narrowly missing team gold.

Grace Farry, Aoife Dunne and Faye Carroll battled well on the tough hills in the U12 girls 1,500m and were unlucky to finish out of the medal places. No problem for the Mullingar team in the U12 boys 1,500m, led home by Conor Gavin in fourth, ahead of Cillian Gavin in sixth, and with great support from Aaron Robinson and Fintan Harte, the team were worthy winners of the gold medals for first club.

On to the U13 girls 1,800m where Chloe Bell put in a brilliant race, finishing strong in second place, and with Amelie Kelly in fifth, and Liadan Gavin and Mina Sheridan finishing strong, the team finished second club, missing gold team medals by just 3 points, showing how close cross country team scores are and how every place counts in the finish. Not having a team to help him meant that if Harry Flanagan wanted a medal in the U13 boys 1,800m he was going to have to win it himself, and that’s exactly what he did. Going out strong from the start, Harry was always in contention and running fast and strong all the way he finished comfortably in third place to earn an individual medal.

Emily Tully, Aoibhe Martyn and Muirin Dunne combined brilliantly in the U14 girls 2,000m and though they finished out of the individual medal places, their combined scores placed them second club to win well-deserved team silver medals. Antonio Bertolo was never really troubled in the U14 boys 2,200m where he took the early lead and pushed on to win by a distance with a dominant display and will be one to watch in the season ahead.

It’s a real pity we didn’t have a third boy in the U15 boys 2,500m where Daniel Horohoe and Morgan Isdell put in terrific performances to finish an excellent third and fourth place respectively. If we had a third boy the team would certainly have been in the hunt for team medals. No surprise that our final individual win of the day came from Matthew Molloy who gave a master class in the U17 boys 4,500m, surging to the front early on and pushing hard all the way to finish well clear of the field.

The women’s 3,000m was a combined race for U20, senior and master women and after a tough race where she worked hard all the way, Sinead Whitelaw finished an excellent fifth place, followed in by Orlaith Flanagan in eighth, and with great support from Claire Lennon and Kelly Dunne, led the Mullingar women team to a very well-deserved prize for second club. The final race of the day was the men’s 6,000m, which was a combined race for U20, senior and master men. With four laps to complete, Conor Sherwin went with the early pace and his bravery paid dividends as though he couldn’t stay with the eventual winner, he had opened a big gap on the field and taking the hills in his stride he came home strong in second place, delighted with his performance so early in the season.

This was an excellent opening fixture for Mullingar Harriers and everyone that took part will gain from the experience and bring it into the season ahead. Thanks very much to the coaches that attended to look after the juvenile athletes, but especially the parents for bringing their children to the event [GD].

Athlone Half Marathon and 10k

Athlone AC organised their annual half marathon and 10k last Sunday morning. Both events started on the all-weather track at the TUS Athlone campus. Each race exited onto the greenway at the Garrycastle interchange and there was a flat out and back course for runners, with different turning points for each race. On a dry cloudy and at times breezy morning, conditions were ideal for running.

In the 10k race, Kevin Moore was always in control up front and stretched his lead to over 5 minutes as he returned to the TUS Athlone campus for one lap of the track to finish first in a fine time of 32:32, leaving the field of over 160 runners in his wake. In the longer half marathon race, Laura Fitzpatrick was our sole representative among just over 260 runners that completed the event. Laura was very pleased with her time of 1:43:43 comfortably inside her pre-race target of sub 1 hour 45 minutes [MO’S].

Help needed for Westmeath Schools Cross Country

Many of our younger members that competed at the Star of the Sea cross country will run again this Wednesday at the Westmeath Schools Cross Country in Belvedere. The programme commences at 11am for the secondary schools, followed at 12 noon for the primary schools. This is an eagerly awaited event for many school children in Westmeath and as in previous years we expect very large numbers, especially in the primary schools races.

It will get very busy near start time, so we’re advising everyone attending to come early. A big turnout is expected, so if any club members or friends can spare a few hours from 10am to help out, it would be greatly appreciated. Everything will done and dusted and the last race will be over by 2pm.

Athletics Westmeath Cross Country

Everyone who takes part in the schools cross country is very welcome to compete in the Athletics Westmeath Cross Country Championships. The first round this Sunday morning in Belvedere at 11am is for boys and girls under 10, 12, 14, 16 and a combined race for women and men under 18, 19 and 20 years and novice, senior and masters. The second round will be the following Sunday morning and will be for boys and girls under 9, 11, 13, 15 and 17 years. Boys and girls can run in their own age group on one day and move up an age on the other day to get in some race practice.

Juvenile club and county teams for the Leinster Championships will be picked after both rounds. There are two weeks between the Leinster Championships, so juvenile athletes run in their own age-group and can also move up an age-group to make up teams. We expect all juveniles will compete in both rounds of the Westmeath Championships or they might not be selected for teams.

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