Mullingar Intermediate men steal the show at Leinster Cross Country

The Leinster Intermediate and Masters cross country and Juvenile cross country relays were held at The Faithful Field in Kilcormac, Co. Offaly last Saturday. Athletics Offaly laid out an excellent course with several tight turns that provided a good test, but the day was mild dry and sunny, but windy, which made underfoot conditions perfect for running.

The relays were first on the programme and the first Mullingar team into action was Amelie G Kelly, Siomha Leonard, Liadan Gavin and Clodagh Keane in the U14 girls 4 x 500m where each played a valuable part in steering the team to second place and the silver medals. The U14 boys 4 x 500m followed where despite great team effort and running by Cillian Gavin, Harry Flanagan, Conor Gavin and Daniel Cummins the boys were very unlucky to finish just out the medals in fourth place in a close race. We finished in the medals again though thanks to Oisin Clarke, Antonio Bertolo, Daniel Horohoe and Cormac McGrath in the U16 boys 4 x 500m where they each put in terrific efforts and were rewarded with second place and the silver medals.

After the relays, the programme moved to the adult races, and the first race was the 4,000m for master women and o/65 masters men. With 16 Mullingar athletes on the start line, it was always going to be an exciting race to watch. In the women’s race, the Mullingar women packed very well, led home by Aisling Corcoran finishing well up, with Criona Reid on her heels, and followed right behind by Maura Dervin who won her master category. Marie Louise Johnston ran a strong race to finish next, just ahead of Claire Ross. Criona, Maura and Marie Louise provided the vital scores for the o/50 master women team that finished a very well deserved second club. Criona won another silver team medal, as she was part of the strong o/50 Westmeath team that placed second County, thanks to great running by Anna Marie O’Dowd (Athlone AC) who finished a few places ahead of Aisling and Triona Kinnane (Athlone AC) who finished between Maura and Marie Louise.

The next Mullingar woman after Claire was Caroline Mullen, finishing very well up the field to win the individual bronze in her master category. Naomi Battle and Catherine Gavin were the next two Harriers to cross the line, followed by Brigid McCabe, Terri Greene, Nuala Moran, Claire Lennon Gavin and Pauline Troy. The Mullingar o/35 team of Aisling Corcoran, Claire Ross and Naomi Battle placed fourth club, missing bronze by just a single point, and they finished a very creditable fifth county. Brigid McCabe, Maura Dervin and Nuala Moran combined to place second county in the o/60 women county category.

In the o/65 men race combined with the master women, Mullingar had three men in the mix with John Bannon finishing well up, followed by Nicky McCabe and Paddy Boyhan. John and Nicky combined with Charles Lawn (Athlone AC) on the Westmeath team to finish second o/65 men county.

The 7,000m masters men race was next up and after a really fine race by all the Mullingar men in an extremely competitive race, they were led home by Gerard Gavin, followed by Steven Underwood, Eddie Newman (winning the individual silver in his master category), Eddie Lynch (winning the individual bronze in his master category), James Carton, Jason McKevitt, Patrick Muldoon, Liam McGlynn and Paul Ginnell. Such is the level of competition in Leinster masters, team honours are always very difficult to win, though Gerard Gavin, Eddie Newman, Eddie Lynch, James Carton, Jason McKevitt, Liam McGlynn and Paul Ginnell came closest with the o/50 men team finishing a very creditable fifth club and fourth county.

The Intermediate women 5,000m race got off to a fast start and the Mullingar team were to the front of the field from the early stages with Susan Glennon pushing the pace with the leaders. Susan continued to race hard and finished in a very well deserved third place. Sinead Whitelaw worked hard through the race to hold on to her place and she came home in eighth position. Orlaith Flanagan ran a very strong race and fought hard all the way to the finish. All the attention was then on Linda Cunningham, passing several in the closing stages, to provide that vital fourth score that saw the Mullingar women finish second club and second county, winning double silver team medals in what was a very competitive event.

In the final race of the day, the Intermediate men 8,000m, the Mullingar men were looking to improve on last year’s results, which they certainly did in style. Going out hard with the leaders, James Keegan and Dan Morris kept themselves in contention for honours. As the race progressed, the lead group began to split but James kept in the top three, with Dan in the chasing group. The pace really picked up in the final kilometre but James kept to his task and was rewarded with a fantastic third place finish, followed in by Dan in a brilliant fifth place in his first race for Mullingar, in fact, his ever first cross country race. With brilliant support running and team packing by Kris Foster, Ian McCormack, Kedagh Geoghegan, Andy Boyhan, Stephen Nea, Conleth Mullen, Mark Ronan, Padraig Beglin and Brian Martin leaving nothing behind, the men were delighted to finish first club. The men also finished fourth county, missing bronze by just 4 points. Winning the Intermediate men title made a bit of club history, as adding it to the Novice and Senior men club titles won last Autumn, this is the first time Mullingar has had a clean sweep of all the men team cross country titles in a season, rounding off a great day for Mullingar.

Indoor PBs for Conor Liston and Conor Sherwin

Conor Liston got his indoor season underway at the Track &Field Live meeting in the NIA, Dublin last Wednesday night. There were three heats of the men’s 800m and having had a good year last year it was no surprise that Conor was placed in the fastest heat on the night. Conor’s clubman, Jamie Wallace, was called on to do the pace making duties on the night and brought the field through 400m in a quick 55 seconds, with Conor sitting a little off the quick pace, which ultimately proved to be a wise move as he closed on the leaders over the last 200m and was catching them with every stride, eventually finishing a close third in 1:57.68, which is a new indoor personal best.

Competing in the open guest events at the National Indoor League in the NIA, Dublin last Sunday, Grace Byrne competed in the women 1,500m but unfortunately was drawn in the slower of the two heats. She took it out hard but despite making all the running she was pipped on the line to finish second in a close finish in 4:40.66, a little off on her personal best from last week but it’s still early in the season. Conor Sherwin ran in a field of 15 athletes in a very competitive men 1,500m.

He stayed in touch with the leaders throughout and was delighted to break 4 minutes with a new personal best of 3:58.60.

Annual General Meeting

The Club’s Annual General Meeting takes place in the Greville Arms Hotel, Mullingar this Friday evening, starting at 8pm. We hope to see all our adult members attend and the parents of the many underage athletes who receive training, coaching and guidance throughout the year. The meeting will take about an hour and a half and we urge everyone to show your appreciation of the work done at the Club by attending the AGM.

Open Day for Membership

Membership for the youngest members aged 8, 9, 10 and 11 years will be taken on the open day this Saturday and cannot be done online. Membership for these young girls and boys will be taken on a first come first served basis, starting at 11am, and when the groups are filled, we’ll take no more.

Membership for these young members will only be taken at the open day and cannot be done online. They will return to training in early February.

Fit 4 Life

A new Fit 4 Life programme started on Monday this week, an ideal programme for those who are either beginners or just doing some occasional jogging,

We will have experienced coaches to help people regardless of their level of fitness to progress over the course of the 10 week programme that will run each Monday evening until early April.

Don’t worry if you missed the first evening, you can still join by registering next Monday at the Club at 6.45pm.

Sympathy

Finally, the Executive and members of Mullingar Harriers note with sadness the recent death of Tony Power, who was a great club man and member of the club committee for many years. Sincere sympathy is extended to his wife Maura and son Declan.

Check the Club’s website at www.mullingarharriers.com or its Facebook page for all the latest news.