Day 2 of the Kerry Athletics cross country championships took place in Killorglin 1st . Once again our club was well represented across a spread of age groups.
The rain of the last week made for
challenging conditions on a fantastic course.
First up, we have the U-9 girls where
Roísín Hogan, who was eager to race again after last weeks cross country debut.
In the U-9 boys Jacob Madden have a
fantastic account of himself, with a very strong finish in his first ever cross
country race.
The U-11 girls were the next to
compete over 1500 metres, Joanne Cronin and Sally Scroope got stuck in amongst
the action and both finished very well.
The U-11 boys took to the line for
their 1500 metres. We had three athletes representing the club in this race, Tadhg
Mannix, Jack Lynch and Gavin Coleman. All three competed with guts and
determination as the course slowly because a little more beat up from the
races.
Our next representatives were Timothy
Madden and Fionn Hogan taking on the 2.5k in the boys U-13, two times up the
hill on the main loop took its toll on all competitors. Fionn Hogan finished in
5th to collect a Bronze medal, with Timothy Madden finishing crossing the line
a few moments later.
The U-15 boys had 3.5k to race, and
we had Ryan Vickers, Conor McCarthy and Samuel Scroope toe the line for the
club. Ryan Vickers covered the course fastest to claim gold, with Conor
McCarthy finishing 5th to take a bronze home, and Samuel Scroope closing it out
for the team to win Gold in the U-15 team prize.
Our final competitor of the day was
Brendan Lynch in the masters who revelled in the tough conditions to claim
bronze in the over 45 categories.
The final day of the county cross country championships were held in an unseasonably warm Killarney on 8th with the club relay championships and Novice taking place. The club was represented by 4 teams. The competition was very high especially in the younger age groups. First to run was the girls u-10 team. They were led off by Sophie O'Brien who ran at a steady pace throughout. She was followed by Roisin Hogan and Ameila O'Sullivan who all gained ground on the runners in front before handing off to Sally Scroope who ran a very fast last lap but finished out of the medals. Our boys U-10 followed, this team consisted of Daithí Fleming, Darren Foley, Jacob Madden, Ethan O’Sullivan. Both teams were in contention throughout but despite dome brilliant performances finished outside the medals especially since the majority of them are U-9 athletes. We were very fortunate to have 2 teams in the U-12 boys. Both teams were running together for most of the race in 4th and 5th position but lost out on the medals also. Well done to Jack Lynch, Fionn Hogan, Tadhg Mannix, Cillian Scannell who were in the Orange team and Gavin Coleman, Thomas Ryan, Timothy Madden, Jake Scannell who ran on the Black team.
Brendan Lynch was our only
representative in the Novice championships. He finished well inside the top
half of a very large field of runners in a race run in extremely hot
conditions.
The club has had a very successful
cross-country season winning 4 golds, 1 silver and 2 other podium positions.
The Munster Schools combined events were
held in Nenagh on the 25th. The club were well represented with Ryan
Vickers coming 3rd in the Minor Boys section followed by Kevin O’Shea
in 5th In the junior boys section Samuel Scroope finished in 7th
place