April 2024

 

The first week of April saw the start of the Outdoor Track and Field season. Natasha Myers representing MTU made the long trip to Belfast to compete in the Intervarsity Championships. She performed brilliantly setting 2 PB’s in both Long Jump and 200 metres in which she set an MTU record.

David Kenny was competing in the world race walking tour in Podebrady in the Czech Republic. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to finish the race despite being up with the leaders at 14K Mark.

The Vickers brothers were competing in the National Championships in Athlone. Ryan competed in the 60 metres on Saturday and ran brilliantly to qualify for the final where he finished 6^th in a new PB. This is a tremendous performance from Ryan showing amazing versatility being able to compete at a National level ranging from 60 metres to 3 Kilometres over cross country.

On Sunday he returned for the 800 where he finished 3^rd in his heat. Unfortunately, he was 1/100 of a second from qualifying for the final where he just eased approaching the line over the last few metres. Isaac making a return from last years lay off qualified for the final in the U-16 category. In a very fast race he finished 5th which was an excellent performance given the circumstances.

Conor McCarthy represented his home parish of Ballymacelligott in the Kerry Community games 7k marathon in Currow. Defending his title from last year he lined up with the hope of again representing his county at national level. The pace was quick from the whistle with a breakaway group of 3 forming at the 2km mark. They went through the 5km mark in just over 18min, with Conor being pushed all the way by C. Duffin from Spa Muckross. They were still neck and neck at the 6k mark and it took a blistering 3min flat last kilometre before Conor gained the advantage and pulled away to take the win by 10m from a determined Duffin in second and Billy Naughton in third. Conor beat his previous best over the Currow course by 3min. He now goes on to run for Kerry in the Nationals in Gormanstown, Co Meath on 25th May.

On Saturday Conor ran in the Tralee Park run and was the first finisher home out of 248 runners in a time of 19mins.

At the county athletics awards in Killarney David Kenny, Jerome Crowley, Ryan Vickers, Roisin Daly and Kevin O’Shea all won awards and former Olympic Athlete Gillian O’Sullivan was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

We had a number of athletes competing at the very popular Kerry Colleges athletics championships on the 23rd. Roisin Daly came 2nd in the Intermediate 100 metres. Well done to Roisin who was part of the U-16 Kerry Team  that won the Munster championships the previous weekend.

Conor McCarthy also came 2nd in the intermediate 3000 metres. This was Connor's first run over this distance and looks to have a bright future as he will be underage again next year. This marked a very successful April for him, following up on his impressive win in the Kerry Community Games Marathon in Currow

Samuel Scroope was the final runner in action and he came 2nd in the Intermediate 400 metres and was part of the St. Brendans Killarney team that won the overall shield. Niamh and Kevin O'Shea competed for Mercy Mounthawk but just finished out of the medals.

Congratulations to Michael O Connor on completing his 100th Parkrun recently in Killarney.

 

 

March 2024

 

After their heavy schedule last weekend in the Munster Indoors on the previous week Conor McCarthy and Ryan Vickers competed in the Munster Schools Cross Country championships in Waterford. Ryan finished 2^nd in the Minor Boys qualified for will for to the All-Irelands. Ryan led the St. Brendans Killarney to 3^rd place in the team competition. Congratulations also to their coach Arthur Fitzgerald for some excellent results in the team competitions where they medalled in 3 out of 4 competitions. Conor despite conceding almost 2 years to some of his competitors finished in 32^nd of almost 80 runners in the Intermediate category.

Michael O Connor competed in the Killarney parkrun walking it in an impressive 31 minutes. Michael who along with Jerome Foley and Jim O’Shea will compete in European Masters Championships at the end of the month. Laura Bradley was the 1^st female across the line.

Our under 16 relay team were in action in the Munster championships in Nenagh on the 2nd. Samuel Scroope started running an excellent 1^st leg against a very strong Leevale team. He handed over to Conor McCarthy who along with Isaac Vickers ran excellent legs that ended with Ryan taking the baton with a 4 metre lead which he held comfortably to the end. They finished in a time over 1 min 40 sec just over a second outside the existing record. They now head to Athlone in 3 weeks’ time for the All-Ireland finals. Well done to the 4 lads and coach Jerome Foley.

At the All-Ireland Schools Cross Country Championships Ryan Vickers came 3^rd in the Minor Boys race

We had a number of medallists at the Munster Indoor Schools championships on the 13^th Ryan Vickers won the Minor boys 60 m and followed this up with another gold in the 400 metres. Roisin Daly came 2^nd in the Intermediate 60m and Isaac Vickers won the Intermediate 600 metres. To finish a very successful day off Niamh and Kevin O’Shea both came 2^nd in the Shot Putt.

We had 3 athletes competing in the European Masters Championships in Torun in Poland on the week of the 16th. Jim O’Shea came home with a silver in the Long Jump and Bronze in the High Jump. He narrowly missed out on a medal in the Pentathlon where a stumble at the hurdles cost him valuable points. Michael O’Connor competed in the 3K walk finishing second only 5 seconds behind the winner from Slovenia. He came 3^rd in the 5K walk and along with St. Brendan’s David Kissane was part of the Irish team that won gold ahead of Germany and France. Jerome Foley was the busiest of our athletes competing in the 200, 400 and 800 as well as being part of the 4 x 200 relay team. Jerome’s best performance was in the 400 where he finished 3^rd in his heat but unfortunately only 2 qualified for the semi-final.

The younger generation of athletes were competing in Athlone where our u-16 4 x 200 team were competing the All-Irelands. The team of Samuel Scroope, Conor McCarthy and the 2 Vickers brothers were running in the 2^nd heat. They were pipped for 1^st place by Dublin outfit Mid-Sutton. The final was a very tight affair with the lead changing hands my times during the 4 laps. Any one of 5 teams could have won the race, our lads finished in an excellent 3^rd knocking over 3 seconds off their time from the Munster championships.

 

 

 

February 2024

The Munster Masters took place on the 5^th. Pirette O’Shea took part in her first championships and performed exceptionally well finishing 3^rd in both 200 and 400 metres. Sean O’Shea won the Shot Put title and Jerome Foley also took home gold in the 800.

David Kenny started the new year on a winning note on the 18th February. He secured yet another National Title in the National Indoor Championships in the 5 K walk in a very quick time of 19 min 30 sec.

The Munster Indoor Athletics championships were held in Nenagh on the 24^th/25^th . We had 4 athletes competing.  Conor McCarthy was the only competitor on Saturday running the 1500 metres finishing in 9th place in the U 16 category. On Sunday both Conor and Samuel Scroope lined up in the 200 metres. Both finished 3rd in their respective heats but missed out by less than .2 of a second to make the final. 

Both lined up for the 800 metres shortly afterwards along with Isaac Vickers. Samuel finished in 5th place in his heat and Conor 4th with both setting PB's. Isaac, who missed most of last year due to injury made up for lost time winning in another PB of 2.06. Younger brother Ryan continued from last year's heroics winning the U 15 800 in a very quick 2.09 to win comfortably. He later lined up in the 60m and finished 2nd just .03 seconds behind the winner. 

Well done to all the athletes who had a very successful outing and also to their coach Jerome Foley. 

David Kenny had his first outdoor event in Spain the weekend. Unfortunately he was unable to finish the race, which was unfortunate as he was on course to smash his personal best after 15 K. Hopefully he will manage this in his next race. 

David also received a well deserved award from the Killarney Urban Council for his sporting achievements last year.

Conor McCarthy and Ryan Vickers competed in the Munster Schools Cross Country championships in Waterford on the 27^th . Ryan finished 2^nd in the Minor Boys and qualifiedfor the All-Irelands in March. Ryan led the St. Brendans Killarney to 3^rd place in the team competition. Congratulations also to their coach Arthur Fitzgerald for some excellent results in the team competitions where they medalled in 3 out of 4 competitions.

Conor despite conceding almost 2 years to some of his competitors finished in 32^nd of almost 80 runners in the Intermediate category.

 

 

January 2024

 

 

Jan 24

 

The 1^st of January saw our athletes compete in the Annual Beaufort 5 and 10K races. Dermot Dineen ran in the 10K while Sam Scroope, Brendan Lynch and Kevin O’Shea ran the 5K

Four of our athletes took part in the National Masters championships in Athlone on the 13th. Michael O 'Connor was first to compete where he took gold in the 3K walk. Shortly after Sean O'Shea finished 2nd in the Shot Put only 10cm behind the winner. Jerome Foley finished 3rd in his category in the 800 metres. The performance of the day came from Dermot Dineen who rand a storming last 200 metres to take 3rd in the O-45 800 metres in a new personal bet of 2 minutes 11 seconds to get his first National Medal.

At the end of the month Tiernan Lynch on won the 5K run in the Annual Kerins-O Rahillys 5K/10K run last Sunday in a time of 10 Minutes. Conor McCarthy finished an excellent 9th in the North Munster Schools championships in Pallaskenry in the Intermediate category. Conor who is underage again next year qualified for the Munster Schools Cross Country Championships at the end of Feburary.

 

December 2023

 

The finals of the uneven cross county championships were held in Navan on Sunday 3^rd December. The club was privileged to have 2 athletes running in the Boys U-15 both representing Kerry and Munster. A huge field of nearly 150 runners were on the start line. The large crowd meant that both Conor McCarthy and Ryan Vickers had a difficult first 400 metres. After that both picked off the runners ahead of them and moved well up the field. In a strong finish Ryan finished a very impressive 6^th in a time of 12 minutes 11 seconds. In a very bunched field Conor finished in 60^th just 1 minute behind, both recording very fast times over the hilly 3.5 kilometre course.

Munster comfortably won the provincial award with Kerry finishing a very creditable 6^th place. Well done to both athletes who are due a well-deserved break after a long year that started in last February with the Indoor season. Huge thanks to Jerome Foley for all his coaching of these athletes this year in what has been one of the most successful the club has ever had at provincial and National level.

The same day in Killarney Samuel Scroope won the Junior Parkrun in his first run with Tomas Lynch right behind him. Ethan and Amelia O Sullivan along with Liam and Matthew Smyth were in the Tralee run.

On the 17^th  December David Kenny had another magnificent performance in the 20K walk in the World Race Walking Tour 2023 which was held in Dublin. This event attracted almost 250 athletes from 27 countries. David finished 4^th and was the first Irishman home. David who currently works as an engineer in Middleton trains every morning at 5.30 AM and a time of 1 hr 21 minutes is exceptional in these circumstances. His mentor Michael O Connor also competed in the National Masters 10K walk and finished first in the O70 category with a very fast time of 63 minutes.

The 62^nd running of our annual St Stephens day road races took place last Tue. Conditions were near perfect as it was calm and dry. The 2K run for children under 12 and their parents took place first. Over 40 children and parents took part in this which was almost double last years entry

 A very large crowd of 293 runners took to the start line of the 5K event. Oisin Spillane was the clear favourite and he took the lead early.

Climbing up the hill before the 1 K mark he had Tommy Arthur from Kenmare former winner James Ledingham from Kilkenny, Oisin Murray from An Riocht and local athletes David Kenny, Ryan Vickers and Conor McCarthy all in touch.

Hannah Steeds was in the lead in the ladies section closely tracked by last years winner Niamh O’Mahony. As the race reached the half way stage the race was still in the balance on the hill before the railway crossing Oisin Spillane started to assert his authority and slowly pulled away to win by 40 metres to cross the line in 14 minutes 44 seconds. This is an improvement of 40 seconds from last years time.

With this rate of improvement Mark Hanrahan’s record time of 14.38 will be under serious threat next year. Oisin Murray of An Riocht ran brilliantly to finish 8 seconds behind. Local athlete, Olympic Race Walker David Kenny ran a sensational time of 15.09 to finish in 3^rd. This was David’s first time running a race in over 7 years so his achievement is all the more remarkable. James Ledingham  from Kilkenny finished 4^th  in a time of 15.18 which would have won last years race. Tommy Arthurs came 5^th and was the first Junior across the line.

In the ladies race Bridget Dennehy ran a storming second half of the race to take the title in 16.42 ahead of Hannah Steads with last years winner Niamh O’Mahony having to settle for 3^rd this time round.

Tomas Kiely from North Cork win the U 17 event in 16.56.

Emma Flynn won the girls U 17 in an exceptionally quick time of 18.32 seconds.

Other category winners were

Ella Murphy ladies U 20

Jan Swiechowicz  O 40

Aislinn NiDhomnnaill O 45

Emer McAuliffe O 50

Caroline Murphy O 55

Ann O’Leary O 60

Carmel Mac Domhhnail 0 65

Joe O Connor O 40

Karl Linehan O 45

Gearoid Pierse O 50

Robert Purcell O 55

Kevin Griffin O 60

Michael Mangan O 65

Michael O Connor O 70

 

 

November 2023

 

The Munster Uneven age Cross-Country championships took place on the 12^th November in 2 Mile Borris, in Tipperary. We had 3 athletes that made the long trip. Fionn Hogan was first to run in the boys U-13 and did very well to finish in the top half of the field of nearly 120 runners despite running out of age. He was also part of the Kerry team that finished 4th.

In the under 15 race Ryan Vickers was always running with the leaders but lost ground with about 500 metres left in the race. He managed to use his superior sprinting speed to win by 20 metres. This completes a very rare double of winning both U-14 and U-15 Munster championships. Conor McCarthy finished in 48th and both were part of the Kerry team that won the bronze medal.

Samuel Scroope came 5th in the Killarney Parkrun on the 11^th November a few minutes ahead of coach Jerome Foley. Roisin Hogan ran a very fast time in the Tralee Junior Parkrun, while in Killarney Tomas Lynch and Ethan O’Sullivan and his sister Amelia also competed.

On Sunday the 19^th Ryan Vickers made the long trip to Gowran in Kilkenny for the All-Ireland even age cross country championships. Ryan was competing in the U-14 3K event. After winning the Munster he was hoping to add to his already substantial collection of championships medals. A field of over 160 runners had qualified from the Provincial championships. Conditions were very difficult and after the initial start Ryan found himself in the leading pack. He settled in around 10th place for the first 2 kilometres before moving through the field. He took the lead with 300 metres to go. It was always going to be difficult for anyone to catch him with his sprinting ability and finished comfortably in first place winning by 15 metres. This is yet another outstanding performance by Ryan as he became the first member of the club to win an All-Ireland juvenile cross country title. He also led the Munster team to the Bronze medal.

On the same day the next generation of athletes were busy in the junior parkruns with Tomas Lynch and Liam and Matthew Smyth running in Killarney and Fionn Hogan running in Tralee

The 26^th saw Conor McCarthy add to his growing collection of provincial and All-Ireland medals with a fine 7th place in the U-15 Munster B Cross Country championships. Conor finished less than 30 seconds behind the eventual winner.

St Stephens Day Road Race

 

You can now enter for our St Stephens Day Road Race through the below link
https://eventmaster.ie/event/rk9WiPmS9y

October 2023

 

Day 2 of the Kerry Athletics cross country championships took place in Killorglin 1^st . 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 8^th 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 25^th. The club were well represented with Ryan Vickers coming 3^rd in the Minor Boys section followed by Kevin O’Shea in 5^th In the junior boys section Samuel Scroope finished in 7^th place

AGM

 

September 2023

 

The start of September was a quieter with the Track and Field season finishing in August. Training for the cross country season had begun in the Mass Rock in Killaclohane wood. Large numbers turned out for training in this lovely and unique setting. The training was put to the test at the 1^st day of the country cross-country championships in very wet Killarney on the 26th

The club had fantastic representation across all age groups, from the U-10 to Senior races.

The day kicked off with Amelia O’Sullivan and Roísín Hogan giving a very good account of themselves in the U-10 race. This was followed quickly by the Boys U-10 race, and conditions began to change for the worse, Ethan O’Sullivan and Daithí Fleming got in amongst the action for the 1000 meters and finished very well.

Our next team was the U-12 girls with Mollie O’Connor, Lauren Fleming and Kate O’Donoghue giving their all over the 2k, as the rain began to take its toll on the course.

The U-12 Boys were up next. We had Jake Scannell, Thomas Ryan, Fionn Hogan, Tadhg Mannix, Timothy Madden, Gavin Coleman and Jack Lynch on the start line and ready for action. The race brought our first Medals of the day with Fionn Hogan winning the race and the team taking silver in the team prize.

In the U-14 Boys race , Ryan Vickers was our sole representative and took home yet another Gold medal to add to his ever growing collection.

We were now in real cross country conditions, as the rain beat down on everyone, as Conor McCarthy ran in the U-16 race and took the win. Our final competitor of the day was Brendan Lynch who took part in the senior race, giving a fantastic performance on a hilly course.

As usual we were well represented in the local parkruns with our athletes running in Tralee and Killarney events in both the junior and Senior version of the events

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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