National title for Alex O’Neill

THE Athletics Association of Ireland National Novice Cross Country Championships plus the Juvenile Uneven ages from U-11 to U-19 were held in Adamstown, County Wexford on Sunday in ideal weather conditions for fast running.

 

It was another good day for Clare athletes with Alex O’Neill from St Cronan’s capturing the girls’ U-13 title, while Kilmurry-Ibrickane/North Clare won the girls’ U-11 inter-club title.

In the boys’ U-11, Ben Whelehan (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare) finished in 11th  position. Caoilfionn O’Dea (Kilmurry-Ibrickane/North Clare) produced another big race to finish sixth in the boys’ U-13, while in the girls’ U-15, Aisling Kelly (St John’s) came home in sixth spot.
Jamie Roche (Ennis Track) was the leading Clare athlete in the boys’ U-15. Kevin Mulcaire (Ennis Track) captured a silver medal in the boys’ U-17 with Stephan Rooney (Ennis Track) finishing 12th.

The novice ladies’ 4,000m had a record entry with over 100 going to the start and Laura Crowe from Killimer and running with Ríocht AC in Kerry captured the national title. The leading Clare athlete was Ciara Hassett in 57th position with Noreen Mackey (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare) 60th, followed home in 67th place by Claire Madigan (St John’s).

In the national novice, Thomas Garrahy (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare) was the leading Clare man in 42nd.
In the girls’ U-11 1,500m, Clare were well represented and at the halfway point the Clare and Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare runners were going very well with Daniela Svensson in the mid-20s with 800m remaining. She finished 14th overall with Amy Sexton (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare) making up many valuable places to finish 27th and Hannah Shannon (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare) 31st with Siobhán Keane (St John’s) 32nd.

The team results for all races will not be known until mid-week due to a glitch in the computer system and full results will be forwarded to all clubs as soon as possible.

Clare had 10 athletes in the boys’ U-11 1,500m along with St John’s in the inter-club. Ben Whelehan (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare) moved through the field over the final 1,000m to finish 11th. A scoring member of the Munster team, he was followed home by Shane Harrison (St Cronan’s) in 35th place.

In the girls’ U-13 2,500m, Clare were well represented with Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare in the inter-clubs. Alex O’Neill (St Cronan’s) went out hard for the first 1,000m and as this big field set out over the 1,500m loop Alex O’Neill had moved onto the leaders.

Over the final 600m, Alex was in a group of six and tried hard to break away. It was on the home straight that she made another move, which proved decisive as she won the gold medal with Caoimhe Hogan coming home 25th followed by Emily Cahill (St Cronan’s) in 49th.

The next big race was the boys’ U-13 with Munster inter-club champions Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare and Munster silver medal winners Ennis Track all on the starting line. Over the 1,000m loop, Caoilfionn O’Dea (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare) and Aidan McCarthy (St Cronan’s) were in the top 20 with Donal Devane (Ennis Track) and Cian Shannon (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare) both travelling well. With this big field starting to split up,

Caoilfionn O’Dea was starting to move towards the leaders and produced a big finish to come home in sixth position with Aidan McCarthy running a fine race to finish 19th, Donal Devane 31st, Cian Shannon 41st, Zack Whelehan 62nd and Garry Twomey 63rd.
In the girls’ U-15, 3,500m, Clare and St John’s were well represented.  Aisling Kelly (St John’s) was always running in the top 10 and on her final 1,500m, she got up to sixth position with Caoimhe Harvey (St John’s) 23rd and Elaine Shannon (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare) 58th.

In the boys’ U-15, Jamie Roche (Ennis Track) was the best of the Clare athletes in 21st place followed in 26th by Stephan Maher (Ennis Track) and in 27th by Eoin Looney (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare).

The boys’ U-17 was run over a distance of 5,000m. Munster champion Kevin Mulcaire produced a great performance over three laps and he was looking good to take gold going out on the final lap only to be outsprinted on the home straight. He had to settle for the silver medal with Stephan Rooney going very well, finishing 12th followed by Patrick Chesser (Ennis Track) 26th, Conaill Ó hAinfein (Ennis Track) 30th, Sean Collins (Ennis Track) 39th and Noah McMahon (Ennis Track) 68th.

In the boys’ U-19 6,000m, Karl Fitzmaurice (Shannon) gave a fine individual performance to finish 18th.

Results
Girls’ U-11 1,500m
14. Daniela Svensson (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare); 27. Amy Sexton (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare); 31. Hannah Shannon (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare); 32. Siobhán Keane (St John’s); 39. Rachel Hartigan (Marian); 45. Susan Nestor (St Mary’s).

Boys’ U-11 1,500m
11. Ben Whelehan (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare);
35. Shane Harrison (St Cronan’s); 48. Conor Blake (St John’s); 68. Orran Copley (St John’s); 77. Killian O’Connor (Kilnaboy); 78. Ferdia Ó Lionáin (Tulla).

Girls’ U-13 (2,500m)
1. Alex O’Neill (St Cronan’s); 25. Caoimhe Hogan (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare); 49. Emily Cahill (St Cronan’s); 52. Caoimhe Carmody (Marian); 56. Mairéad Grogan (St Mary’s); 59. Emer Keane (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare).

Boys’ U-13 (2,500m)
6. Caoilfhionn O’Dea (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare); 19. Aidan McCarthy (St Cronan’s); 31. Donal Devane (Ennis Track);
41. Cian Shannon (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare);
62. Zack Whelehan (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare);
63. Garry Twomey (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare).

Girls’ U-15 (3,500m)
6. Aisling Kelly (St John’s); 23. Caoimhe Harvey (St John’s); 58. Elaine Shannon (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare); 63. Shauna Melican (St John’s); 68. Sinéad Hogan (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare); 73. Cliodhna Blake (St John’s).

Boys’ U-15 (3,500m)
21. Jamie Roche (Ennis Track); 26. Stephan Maher (Ennis Track); 27. Eoin Looney (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare); 56. Paul Martin (Ennis Track); 68. Mark Fennell (St Mary’s); 75. Patrick O’Rourke (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare).

Girls’ U-17 (4,000m)
40. Laura Power (Ennis Track).

Boys’ U-17 (5,000m)
2. Kevin Mulcaire (Ennis Track); 12. Stephen Rooney (Ennis Track); 26. Patrick Chesser (Ennis Track);
30. Conail Ó Hainfein (Ennis Track); 39. Sean Collins (Ennis Track); 68. Noah McMahon (Ennis Track).

Boys’ U-19 (6,000m)
18. Karl Fitzmaurice (Shannon).

Novice ladies (4,000m)
57. Ciara Hassett (Rathfarnham WASF and Clare);
60. Noreen Mackey (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare); 67. Claire Madigan (St John’s).

Novice men 6,000m
42. Thomas Garrahy (Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare); 75. Paul Gallagher (St Finbarrs and Clare); 80. Micheál Keane (Ennis Track);
85. Keith Lynch (BMOH).