Successful Derry trip for Clare athletes

The Woodies DIY Athletics Association of Ireland Inter-counties Cross Country Championships plus the juvenile even ages from U-12 to U-18 were held at Gransha Park, County Derry, in a snow blizzard all afternoon and Clare athletes produced outstanding performances with many star athletes and Caoimhie Harvey, (St John’s), finishing 10th in the girls’ U-12s with (St John’s) and Clare taking inter-club and inter-county bronze medals.
Aidan McCarthy, (St Cronan’s) and Patrick O’Rourke, (Kilmurry Ibrickane-North Clare), finished fifth and sixth in the boys’ U-12s, with Clare taking the inter-county award and (Kilmurry Ibrickane-North Clare) a silver medal in the inter clubs.
Laura Egan, (Kilmihil), finished 23rd in the U-16s girls and Clare took bronze medals. Ian Slobody, (Kilmihil), finished 13th in the U-16s boys.
Aishling Darcy, (Ennis Track), was ninth in the Girls’ U-18s with Jake O’Regan, (St John’s), 11th in the boys U-18s and Darragh Lynch, (Ennis Track) 13th.
Orla O’Mahoney, a former (Marian) Athlete from Ennis and running in the Clare colours, finish 10th overall in the senior ladies with Eimear Power now running in the Clare colours, 13th. Marie Carey, (Ennis Track), was 37th and (Marian) Burke, (St Mary’s), 43rd and Clare finishing fourth overall on 103 points. Winning Grade B and the senior men’s 10,000m was Seamus Power, (Kilmurry Ibrickane-North Clare). There was no sixth Clare athlete for the team in Derry.
The championships were very competitive, with massive fields of athletes in all juvenile races. In the Girls’ U-12s more than 160 athletes went to the start and Clare had a very strong contingent on the starting line and with the driving snow Caoimhie Harvey, (St John’s), was outstanding, coming home in 10th position and a late call-up to the Clare team, Sinéad Hogan, (Kilmurry Ibrickane-North Clare), was the second Clare athlete in 19th followed home by Elaine (Shannon) (Kilmurry Ibrickane-North Clare), 22nd, Emma McMahon, (St Mary’s), 29th, Fidelma Marrinan, (St John’s), 43rd, Aishling Kelly, (St John’s), 44th, Tara Bradley, (St John’s), 45th and Clare taking the bronze medals on (167 points) with (St John’s) also capturing bronze medals in the inter-clubs on (142 points) with (Kilmurry Ibrickane-North Clare) fifth on (149 points).
The Clare and (Kilmurry Ibrickane-North Clare) Boys U-12s are Munster Champions and over 2,000m Aidan McCarthy, (St Cronan’s) and Patrick O’Rourke, (Kilmurry Ibrickane-North Clare), were taking the big field apart and with over six inches of snow on the ground the two Clare athletes were out in front. Over the final 600m they lost a few places and Aidan McCarthy, with bare feet, crossed the finishing line in fifth place with Patrick O’Rourke sixth, Paul Martin, (Ennis Track), 13th, with Eoin Looney, (Kilmurry Ibrickane-North Clare), 22nd. Caoilfhionn O’Dea, (Kilmurry Ibrickane-North Clare), who is only 10 years of age, finished 31st, Jamie Roche, (Ennis Track), 45th and Sean Rouine (Kilmurry Ibrickane-North Clare), 57th. Clare won the national title on 122 points and (Kilmurry Ibrickane-North Clare) took the inter-club silver medals on 115 points, the gold going to Finn Valley, Donegal, on 106 points.
The girls U-16s Clare athletes are never short determination and Laura Egan, (Kilmihil), made big strides and with this massive field of athletes she settled in well over the first 1,000m, along with Niamh Markham, (Ennis Track) and as they faced into the elements they both kept working hard all the way to the finish, with Laura Egan 23rd, Niamh Markham 27th and a further two places back Laura Power, (Ennis Track), 29th, Molly Lynch, (Shannon) 34th, Siobhán Nestor, (Kilmurry Ibrickane-North Clare), 48th and 60th Nollaigh Blake (St John’s). Clare took the bronze medals.
Ian Slobody, (Kilmihil), was the best of the Clare athletes in the Boys’ U-16s with a top 13th place and he was a scoring member of the Munster team that captured silver medals. Aishling Darcy, (Ennis Track), once again produced another big race to finish ninth with Imogen Cotter, (Ennis Track), 25th and Harriet Flynn, (Shannon), 27th. All three were on the Munster team that captured bronze medals.
There is plenty of depth and talent in the Boys U-18s and two Clare clubs, (St John’s) and (Ennis Track), are very prominent in Clare and Munster and two athletes, Jake O’Regan, (St John’s) and Darragh Lynch, (Ennis Track), were in a group of 12 for this 6,000m race and Jake O’Regan, the Clare Schools Cross Country Champion, crossed the finish line in 11th position with Darragh Lynch 13th. They were followed home in 21st by Aidan Kearney, 38th Kevin Chesser, 41st Declan Keniry and 60th Conor Rooney. Clare took the bronze medals with (Ennis Track) just outside the medals in fourth position.
The junior ladies’ title went to Ciara Mageen, Antrim, and this girl will be looking for a top placing in the European Cross Country Championships with Amy O’Donoghue from (Meelick) bypassing her U-18 race and running a very big race to finish in fifth place and will now await for a  team selection to the European Junior Cross Country Championships on December 12 in Portugal.
The senior ladies’ 8,000m was a great contest for Fionualla Britton, Wicklow, as she led from start to finish and made it look so easy and she captured the national title with 40 seconds to spare over her nearest rivals, where there was a mighty three-way contest up to the final 400m, with Lizzy Lee, Cork, getting in ahead of Siobhán Doherty, Borrisokane, County Tipperary and once again Orla O’Mahoney (Ennis and Clare), was always in the thick of the action and she finished very strong to claim 10th senior lady title. Eimear Power, who hails from County Louth, now running in the Clare colours, was always working hard and she finished very strong on her final lap to come up to 13th position, with Marie Carey, (Ennis Track), 37th and (Marian) Burke, (St Mary’s), 43rd and the Clare team finishing fourth on 103 points and they captured the Grade B medals.
In the final race of the day, the men’s 10,000m, Clare had high hopes of upsetting Dublin but only five athletes made the long trek to Derry and Joe Sweeney, Dublin, set the pace for the first two laps and a group of 16 athletes were away at the front, with Seamus Power, (Kilmurry Ibrickane-North Clare), nine times Inter Counties Cross Country Champion from 1995 to 2003 was celebrating his 40th birthday on the day was not letting the young guns away. Sean Hehir from O’Callaghan’s Mills and running with Rathfarnham AC, Dublin and Clare was a few metres off this leading group with Rory Chesser, (Ennis Track), who flew in from London to run for Clare, was in the top 20.
Joe Sweeney, Dublin, made a decisive break at the half-way stage and was always in control at the front to win in fine style from Mark Christie, (Westmeath) and Brendan O’Neill, (Dublin) and Dan Mulhaire, (Laois), fourth. Once again the man that carried a hamstring injury over the last three weeks and that curtailed his training, Seamus Power, was not found wanted for guts and determination to beat off a lot of big names and finish seventh with Sean Hehir 13th, Rory Chesser 16th and a great performance by Brian McGinley, (Ennis Track), finishing 37th and Kenny Rodgers, (St John’s) 39th.

Results
Girls’ U-12 (2,000m)
10. Caoimhie Harvey, (St John’s); 19, Sinéad Hogan, (Kilmurry Ibrickane-North Clare); 22. Elaine Shannon, (Kilmurry Ibrickane-North Clare); 29. Emma McMahon, ((St Mary’s)); 43. Fidelma Marrinan, (St John’s); 44. Aishling Kelly, (St John’s).

Inter county
3. Clare (10, 19, 22, 29, 43, 44) = 167 points.

Inter club
3. (St John’s); (10. Caoimhie Harvey; 43. Fidelma Marrinan; 44. Aishling Kelly; 45. Tara Bradley) = 142 points.
5. (Kilmurry Ibrickane-North Clare) = 149 points.

Inter region
1. Munster; 10. Caoimhie Harvey; 22. Elaine Shannon.

Girls U-16s
23. Laura Egan, (Kilmihil); 27. Niamh Markham, (Ennis Track); 29. Laura Power, (Ennis Track); 34. Molly Lynch, Shannon; 48. Siobhán Nestor, (Kilmurry Ibrickane-North Clare); 60. Nollaigh Blake, (St John’s).

Inter county
3, Clare (23, 27, 29, 34, 48, 60) = 221 points.
Inter region; 2 Munster (23. Laura Egan, 27. Niamh Markham, 29. Laura Power)

Girls’ U-18s
9. Aishling Darcy, (Ennis Track); 25. Imogen Cotter, (Ennis Track); 27. Harriett Flynn, Shannon; 43. Meabh Hogan, (Ennis Track); 44. Rachel Mulcaire, (Ennis Track).

Inter region
3, Munster (9. Aishling Darcy; 25. Imogen Cotter; 27. Harriett Flynn).

Junior ladies (4,000m)
5. Amy O’Donoghue, Clare.

Senior ladies (8,000m)
1. Fionualla Britton, Wicklow; 2. Lizze Lee, Cork; 3. Siobhán Doherty, Tipperary; 10. Orla O’Mahoney, Clare; 13. Eimear Power, Clare; 37. Marie Carey, Clare; 43. (Marian) Burke, Clare.

Inter county
1. Clare (10, 13, 37, 43) = 103 points.

Boys’ U-12 (2,000m)
5. Aidan McCarthy, ((St Cronan’s)); 6. Patrick O’Rourke, (Kilmurry Ibrickane-North Clare); 13. Paul Martin, (Ennis Track); 22. Eoin Looney, (Kilmurry Ibrickane-North Clare); 31. Caoilfhionn O’Dea, (Kilmurry Ibrickane-North Clare); 45. Jamie Roche, (Ennis Track).

Inter county
1. Clare (5, 6, 13, 22, 31, 45) = 122 points.

Inter club
2. (Kilmurry Ibrickane-North Clare) (6. Patrick O’Rourke, 22. Eoin Looney, 31. Caoilfhionn O’Dea, 57. Sean Rouine) = 115 points.

Inter region
1. Munster (5. Aidan McCarthy, 6. Patrick O’Rourke).

Boys’ U-16s
13. Ian Slobody, (Kilmihil); 23. Stephan Rooney, (Ennis Track); 52. Conaill Ó Hainifin, (Ennis Track); 53. Declan Martin, (Ennis Track); 62. Caoimhin Donnellan, (Kilmihil); 74. Conor O’Brien, (Ennis Track).

Inter county
6. Clare

Inter region
2. Munster (13. Ian Slobody)

Boys’ U-18s
11. Jake O Regan, (St John’s); 13. Darragh Lynch, (Ennis Track).
21. Aidan Kearney, (Ennis Track); 38. Kevin Chesser, (Ennis Track); 41. Declan Keniry, (St John’s); 60. Conor Rooney, (Ennis Track).

Inter county
3. Clare (11, 13, 21, 38, 41, 60) = 184 points.

Inter club
4. Ennis Track = 132 points.

Inter region
2. Munster (11. Jake O’Regan, 13. Darragh Lynch)

Junior men
12. Liam Markham, (Ennis Track)

Senior men (10,000m)
1. Joe Sweeney, Dublin; 2. Mark Christie, Westmeath; 3. Brendan O’Neill, Dublin; 7. Seamus Power, (Kilmurry Ibrickane-North Clare); 13. Sean Hehir, Clare; 16. Rory Chesser, (Ennis Track); 37. Brian McGinley, (Ennis Track); 39. Kenneth Rodgers, (St John’s).