Results 2022

A mixed day of showers and bright spells gave way to plenty of muck at the county B even ages in Graiguenamanagh today – a tough introduction to cross country for our young athletes. The U8s were out in force and all received goody bags after their race. In addition there were honours for Kenny Lowry -1st in boys u8, and Lucy Maher, Eddie Kemple and Jane Byrne – 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively in girls U8.

The under 10 girls were first club. The under 12 girls went one better finishing first and third club. They were well served by Jasmine Timmons McEneaney, Hannah Ryan 2nd and Lucy Maher 3rd. The under 12 boys were second club with Cillian Croke taking individual gold and with Fiach Crowley also running well.

In the under 14s Conor Malone won gold and in the girls race Ellen Cormack won silver.

For the adults Oonagh Guilfoyle won the Novice B while Graham Bourne won silver in the Over 45s B. Well done all. 

Glasgow was the venue for this years SIAB   Combined Events International. Alex Cullen was in action on the Irish Intermediate team. Amassing 3143 points, a new PB, he finished 7th place overall thereby helping the Irish team to bronze medals.

It was a long treck for athletes and their supporters to North West Donegal for this years Even Ages, Junior, U23 and Senior All-Ireland cross-country championships. It was a well organised event – good course, well marshalled, good parking facilities.

KCH had 26 athletes taking part and the end result was thirteen medals won by them. While winning a medal at national level is a fine honour, qualifying for a national final also merits recognition.  Our under 12s gave us plenty to cheer about. With huge numbers taking part the results were excellent. Amelia O’Brien 66th, Emma Kelly 69th, Hannah Ryan 120th and Daire O’Flaherty 56th.

Sinead Cormack was our sole rep in the u14 girls and what a run she gave us. Finishing 21st she was first scorer on the county team and scoring on the Leinster team she won a bronze medal. Kyrell Mtinsi was inspirational. Mixing it with the front runners from the start he was still strong at the finish and won individual bronze and also gold with the Leinster team. Robert Coogan was also in good form to take 20th place and was second scorer on the county team.

Cristina Capitan Martin was our leader for the under 16s. Following an excellent run and finishing 31st she was second scorer on the county team.  Next in for the club team was Eimear Cormack (97) with Kate Aylmer (98) on her heels. Evelyn McEvoy (141) completed the scoring for the team. 

We had four fine competitors in the boys U18. 4th Billy Coogan, 45 Ruairi McEvoy, 57 Matthew McCarty and 62nd Paddy Kelly.  They finished fifth club team and all four scored on the County team which placed third thus earning each an All-Ireland medal. In addition Billy won a gold medal as he was first finisher on the winning provincial team.

We had six athletes competing in the junior races. Hannah Kehoe had a very fine run n the junior ladies but finishing 4th she just missed out on a medal.  We had five in junior men – the four under 18s plus Cathal O’Reilly. They finished in fifth place in the inter-club competion. The Kilkenny team won bronze  with four of the lads scoring – Cathal, Billy, Ruairi and Matthew.

Ella Richardson ran in the under 23 race which was run in conjunction with the senior race. Running a steady pace she was 59th overall and 14th under 23.

One athlete, Aoibhe Richardson, represented the club in the senior ladies. A very competitive race and Aoibhe did well keeping with the leading pack throughout and finished well in sixth place. Seven men took to the start line for the senior men’s race. What a race that proved to be. Our team had hopes of gaining a medal place but that wasn’t to be as they finished fourth just 19 points adrift of third placed Mullingar who won the bronze with 100 points. But that wasn’t the full story as Peter Lynch gave all the Kilkenny gang a race to remember. Peter having arrived from Tulsa, Oklahoma on Thursday showed no inkling of jet lag. He mixed it with the front runners from the start and from an early stage in the race he looked a reasonable bet for a podium finish. With 300m to go there were four vying for three places. McElhinney, Gidey, Tonosa and Peter. McElhinney made a decisive move and the others followed. A fast finish by McElhinney brought him over the line in first place. His time 29.59. Tonoso was second 30.03 and Peter third in 30.06 and a guaranteed place on the team for the international in Turin. 

Club members were in many different competitions over the weekend. 

USA

Over in the US things are hotting up in the colleges cross country. Competing for Tulsa in the Mid West of the NCAA in Missouri was Shay McEvoy. And what a run he had to finish 3rd in 29.42 and lead the Tulsa team into first place. Grace Richardson was part of the action helping her New York University team.

SANTRY

The British and Irish Masters cross country were held in Santry on Saturday. KCH had two athletes involved. Brian Maher showed once again his immense talent. Competing in the O/45 section he took individual gold and was second overall in 26.05 and was part of the Irish gold winning team. Jamie Gavin completed the course in 27.44 and placed 9th in the O/40 section.

SCHOOLS CE

Alex Cullen won silver in the national schools combined events. This was achieved with PBs in Shot, 60m hurdles, 200m and 800m. Those combined with his long jump gained him 3,126 points and gets him to the schools international in Glasgow on 26th November.

STUDENTS ON THE ROADS

The third level colleges held their annual road relays. Among the Harriers taking part were Ella Richardson with UL, Maebh Maher with DCU and Eleanor Godden with UCD.

STOOK

An unusually low turnout from the club for the annual Stook 10 mile which includes the county road championships. Claire Dermody represented us in style by winning the ladies race. Sheila O’Callaghan and Paul Larkins also completed the race.  Well done ye three. Hopefully a better turnout next year.

Another great performance from our long serving distance runner Brian Maher. Competing today in Santry Demense he turned on the style in the British and Irish International cross-country. Now in the O/45 category he took the gold in 26.05 to lead the Irish team to victory. First in his own age group and second overall – Well done and major congratulations. Jamie Gavin was also in action competing in the O/40s where he finished 9th (34th overall) in 27.44. Well done.

The MidWest Regionals were held in Missouri today. Tulsa University were keen to impress and backed by three Irish athletes – Dalton, Power and McEvoy- that is what they did. And most impressive of all was our own Shay McEvoy who led the college team home and placing third overall and with team members in 4th, 5th and 6th it looked good. The final result had to await all five to finish as Tulsa tied with Oklahoma on 49 points each. Tulsa were declared winners when all five team members were compared with their opposite numbers. Very close but a win is a win. On to the Nationals and best wishes.