Nov 10/11 Home and Away
Not much on the athletic front for our athletes this weekend. Cathal O’Reilly running in the colours of DCU ran the two mile leg of the inter varsities Relay in 9.28 to help the DCU team into the silver medals.
Over in Sacramento, California, Maebh Richardson, representing Portland, placed 54th (20.38) in the West Regional cross country. At the same event Hannah Kehoe, representing San Francisco, came home in 145th place (21.5).
Nov 04 Kyrell Gold in Dunboyne
We had some great performances at the Leinster cross country in Dunboyne today. The under foot conditions were soft and soon turned to muck which I suppose is par for the event at this time following a wetter than ever season. However with 23 Leinster medals coming home there was plenty to cheer about. Star of the day has to be Kyrell Mtinsi who took individual gold in the boys under 15. Kate Kelly with bronze in the u13 girls race was excellent. Other stars claiming Leinster team medals were Eoin Hoyne 6th boys u11; Katie Byrne 6th girls u13; Sinead Cormack 5th girls u15 and Pia Langton 9th girls u17.
County medals were earned by Kate Kelly and Mealla Crowley (13th) on the second placed county u11 team. Other scorers for the girls u11 team which finished 6th were Casey Cleere (59) and Grace O’Shea (68). The boys u11 are a force to be reckoned with – winning second club medals and five (Eoin Hoyne 6, Daniel McIntyre 22, Tom Hardiman 30, Daniel Quinn 33, Tadhg McGuinness 34) winning bronze with the county team. Valuable backup was provided by Brandon Maher and Cathal Comerford.
The under 13 girls with Katie Byrne 6th were 6th club. The other team members were Emma Kelly 26, Hannah Ryan 44, Amelia O’Brien 87 and Lucy Maher 100. Fiach Crowley 69 carried the colours for the boys u13.
The under 15s didn’t have club teams. Sinead Cormack 5th and Ellen Cormack 29th had excellent runs with both scoring on the county 3rd placed team. Kyrell was the boys star with Robert Coogan and Conor Malone running well to place 15th and 52nd respectively. Kyrell and Robert won silver on the county team.
Our under 17 girls were fifth club and had Pia Langton and Clodagh O’Callaghan (16th) winning gold on the county team. Other placings were Hazel Coogan 30th, Eimear Cormack 37th and Evelyn McEvoy 47th.
Congratulations to all including the hard working coaches and supporting parents.
Oct 29 Irish Life Dublin Marathon
The wet weather today didn’t deter our athletes who turned out in great numbers to run the “Dublin City Marathon”. Our men won county Kilkenny first and third team medals led home by the fastest Kilkenny runner on the day, Graham Bourne, who crossed the finish line in 2.44.11. Other team scorers were Andrew Smyth 2.51.35, Shea Roddy 2.1.55, Alan Mahon 3.11.02, Matthew Warren 3.14.22 and Andy Hanrahan 3.14.37.
The ladies were equally impressive with Jacinta Mulroe (3.07.38) leading them home to take first and third team medals. Other scorers were Leanne Butler 3.19.42, Caoimhe Foley 3.26.29, Rhonda Griffin 3.53.15, Mary Prendergast 3.56.17, and Laura Andrews 3.50.08.
Other finishers included Seamus Kavanagh, Ciaran Hughes, Tony Lauhoff, David Devine, Gary O’Dwyer, Declan Walshe, Oonagh Guilfoyle, Jackie Varley, Andrew Smith, Ian Comerford, Imelda Curran, Hilda Comerford, Martina McGrath, Angela Lalor.
Oct 28 – Harriers at US Conferences
Three of our US based students were in action today in their respective Collegiate Conference cross country races. Grace Riahardson, representing New York University and showing excellent form, took first place in the Div 111 , Ohio Conference to lead her team into first place. Her next race will be the Niagara Regionals on 11th November
Meabh Riachardson, Portland University, and Hannah Kehoe, University of San Francisco, were both in action in the 6km race in Alumni Park in Malibu, California. Meabh placed 9th and was third scorer on her team which placed first. Hannah was 47th overall and her team finished in 4th place. Both will now feature in the Western Regionals on 11th November.
Oct 21 Good Day @ Leinster Evens
The rain took a day off to allow for comfortable conditions at the Leinster even Ages cross country in Mountain View, Ballyhale, today. From the under 10’s right through to the Novice Men KCH were very much on form. Daniel McIntyre took silver in the non-championship 1000m and Cillian Maher in 7th and James Healy running well got us off to a great start. A medal count at day end showed 22 gold, 2 silver and 23 bronze. Looks like we can be competitive at the nationals. Best wishes for that out in Gowran.
Under 12 girls with Kate Kelly an individual bronze won club gold and Kate with Ella O’Flaherty 16th and Eva Arslan 24th the County team also won gold. Mealla Crowley 59 and Casey Cleere 60 were also part of the team. Daniel Greene won individual gold in the boys race helping the county team into third place. Eoin Hoyne 23rd and Tom Hardiman 30th provided support.
The under 14 girls continued the good form and with Sinead Cormack 5th, Katie Byrne 9th, Ellen Cormack 31st, Emma Kelly 34th and Hannah Devine the club took first place and were massive scorers for the county team which placed third. Daire O’Flaherty and Fiach Crowley, both under 13 were 30th and 32nd respectively for u14 boys.
Kyrell Mtinsi in 5th led the under 16 boys who placed 8th. Other team members were Conor Ryan 40th, Conor Malone 58th and Donnacha Maher 62nd. Clodagh O’Callaghan 4th and Eimear Cormack 44th scored on the third placed county team while Evelyn McEvoy ran a steady race to finish 60th.
Ruairi McEvoy in 4th was our sole representative in boys u18. The girls u18 placed fifth. With Pia Langton in 5th and Hazel Coogan 19th both scored on the first placed county team. Ruth Cody 37th and Aoife FitzGerald 38th also ran well.
There was more success in the Junior races which were run in conjunction with the u18 races. In junior ladies our four u18 girls were joined by Isabella Burke who placed 17th which brought the club into third place and had Pia and Isabella scoring on the second placed county team. Billy Coogan was the star of the junior men as he stormed to the front to take the gold medal and lead the county team into first place. Both Myles Hewlett 6th and Ruairi McEvoy 15th also scored on the county team. Matthew McCarthy 55th completed the club scoring.
Our Novice Ladies didn’t manage to get a full team but Gretta Beckett, Kate Millea and Aibhlinn Gibbs packed well to finish in 50th, 56th and 57th respectively. Our Novice Men also won praise with Jamie Gahan 4th, Eamon O’Connor 16th and Mossy Roantree 33rd winning bronze Leinster medals with the third placed county team. Mick Cullen 59th and Daniel Quinn 85th completed the scoring for the fifth placed club team. Well done all.
Oct 17 Our 70th Birthday
Friday 13th October brought “The Harriers Family” together for a Gala Night in Langtons, John Street. The reason – to celebrate 70 years of Kilkenny City Harriers. Former athletes, former coaches and current athletes, coaches and families all joined in acknowledging the progress made. Thanks to Nicholas Dunphy and the Gala Committee for the organisation of the event.
The evening got under way at 7.00pm with a drinks reception. Club chairman, John Maye, welcomed everyone – particularly Michael Doyle, Chairman Kilkenny Co Co; Martin Brett, Deputy Mayor; and John Cronin, President Athletics Ireland.
MC for the evening, Kieran Cuddihy, interviewed six of in clubs Olympians in two panels. First group were Sinead Delahunty, 1500 in Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000; Emily Maher, Relay in Sydney 2000 and Cliodhna Manning2020 Relay(held in 2021 because of covid) in Tokyo. The second group interviewed were Joanne Cuddihy, 400m in Beijing 2008 and London 2012; Caitriona Cuddihy, Relay in London 2012 and Eileen O’Keeffe, Hammer in Beijing 2008.
As part of the celebrations Nicholas Dunphy presented long time club volunteer, Sean Lynch, with a specially commissioned Lifetime Achievement Award.
Following the four course dinner, expertly prepared and served, the three tier birthday cake was wheeled in and distributed.
With all the guests suitably catered for the music started and continued into the early hours. Guests departed with a top quality booklet which outlined the history of the club and re-counted many of the achievements of club individuals and teams.
Let’s hope most of us will be around in 2053 for the centenary celebrations!!!!