Mountainview proved an excellent venue for the Leinster Senior and Uneven ages cross country. And the weather was equally excellent. Our athletes did well to bring home 36 Leinster medals. There were 11 individual medals, twelve club medals and 13 with county teams.
The first championship race was the U11 girls. Kate Kelly claimed her medal with a 10th place finish. Other team members were Ellen Ryan, Mealla Crowley, Vivienne Lepeskaite and Hannah O’Brien. The team was 12th. The boys were 7th club with Darragh O’Callaghan very much to the fore to claim individual bronze and a gold with the county team. Other team runners were Coinneach Maher, Darragh Burns, Eoin Hoyne, Tadhg McGuinness, Conor Knox and Darragh Browne.
The U13 girls were the stars. Sinead Cormack battled from the start and was competitive all through. Her reward was 3rd individual- bronze, silver with the club and silver with the county team. Amelia O’Brien 22nd and Emma Kelly 24th were thrilled and a joy to watch. Scoring for club and county they were delighted to bring home double silver. The U13 boys were just two in number. Robert Coogan had a good run to win individual bronze and also a silver with the county team. Fiach Crowley ran well to provide support for the county team.
Our U15 girls were 7th club with Clodagh O’Callaghan placing 4th and winning silver with the county team. The other scorers for the team were Evelyn McEvoy, Eimear Cormack and Aine Foley. The boys were 9th club with U14 athlete Kyrell Mtinsi finishing 6th to make the Leinster team for the nationals. Other team members were Donnacha Maher, Cathal Rossiter, Cormac Holden, Conor Malone and Paddy Beggan.
The U17 girls had an excellent leader in Cristina Capitan Martin who finished 3rd to gain individual bronze. With the club team coming third she won club bronze and a gold with the county team. Hazel Coogan in 15th had a good run and scored on the county team. The other team members were Kate Aylmer, improving with every outing, Georgina Geoghegan and Aoife FitzGerald. We had just two U17 boys – Ruairi McEvoy and Paddy Kelly. Finishing 4th and 12th respectively both make the Leinster team for the nationals.
The U19 girls were “missing” on the day and Billy Coogan was our sole representative for the boys. Billy went to the front at the start in what proved a tough race for Billy but he was tough with it to win an individual silver and gold with the county team. Perhaps a little more conservative start would have made it an easier run.
And so to the Seniors – without any club support Ella Richardson lined up for the start of the ladies 5K but injury made her pull up on the second lap. Get well soon Ella. The men got a jolt this morning with the early withdrawal of Eoin Everard who called in unwell. So it was a four man team that faced the 10K meaning all had to finish and all did finish. Ger Forde lit up the course on the first lap with a blistering pace. Establishing an early lead, a lead he continued to extend over the following four laps to take the gold more than a minute ahead of the second finisher. Padraig Ruane and Eamonn O’Connor worked together and worked up the field to finsih 14th and 15th respectively resulting in gold medals for all three with the winning county team. Andrew Smith was steady throughout and finishing 54th clinched 3rd place for the club – a very rewarding achievement.