Clonmel Juvenile Athletic Notes – October 2017
Great performances at County Juvenile Even Age Group Cross Country 1st October
The Tipperary County Even Age Cross Country took place in Turnpike on Sunday the 1st October and 47 juveniles athletes travelled to represent Clonmel A.C. and judging by the medal tally they did that with some style. Nearly 400 juveniles a large increase on last year turned up to test themselves against the terrain and other country clubs. The first 10 athletes over the line are awarded medals in the u10 and u12 age groups with the top 3 athletes in subsequent races.
First up were the girls U10 and here we had a strong team lead home by Erin O’Keeffe who finished in 2nd place, followed home by Daisy O’Keeffe in 10 place, Evanne Duffy in 16th and Emer Brennan in 32nd. Daisy and Erin received individual medals. All four girls received Silver team medals made all the more remarkable considering both Evanne and Emer had never competed at this event before. Then we had the boys u10 in which we had 8 athletes. First home was Darragh Boland in 13th position a fantastic achievement considering Darragh is actually u9 and had step up for the day, next up was Daniel Charles in 17th, Gavin Ryan in 19th Charlie Philips in 21st, Darragh O’Gorman in 22nd, Tristan O’Connor in 39th, Archie O’Suillivan in 42nd and Adhvaith Divakaran in 48th. Clonmel finished in 4th and 9th place in the team event.
Next up were the girls u12 and here were we lead home by Heather Joyce in 13th place, in her first try at Cross Country running, then we had Eimear Heafy in 21st, Olivia Devereaux in 24th another great race considering Olivia only joined the club 2 weeks ago and Jamie Whelan in 29th. These girls combined to place 6th in the team event. Then we had the boys u12 and some brilliant team running ensured that Clonmel would take the Gold team prize and be crowned County Champions. In fact we had 3 teams in the race with Clonmel B place 4th and Clonmel C place 6th. The individual placing were Connor O’Gorman 3rd, Cian Flaherty 4th Michael O’Reilly 5th, Cathal O’Gorman 7th ( all four lads received individual medals also), Matthew Downey 13th, Kieran Proven 16th, Louis Carroll 19th, Nathan O’Connor 21st, Cianan Power 23rd, Owen Quigley 26th, Matthew Buckley 29th, Ben Phillips 34th and Max Fitzgerald 35th. This bunch of lads have taken the Gold in the team event now for the 3rd year in a row.
Next up were the girls u14 and here we again took top honours with the team being crowned County Champions, lead home by Jane O’Donnell in 4th place, Ruby Carroll in 5th, Muireann Duffy in 7th, Celine Durand in 13th, Hazel Brennan on her first Cross Country placed 14th and Laura Cooney also on her first Cross Country placed 15th. Both Jane, Ruby and Hazel had stepped up an age group to compete. Then we had the boys u14 and the team of Conor Flaherty 14th, Odhran McGrath 15th, Alan Quigley 22nd and Sam O’Suillivan 23rd combined to win the bronze medals.
In the girls u16 Clonmel took the bronze medals in the team event being lead home by Siobhan Whelan in 4th place, Ava Fennessy in 8th, Molly Keane in 9th and Gillian Hughes in 10th position. In the girls u18 Elma Casey won the Gold individual medal closely followed home by Caoimhe Maunsell who took the Silver. The last juvenile event of the day was the boys u18 and here Colm McCarthy took the Silver individual medal and lead the team to County glory with his team mates Daniel Slattery 7th and Lorcan O’Keeffe 9th who competed at County level for the first time.
Clonmel AC would like to thank the coaches and parents who travelled to support our athletes which ensures that the events runs smoothly for all our juveniles with special mention to Anthony Tobin Senior for imparting valuable experience to the athletes while walking the course.
Clonmel Juvenile Notes – 15th October
Great performances at County Cross Country Championships
The Tipperary County Cross Country Uneven Age group took place in Galbally on Sunday the 15th October and a record breaking 63 Clonmel juvenile athletes travelled to represent Clonmel A.C. and they didn’t disappoint. As well as seasoned athletes we had a large number of first timers and great credit must go to them and their parents for making the trip.Nearly 400 athletes representing clubs throughout Tipperary ran on what can only be described as a testing course in very wet conditions. It was testament to the strength and depth of Clonmel A.C. that we were able to enter athletes in all 12 races and teams in 10.
The opening race of the day was the girls U9 and the team was lead home by Sasha Tideswell Moroney in 14th, Alice Meegan in 20th, Layla Tideswell in 27th, Sarah Whelan 37th and Lillie Peppard 40th. All the girls ran very well for their first venture in Cross Country and with a 6th place team finish should be in the mix in the upcoming County B Championship. In the boys race we also have very fine performances with the team being lead home by Charlie Philips in 29th, Liam Proven 45th, Ben Fuller 51st, Nathan Gucwa 56th and Conor James Williams 59th.
The girls U11 event was the biggest race of the day with nearly 80 athletes finishing and here the team was lead home by Rachel Buckley who put in an outstanding performance to finish in 8th and claim an individual medal her team mates were Eavann Duffy 22nd, Jenna Hayes 23rd, Erin O’Keeffe 29th, Cara Hennessy 31st, Ciara Collins 38th, Rachel O’Donoghue 42nd, Kate Walsh 43rd, Meabh Meegan 45th, Emer Brennan 52nd, Saofra O’Loughlin 56th, Aoife Carmody 59th and Rosin Burke 60th. In the boys U11 we had another outstanding performance by Colin McCauley who finished 8th and received an individual medal as well as leading the team to Bronze medals. His team mates were Loius Carroll 12th, Killian Whelan 15th, Max Fitzgerald 34th, Ben Philips 36th, Daniel Charles 42nd, Tadhg Buckley 43rd, Archie O’Suillivan 53rd and Adhvaith Divakaran 55th. Matthew Downey started but was nursing an ankle injury and although was well up the field rightly pulled up to avoid further injury.
In the girls U13 race we had 3 individual medal winners and also won the Gold Team Medal and were crowned County Champions. The team consisted of Jane O’Donnell 4th, Ruby Carroll 5th, Hazel Brennan 9th, Olivia Devereaux 21st and Erin McMahon 25th. In the boys U13 race the team was lead home by Cian Flaherty in 13th, Conor O Gorman 15th, Michael O’Reilly 17th and Ronan Hyland 31st. Cathal O’Gorman also started with a knee injury but rightly pulled up to avoid further injury. The team finished in 5th place.
In the girls U15 race we again took the Gold team medal but also the Bronze medals with all 6 girls putting in a very good performance. Gold team Gillian Hughes 4th, Celine Durand 5th and Muireann Duffy 6th and Bronze team Saoirse Tracy 8th, Laura Cooney 10th and Roise Flaherty 12th. In the boys U15 race we had the team being lead home by Conor Flaherty in 11th , Alan Quigley 15th and Robert Larkin 18th. These lads combined to place 5th in the team event.
In the girls U17 race victory went to our own Siobhan Whelan who exerted her dominance early on and can home a clear winner and County champion. She also lead her team to Gold County medals with her team Elma Casey 3rd, Brid Moynihan 4th, Molly Keane 5th and Caoimhe Maunsell 7th. In the boys U17 race Daniel Slattery finished 3rd and took the Bronze individual medal and lead the team home to win Gold County medals. Team mates Lorcan O Keeffe 7th and Benoit Durand 8th.In the girls U19 race Clonmel again took top honours with a great performance from Ciara O’Neill winning individual Gold and Courtney McGuire also ran very well to place 4th. The final juvenile race of the day was the boys U19 and here Colm Mc Carthy crossed the line in second place to take home the Silver Medal.
Clonmel AC would like to congratulate each and every athlete who competed on Sunday and for giving it their all in the testing conditions. You did you club proud. We would like to wish all our athletes who finished in the top 6 the best in not only representing their club in the Munsters but now also their County. We would also like to thank the parents and supporters for all their help on the day without your continued support these outings would not take place. Next event Munster Cross Country Even age groups Clarecastle Sunday 22nd at 11.30am . Next County event County B Championship in Moyglass Sunday 29th at 12.00.
Clonmel Juvenile Notes – 22nd October
Munster Cross Country performances
The Munster Even Age group Cross Country Championships took place on Sunday 22nd October in Clarecastle and the club was well represented with 12 athletes competing.
The going was tough with the ground very soft under foot. First into action was Erin O’Keeffe in the girls u10 and Erin ran a great race to finish 23rd out of a field of nearly 140 and was on the Tipperary team that finished 5th. Next up were the boys u12 and here we had a team which was lead home by Conor O’Gorman in 25th, Cian Flaherty 26th, Michael O’Reilly 58th, Cathal O’Gorman 65th and Louis Carroll 87th. All the lads ran really well and finished 6th Club team in a very high calibre field. Conor, Cian and Michael were also on the County team with Tipperary finishing just outside the medals in 4th place.
In the girls u14 race we had 2 athletes with Ruby Carroll and Jane O’ Donnell both running great races to finish 41st and 56th respectively. Both girls were on the Tipperary team that finished 4th. In the u14 boys Conor Flaherty ran a great race to finish in 55th position. In the girls u16 race Siobhan Whelan ran the race of her life to finish in 11th position and took home Clonmel A.C.’s only individual medal. Siobhan was unlucky not to pick up another medal as she was on the County team that finished in 4th position. Our final event of the day for Clonmel athletes was the boys u18 and Colm McCarthy and Daniel Slattery ran very well to finish 26th and 32nd respectively. Both lads would have been on the County team but unfortunately Tipperary could not field a full team.
Clonmel A.C. would like to thank the athletes and parents for their continued support.
Clonmel Juvenile Notes 29th October
Great performances at the County B Cross Country Championships
The County Juvenile B Cross Country Championships took place in Moyglass last Sunday, 29th October on a new course. To qualify for these Championships an athlete mustn’t have won a medal in the A Championships either individual or team, These Championships also catered for newly registered athletes, so competition was keen in all the races and these Championships are seen as a stepping stone to greater achievements. Our first competitor was Lillian Peppard, a new member in the girl sunder 9 race and she ran very well when finishing 17th with Sarah Whelan finishing 24th and Roisin Houlihan finishing 27th. They combined to finish 6th team. Then we had the Boys under 9 race and here Hugh Carolan, our sole representative, ran a brilliant race when winning the Silver medal with a great performance.
In the Girls under 11 race we had 5 athletes competing, for many of them it was their first taste of Cross Country and it is great to see them running so well, the future looks bright. Here Cara Hennessy ran a brilliant race to win the Silver medal and we also had good performances from Ciara Collins 17th, Roisin Burke 18th, Mia English 21st and Siofra O Loughlin 22nd. They just missed out on team medals when finishing 4th Club. In the Boys under 11 race our two competitors ran very well with Gavin Ryan 7th and Tadhg Buckley 13th.
In the Girls under 13 race we had 5 athletes competing. Here Heather Joyce led them home in 8th place and we also saw good performances from Eimear Heafey 12th, Bronagh English 13th and they along with Heather wont he Inter Club Bronze medals. We also had good performances from Jamie Whelan 14th and Isobel O Donnell 17th. In the boys equivalent Cianan Power ran a great race when finishing 5th and he combined very well with Ronan Hyland 13th and Owen Quigley 14th to win the Inter Club Silver medals. We also had Matthew Buckley running well to finish 17th.
The final race of the day was the Boys under 15 race and here John John Carolan ran very well when finishing a close 4th.
The Club would like to thank all the parents who came along and supported our athletes, it is great to see.
Great competition at the South Tipperary Primary Schools Cross Country competition
Clonmel Athletic Club along with Carrick on Suir, Rosegreen, Moyglass, Fethard and Coolquill Athletic Clubs organised a very successful Primary Schools Cross Country competition in the Marlfield GAA grounds on the 25th October where conditions were ideal. The Clubs would like to thank Marlfield GAA Club for the use of their fine facilities in a beautiful setting. This event has grown in stature since 2001 when 398 athletes attended our first event in Clonmel Og complex where last week in Marlfield we had an entry of 1536 athletes. The Clubs would like to thank all the teachers and school principals for such support.
We were delighted to have teams from Presentation Convent Carrick on Suir, Crehana, Rossmore, Lisronagh, Templeorum, St Michael’s School, Tipperary Town, Owning, Ballylooby, Burncourt, New Inn Boys School, Golden, New Inn Girls School, Grange, Presentation Convent Clonmel, Gael Scoil Carrig na Suire, Carrick on Suir CBS, Killurney, Kilcash, Powerstown, St Peter’s and Paul’s Clonmel, Holy Trinity School, Fethard, St Mary’s Parochial School, Ballingarry, St Oliver’s, Sisters of Charity, Ballyneale, Clogheen, Poulacapple, St Mary’s Clonmel, Gael Scoil Cluain Meala, Skeheenarinky, Moyglass, Rosegreen, Ballydrehid, Bansha, Cappawhite, Grangemockler, Piltown, Slieveardagh, Thomastown and Kilsheelan. There were in total 41 schools competing, which is a record. There were races for 3rd and 4th Classes and 5th and 6th Classes in all six categories, based on pupil numbers with all pupils from each school scoring valuable points for the overall competition. Indeed the 24 race programme went very smoothly and the Clubs would like to thank everyone who helped to make the event such a great success. Throughout the full programme we saw some brilliant performances and great credit must go to all the teachers for all the hard work they put in to get their pupils to such a high level of fitness. In the end the overall best schools in each competition were presented with a Shield and here are this year’s overall school winners: Killurney National School won both the John Quirke Perpetual Shield for the Best Girls School and Skeheenarinky won the Tony Ryan Perpetual Shield for the best overall Boys School in the Small Schools group 1 competition. Rossmore National School was the winner of the Vincent Fox Perpetual Shield for the Best Girls Small Schools Group 2 competition as well as winning the Jack O Gorman Perpetual Shield for the Best Boys Small School’s Group 2 competition. Ballyneale National School was the winner of the John Power Perpetual Shield for the Best Girls Medium School competition. Lisronagh National School was the winner of the Bill Hyland Perpetual Shield for the Best Boys Medium School Group 1 competition. Moyglass were also the winners of the Medium School group 2 for the Best Girls School competition while they also won the Best Boys School award in this category. Scoil Mhuire New Inn was the winner of the Joe Holden Perpetual Shield for the Best Girls Large School competition. Holy Trinity Fethard was the winner of the Jack Bergin Perpetual Shield for the Best Boys Large School competition. Powerstown National School was the winner of the Jim Cliffe Perpetual Shield for the Major Girls schools and Powerstown National School were also the winner of the Paddy Mullins Perpetual Shield in the Major Boys event.