ALL IRELAND SUCCESS FOR HARRIERS CROSS COUNTRY SQUAD In the last fortnight Tullamore Harriers athletes have competed in the a number of different cross country events including the All Ireland Even Age competitions in Dundalk, All Ireland Uneven age competitions in Santry and the Edmund Rice cross country event for CBS schools. On each day there were some great runs by Harriers athletes and a large number have now added All Ireland medals to the provincial ones they won earlier in the season. All Ireland Medals for Under 15 Boys Having won the Leinster title, the Harriers squad in this age group went in hoping to take at least a set of medals. They have worked hard all Autumn and the lads dedication to training was rewarded in Santry when they won bronze medals and were within 11 points of the winners Westport. Mark Milner had had a breakthrough cross country season and battled hard all the way on Sunday. He was in the leading pack from the gun and although the distance of 3500m is a lot longer than his usual 800m distance he was well able for the frantic pace and fought all the way to the line and got home in 14th place. Christopher Whittle was in about 30th place at the end of the first kilometer and from here he steadily progressed through the pack and by the line he was up to a 16th place. Christopher shows what commitment to training means, he has worked hard for the past year and its amazing to think that in the equivalent race last year he finished 144th. That’s some turnaround in fortunes and by his own account he reckons by next year he’ll have moved up a few more places. Brian Todd and Jordan McDonald were next home for Tullamore and these lads had great races to finish 41st and 44th respectively. Both are actually Under 14 and moving up an age in this competition so to get into the top third of the field is a massive performance. The team was rounded out by Cormac Izuchukwu, Kacper Kaspturkievicz and Andrew Conway. Cian Martin didn’t run on the day as he was out injured. Aaron Mangan of Edenderry AC was the other runner on the county team. A special should be made of the efforts of Kacper. He was 5th in Leinster and has been up with Mark and Christopher all season but he was very sick for the week leading into the All Irelands and although he was determined to run, he was in trouble right from the gun. His dedication and effort will mean that his disappointment last Sunday will be short lived. INTERNATIONAL SELECTIONS It looks like Claire Rafter and Chinnie Izuchukwu will get to run for Ireland in the January. Claire finished 7th in the under 16 age group and this should mean that she will run on an Irish selection in an international race to be held in Dunboyne against Wales and Scotland. In her own age Claire didn’t perform as well due to a lower back injury. Still she is atough competitor and will bounce back. Last winter and spring Chinnie Izuchukwu had a vast array of ailments, which meant he missed ten weeks of training in total, but now that he has put four months of training in a row uninterrupted he is rounding again into great form. Chinnie is Under 18, but in Dundalk that race was combined with the Under 20 competition to select a Junior men’s team for the European championships. Despite being so young Chinnie gave a good account of himself and finished 18th in a field of 160 or so runners. Two weeks later, when again out of his age Chinnie gave a great account of himself, finishing in 6th place. He now will represent Ireland on 18th of June on an Irish Junior mens selection EDMUND RICE XC- CBS All Irelands Just a quick mention of the thirty or so athletes from Tullamore CBS, who travelled up to the annual Edmund Rice cross country held in St. Anne’s Park in Raheny. There teacher, Jen Rowland had them well prepared and the lads ave a great account of themselves. The highlight of the day was the Junior team coming second. Mark Milner won the race (in the process beating last years All Ireland schools champion) and Kacper Kaspturkiewicz got an individual medal too as he came home third. Their great runs ensured the team came close to winning and in fact inly lost out by two points to Omagh CBS. Its also worth mentioning the great run by Mark Kealy, who came fifth in the Boys Under 14 race. Christmas Party and Medal Presentation This is on Sunday 14th December. At 11am there will be soccer on the astro turf pitches followed by food in the club house. While the club will supply pizza’s and chips, we’d hope everyone can bring along some seasonal treats. All Ireland and Leinster medals will be presented at the party. Harriers Results Santry (Uneven Ages) Under 19 Boys- Chinnie Izuckwu 6th Under 19 Girls- Emiliy Grennan 17th and Nadine Donegan 29th Under 17 Boys- Matthew Molloy 76th, Connor Butler 78th and Aaron McDonald 111th Under 17 Girls- Team 9th- Katie Dunne 42nd, Cara Todd 63rd, Chloe Harte 86th and Niamh Milner 87th Under 15 Boys- Team 3rd- County 5th, Mark Milner 14th, Christioher Whittle 16th, Brian Todd 41st, Jordan McDonald 44th, Cormac Izuchukwu 57th, Kacper Kaspturkiewicz 94th and Andrew Conway 113th Under 15 Girls- Claire Rafter 28th, Danielle Donegan 31st and Niamh Rafter 126th Under 13 Boys- Team 9th- Ruairi Dunne 50th, Mick Murphy 65th, Cian Murphy 67th and Alan Corcoran 132nd Under 13 Girls- Niamh O’Reilly 76th, Hannah Larkin 78th and Sinead Todd 113th
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 16:38:45 +0000
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