Clonmel Juvenile Notes 12th November
Clonmel A.C. win 5 Munster Cross Country medals in Galbally
The Munster Uneven age group Cross Country championships took place in Galbally on Sunday 12th November and Clonmel was well represented with 16 athletes competing. Great credit to Moreabbey Milers for show casing this event for Tipperary.
The day was perfect for running and the course although soft in places was ideal. Large numbers were the order of the day with some races having more than 200 entries. The first race of the day for Clonmel AC was the girls u11 and Rachel Buckley following on from her fine performance in the counties raised her performance again to place 34th and 5th Tipperary team member. Tipperary placed 3rd and Rachel earned a well deserved bronze medal for her efforts.
In the boys under 11, a race which had the largest entry of the day we had 2 athletes competing, both Killian Whelan and Colin McCauley ran very well to place 68th and 76th respectively. Next up were the girls u13 and here we had very good performances from Jane O Donnell and Ruby Carroll who placed 46th and 48th respectively. In the boys u13 race Odhran McGrath ran very well to finish in 65th place.
In the girls under 15 Clonmel were able to field a team with Gillian Hughes 47th, Celine Durand 55th, Laura Cooney 58th and Saoirse Tracey 59th all combining with a great performance to finish 6th best club. Both Gillian and Celine made the county team which took the bronze medals and Clonmel AC’s 2nd and 3rd medal of the day.
Our stand out performance of the day came in the girls under 17 when Siobhan Whelan for the second Munster championship in a row secured Clonmel A.C.’s only juvenile medal of the day and Clonmel’s 4th with her fantastic performance to finish in 9th place. Siobhan was the first Tipperary athlete home but Tipperary were unable to field a county team. Siobhan’s teammates of Molly Keane and Brid Moynihan also performed very well to finish in 38th and 47th respectively.
In the boys under 17 race Lorcan O’ Keeffe put in a solid performance to finish in 42nd place. The final juvenile races of the day were the boys and girls u19 and in the girls race although clearly unwell Ciara O Neill competed well when running as Tipperary’s only entrant. In the boys u19 Colm McCarthy put in a great performance when coming home as Tipperary’s second athlete in 19th position and earning the bronze team medal for Tipperary and Clonmel AC’s 5th medal of the day.
All medallists can now go forward to compete for Club, County and Province in the National Cross County Championship in Waterford in December where no doubt they will do the club proud again against the best the country has to offer. Clonmel AC would like to thank the athletes coaches and parents for their continued support.
Clonmel Juvenile Athletic Club Notes 26th November
Great Run by Siobhan Whelan in National Even age Cross Country Championships
The National Even age Cross Country Championships took place in Abbotstown on Sunday the 26th November and Siobhan Whelan was our sole athlete taking part.
The running conditions were perfect and with a field of over 130 athletes Siobhan continued her recent great running form when turning in a superb performance to finish in 32nd position, this was in spite of the fact that she had to move up an age group and the longer distance. Unfortunately Tipperary could not field a team and Siobhan was the 8th Munster athlete to count with the top 6 combining in the inter-provincial competition to win the Silver Medals.
The club would like to congratulate Siobhan on her fantastic performance; you did your Club, County and Province proud by your performance on the National stage.
Siobhan competes again in the Nationals for the uneven age Cross Country Championship on the 17th December in Waterford. The next competition is the Munster B Cross Country Championships in Beaufort Kerry on Sunday the 3rd December and the Club would like to wish all who intend travelling the very best of luck.