Leinster Senior, u/23 & Juvenile Uneven Ages XC 2024 (2nd Nov)

Claire Fagan & Vinny Connolly defend their Leinster Senior Titles

Early morning mist and drizzle gave way to a cool but dry and perfectly calm day in Tinahely, Co. Wicklow on Saturday 2nd November where the Leinster Senior, u/23 & Juvenile Uneven Ages Cross Country was held. This was a new venue and Athletics Wicklow laid out an excellent course with great visibility that meant spectators didn’t have to constantly criss-cross the field to keep up with the action. The course itself had long steady inclines rather than any sharp hills but a few sharp corners, creating a nice balance that challenged the stronger runners but didn’t severely disadvantage the weaker ones. Given the weather, underfoot conditions were absolutely perfect for cross country running, which was reflected in the great racing enjoyed by everyone that attended.

Mullingar was out in force, fielding teams in every Championship race from u/11 up to senior. Despite 27 no-shows, some due to illness, Mullingar still had 86 athletes in action, in fact 92 if you include the youngsters that ran in the non-Championship races, so the maroon and white was to be seen everywhere you looked. With such numbers, success is bound to come, and top of the list of achievements is Claire Fagan and Vinny Connolly successfully defending their senior titles, leading their respective teams to club and county gold for the women, and club gold and county silver for the men. Not to be outdone, our juveniles racked up 17 top-12 individual medals, including a terrific Leinster title for Lily Wals in the u/15 race, to add to the u/14 title she won in Dunboyne two weeks before. Our juvenile teams won 6 juvenile club team medals, one team came close in fourth place, they won a juvenile county team medal and another county team came fourth. This means that Mullingar and Westmeath will have a very big squad competing at the National finals in Tramore in December.

Before the Championship races, there were non-Championship races for girls and boys u/9. Racing over 800m, Tara Coyne, Adele Bertolo were delighted to win top-12 place medals, and in the boys race, Shay Gavigan won a medal, and Robert Bohan, Austin Keaveney and Senan Whelehan ran really well and were delighted to be part of the action on the day and run in front of a big crowd of spectators.

The Leinster Championships proper got underway with the u/11 girls 1,500m where Lauryn Smith raced hard from the gun and was always in contention throughout. After a very strong race, Lauryn came home in a fantastic 3rd place, followed in by Helen McGrath (10th), Emily Rose Coyne (13th), very unlucky to miss an individual top-12 medal by a very narrow margin and with great team support and packing by Roisin Keane, Maisie Walsh, Caitlin McCormack, Aoibheann Lynam, Rose Harte, Kate Horohoe, Lyla Lennon Currill, Heather Kelly and Laura Buckley, the girls finished 1st Club and 4th County. We had a very big team too in the u/11 boys 1,500m where Mel Bohan had the honour of leading them home in a hard fought 10th place, followed closely by Donagh Bourke (13th), narrowly missing an individual medal, and despite great support from Olly Wright, Huw Keaveney, Noah Morgan, Ethan Byrne, Killian Hardman, Senan Clinton, Emmet Walsh, Andrew Bradley, Rory McDonnell, Fionn O’Donoghue, Tiernan Smith and Luke Wallace, the boys finished 4th Club, unlucky to miss out on the medal places, but fourth place means a club team of six can still compete in the National finals in Tramore.

Chloe Bell gave it her all in the u/13 girls 2,500m and was rewarded for her efforts with a great 2nd place finish. Thanks to Amelie G Kelly, Siomha Leonard, Caoimhe Lynam, Clodagh Keane, Liadan Gavin, Kate O’Donoghue, Grace Farry, Isabelle Morris, Mina Sheridan, Alice Hyland and Anna Mae Lynam racing in hard behind, the girls finished 3rd Club, and a very creditable 5th County in a tough race. On to the u/13 boys 2,500m where Daniel Cummins kept right in the leading pack from the start and was delighted to cross the finish in 3rd place, with Gareth Glennon close behind in 8th. Despite missing three key athletes, thanks to great efforts by Harry Flanagan, Adam O’Donoghue, Aaron Robinson, Cian Gavin and Fintan Harte, the boys finished 1st Club and qualified for the National finals. The team also finished a very creditable 5th County.

The Mullingar team in the u/15 girls 3,500m was also badly hit by no-shows and reduced to the bare four needed to score but that didn’t affect Lily Walsh who bided her time and with a perfectly judged effort, went to the front and pulled clear to win by a big margin, adding the u/15 Leinster title to the u/14 title she won two weeks before. Amelie R Kelly, Lucy Kilmurray and Emily Tully put in great efforts but unfortunately the team finished out of the medal places. Medal winning for Mullingar resumed in the u/15 boys 3,500m thanks to Antonio Bertolo finishing strong in 9th place, and with Oisin Clarke close behind in 11th and great support from Greg McDonnell, Daniel Horohoe, Morgan Isdell, Cormac McGrath and Louis Kiernan battling hard all the way to the end, the team richly deserved their medals for 2nd Club.

The Mullingar team in the u/17 girls 4,500m was another one blighted by illness and absence but Eleanor Kiernan dug deep and kept with the leading group and was rewarded with a terrific 5th place finish. Despite the spirited efforts of Isabel Tynan Daly, Blathnaid Peters and Emma Lagan, the team was very unlucky to finish 5th Club, not far off fourth place and a place in the National finals. Lydia McDonnell also ran but due to a recurrence of a recent injury, she wisely stopped mid-way through the race to prevent making it worse. We wish Lydia a speedy recovery. After a great battle, hopes were high or team medals when we saw Oisin Kehoe finish 5th, just ahead of Conor Walsh (6th) in the u/17 boys 4,500m, and with Luke Greene well inside the top twenty, all eyes were on Cian Hyland to provide the vital fourth score, which he did successfully to see the team finish 2nd Club and qualify for the National finals.

Grace Byrne was locked in a great battle for second and third place in the closing stages of the u/19 women 5,000m, eventually having to concede in the finish straight but still very happy with her 3rd place finish. Also having a great race behind her was Jessica Cunningham who threw herself at the line to take the final individual medal in 12th place. With Ailbhe O’Farrell inside the top twenty, followed in closely by Louise Callaghan, we knew it would be close in the team scores, but with a very tight two point advantage, Mullingar finished 1st Club. The team also finished a great 3rd County, our first and what would be out only underage county medals of the day. In the u/19 men 5,000m, Conor Sherwin gave a very spirited performance, never letting up his efforts and came home in 2nd place. Also running really well behind and finishing fast was Jamie Wallace in 5th and Donagh Carey in 12th. This was a classic case of “you’re only as good as your fourth score”, as despite entering a full team, we didn’t have a fourth man on the day, so we left the team gold medals behind.

With the conclusion of the juvenile programme, attention turned to the senior races, where Mullingar definitely kept the best for last. Claire Fagan looked very comfortable and full of running in the early stages of the Senior Women 6,000m race, happy to run with a small leading group. When she decided to strike for home from a distance out, she quickly showed her class, pulling clear effortlessly and with a  truly dominant display won by a distance to retain her Leinster senior title in style. Despite completing the Dublin Marathon only a week before, Ciara Foy and Susan Glennon were full of running and finished well up, and with Sinead Whitelaw and Claire Ross providing great support and vital team scores, the team finished 1st Club and 1st County. Mullingar had a big team in the final race of the day, the Senior Men 9,000m, looking to retain the club title they won for the first time last year. Leading the charge was Vinny Connolly, who patiently waited and ran just behind the leaders in the early laps, with the rest of the Mullingar men running well and contesting every place behind him. As the race progressed, it came down to two in front with Vinny tracking the leader but in the closing lap Vinny made his move to the front and slowly pulled clear to win and retain his Leinster senior title, and with Kevin Moore, James Keegan, John Ryan, Ian McCormack, Kris Foster, Kedagh Geoghagan, Steven Underwood and Stephen Nea putting in great efforts and packing well in support, the men finished 1st Club, retaining the club title they won last year, and they also finished 2nd County to round off a memorable day for our senior athletes.

Thanks to the many parents and coaches that attended to support our teams, especially our young u/11 teams where some of them were competing in their first Leinster Championship races, so they really needed plenty of attention and support to keep any nerves at bay. The juvenile even age teams that qualified from Tinahely – six on a club team and 10 on a county team – will go forward to the National finals in Tramore, Co. Waterford in December.