Leinster Intermediate & Masters XC & Juvenile XC Relays 2025 (18th Jan)
The Leinster Intermediate & Masters Cross Country & Juvenile Cross Country Relays were held at The Faithful Field in Kilcormac, Co. Offaly on Saturday 18th January. Athletics Offaly laid out an excellent course with several tight turns that provided a good test, but the day was mild dry and sunny, but windy, which made underfoot conditions perfect for running.
The relays were first on the programme and the first Mullingar team into action was Amelie G Kelly, Siomha Leonard, Liadan Gavin and Clodagh Keane in the u/14 girls 4 x 500m where each played a valuable part in steering the team to 2nd place and the silver medals. The u/14 boys 4 x 500m followed where despite great team effort and running by Cillian Gavin, Harry Flanagan, Conor Gavin and Daniel Cummins the boys were very unlucky to finish just out the medals in 4th place in a close race. We finished in the medals again though thanks to Oisin Clarke, Antonio Bertolo, Daniel Horohoe and Cormac McGrath in the u/16 boys 4 x 500m where they each put in terrific efforts and were rewarded with 2nd place and the silver medals.
After the relays, the programme moved to the adult races, and the first race was the 4,000m for Master Women & o/65 Masters Men. With 16 Mullingar athletes on the start line, it was always going to be an exciting race to watch. In the Women’s race, the Mullingar women packed very well, led home by Aisling Corcoran finishing well up, with Criona Reid on her heels, and followed right behind by Maura Dervin who won her master category. Marie Louise Johnston ran a strong race to finish next, just ahead of Claire Ross. Criona, Maura and Marie Louise provided the vital scores for the o/50 master women team that finished a very well deserved 2nd Club. Criona won another silver team medal, as she was part of the strong o/50 Westmeath team that placed 2nd County, thanks to great running by Anna Marie O’Dowd (Athlone AC) who finished a few places ahead of Aisling and Triona Kinnane (Athlone AC) who finished between Maura and Marie Louise.
The next Mullingar woman after Claire was Caroline Mullen, finishing very well up the field to win the individual bronze in her master category. Naomi Battle and Catherine Gavin were the next two Harriers to cross the line, followed by Brigid McCabe, Terri Greene, Nuala Moran, Claire Lennon Gavin and Pauline Troy. The Mullingar o/35 team of Aisling Corcoran, Claire Ross and Naomi Battle placed 3rd Club in a very close contest, and they finished a very creditable 5th County. Brigid McCabe, Maura Dervin and Nuala Moran combined to place 2nd County in the o/60 Women County category.
In the o/65 Men race combined with the master women, Mullingar had three men in the mix with John Bannon finishing well up, followed by Nicky McCabe and Paddy Boyhan. John and Nicky combined with Charles Lawn (Athlone AC) on the Westmeath team to finish 2nd o/65 Men County.
The 7,000m Masters Men race was next up and after a really fine race by all the Mullingar men in an extremely competitive race, they were led home by Gerard Gavin, followed by Steven Underwood, Eddie Newman (winning the individual silver in his master category), Eddie Lynch (winning the individual bronze in his master category), James Carton, Jason McKevitt, Patrick Muldoon, Liam McGlynn and Paul Ginnell. Such is the level of competition in Leinster masters, team honours are always very difficult to win, though Gerard Gavin, Eddie Newman, Eddie Lynch, James Carton, Jason McKevitt, Liam McGlynn and Paul Ginnell came closest with the o/50 men team finishing a very creditable 5th Club and 4th County.
The Intermediate Women 5,000m race got off to a fast start and the Mullingar team were to the front of the field from the early stages with Susan Glennon pushing the pace with the leaders. Susan continued to race hard and finished in a very well deserved 3rd place. Sinead Whitelaw worked hard through the race to hold on to her place and she came home in 8th position. Orlaith Flanagan ran a very strong race and fought hard all the way to the finish. All the attention was then on Linda Cunningham, passing several in the closing stages, to provide that vital fourth score that saw the Mullingar women finish 2nd Club and 2nd County, winning double silver team medals in what was a very competitive event.
In the final race of the day, the Intermediate Men 8,000m, the Mullingar men were looking to improve on last year’s results, which they certainly did in style. Going out hard with the leaders, James Keegan and Dan Morris kept themselves in contention for honours. As the race progressed, the lead group began to split but James kept in the top three, with Dan in the chasing group. The pace really picked up in the final kilometre but James kept to his task and was rewarded with a fantastic 3rd place finish, followed in by Dan in a brilliant 5th place in his first race for Mullingar, in fact, his ever first cross country race. With brilliant support running and team packing by Kris Foster, Ian McCormack, Kedagh Geoghegan, Andy Boyhan, Stephen Nea, Conleth Mullen, Mark Ronan, Padraig Beglin and Brian Martin leaving nothing behind, the men were delighted to finish 1st Club. The men also finished 4th County, missing bronze by just 4 points. Winning the Intermediate men title made a bit of Club history, as adding it to the Novice and Senior men Club titles won last Autumn, this is the first time Mullingar has had a clean sweep of all the men team cross country titles in a season, rounding off a great day for Mullingar [GD].
