Leinster Schools XC 2022 (16th Feb)
Leinster Title for Jamie Wallace in mud soaked Santry
Despite Storm Dudley in full swing, as with all cross country events barring a red weather warning, the Leinster Schools Cross Country went ahead in Santry Demesne on Wednesday 16th February, where the weather conditions proved a test for all runners on the day. The organisers and the team of volunteers can be commended on preparing and running the event in the most challenging of conditions.
Ailbhe O’Farrell (St. Finian’s) was up first in the Junior Girls 2,000m. This was only her second cross country race, having made her debut in the North Leinster two weeks previously where she raced into the top 15 to qualify for Leinster. Ailbhe got out strong at the start in a top 30 spot and worked her way up through the field in the second lap to finish in nineteenth place, only a few seconds outside the automatic top 15 qualifying places. A great result for Ailbhe and she will have gained very valuable experience.
The Junior Boys 3,000m started just as the wind and rain began to worsen. The early pace was very conservative but as the race unfolded and the downhill muddy areas were met, the leading group began to split up and soon the Colaiste Mhuire pair of Jamie Wallace and Luke Greene found themselves in the front group of about ten and Donagh Carey and Matthew Molloy (St. Finian’s) and Niall Brady (Colaiste Mhuire) in the chasing group. An injection of pace going into the second lap quickly broke the field and the lead was down to two, including Jamie, well clear of the rest. With 500m to go it was clear the race was going to be between the two and with 100m left, Jamie struck for home, pulling clear to win his first Leinster Schools Cross Country title in style. With Luke finishing a fantastic 11th place and Niall finishing strong, they helped the Colaiste Mhuire team to 2nd place. Matthew and Donagh had kept in contention throughout and running strongly to the finish, placed 7th and 12th respectively to secure their places in the All-Ireland.
The Intermediate Girls 3,500m included several club members, representing Loreto Mullingar and Mercy Kilbeggan. Both schools had entered strong teams and were set for a battle like they had in 2020. Unfortunately, the Kilbeggan team was struck down with illness and a couple of team members missed the event, while Adele Geoghegan and Leah Geoghegan fell ill in the week leading up to event but bravely got stuck in to race on the day. Torrential rain and the windswept course made running conditions difficult. All the girls got out to the front from the start with Caoimhe Kilmurray (Loreto), Adele Geoghegan (Mercy) and Grace Byrne (Loreto) prominent, and the rest of the girls packing well behind. In the second half of the race, Caoimhe was in the top group of three and Grace in the chasing group. Caoimhe held strong and powered through to take 2nd place, with Grace finishing fast for 10th place. For Loreto, Caoimhe Donohue held her place well, as did Siofra O’Halloran having a cracking run, and Jessica Cunningham and Muireann Donohue finished well to help Loreto to 2nd team. The recent illness unfortunately took its toll on Mercy’s Adele Geoghegan and Leah Geoghegan, and Adele wasn’t helped by falling a couple of times during the race because of the dreadful underfoot conditions. Both were understandably very disappointed but can write off the event and look forward to next year. The majority of the Loreto and Mercy girls are underage again next year, making for an exciting prospect in next year’s schools cross country where Loreto Mullingar and Mercy Kilbeggan can battle it out once again.
The weather continued to deteriorate as the runners toed the line for the Intermediate Boys 4,500m. Leading the Colaiste Mhuire team home was Ross Killelea in a fantastic individual bronze medal position, a just reward for all his diligent training at the club. Among the large team following Ross in was club members Conor Sherwin (10th), Pablo Lozano and Conor Liston to give team victory by a large margin and were presented with the Intermediate Cup. Not to have it all to themselves, a great run by David Burke (St. Finian’s) finishing 14th also secured individual qualification for the All Ireland. Philip McCartan, representing Clongowes Wood College, continued his return to full fitness with a strong run in difficult conditions.
Meabh Killelea, Phoebe Bate and Annie Kilmurray competed for Loreto Mullingar in the Senior Girls 3,000m and were looking to build on the second team place in North Leinster. Due to the weather conditions, the event organisers made a health and safety decision on the start line to reduce the race distance to just 1,500m and coupled with a false start mix up, the girls had a lot to do to work through from the back of the pack. The Loreto girls were very disheartened and disappointed with the results, which due to the reduced distance and the upset of being notified of the change only on the start line, were well short of where they expected to finish.
Moving to the Senior Boys 6,000m, Lorcan Mullen (Cistercian College, Roscrea) took to the start of what was supposed to be a 4 lap race, but it was reduced by one lap to just 4,500m. After confusion at the start of the race that resulted in a false start that wasn’t recalled, Lorcan fought bravely to get himself back into contention and ran strongly over the muddy conditions to finish well up the field in 19th place, outside the automatic qualification places, but he lodged an appeal, which was successful, so he’ll get a bye and can compete in the All-Ireland finals in Belfast.
In addition to the Intermediate Cup, when the results of all the boys were combined, Colaiste Mhuire was also presented with the Boys Overall Cup. Well done to all who represented the club and their schools with distinction and Mullingar Harriers will have a strong interest at the All-Ireland in Mallusk, Belfast in March.
