Leinster Senior & Juvenile Uneven Ages XC 2018 – ADAMSTOWN (11th Nov)
Mullingar juveniles continue to set the benchmark in Leinster Cross Country
Even though we knew the weather forecast on Sunday 11th November was bad, nothing really prepared us for the very heavy showers, including hailstones for a while and even a bit of lightening for good measure that made conditions very tough at times for runners and spectators alike at the Leinster Senior and Juvenile Uneven Ages Cross Country in Adamstown, Co. Wexford. Despite the tough conditions, the Mullingar athletes were more than up to the challenge and of the 10 juvenile races, Mullingar won team medals in 9 of them and Westmeath teams won medals in 5 of them and another 2 teams finished just out of the medals in 4th place. We also had individual wins from Matthew Molloy (u/11) and Ryan Jenkins (u/13) and another 18 Mullingar athletes won individual medals by finishing in the top twelve places to stamp their mark on the Leinster juvenile cross country championships this season.
It wasn’t just black weather clouds in Wexford though, Mullingar had its own black cloud because while we had entered 106 athletes, only 85 competed on the day, meaning that nearly one in five didn’t run. While half of them indicated in advance that they wouldn’t be able to run for various good reasons, which is fair enough, one in ten just didn’t show up at all, despite confirming in the past week or two that they would run, which is very disappointing.
Great compliments are due to Wexford Athletics, and the local Adamstown AC, for providing an excellent venue, constructing the course the day before in heavy rain. The course held up remarkably well on the day, though got broken up in places and was sticky on some corners, but it was a proper cross country course and provided a tough but fair test for all competitors.
The day began with non-Championship races for girls and boys under 9 years of age hosted by Wexford Athletics. Mullingar had runners in both and they ran really well and enjoyed the races, so we still have youngsters coming through and we’ll see these girls and boys in the coming years racing in Championships proper.
Because many athletes in the u/19 races are third level students and need to get home early in the day to travel back to University or College, the first Championship races were the u/19 girls and boys. Aoife Darby continues to race into form and finished an excellent 5th place in the 4,000m for girls u/19. With Susan Glennon (7th), Lisa Gavin (Athlone IT) in 12th, and close packing by Andrea Brady, Laura Shaw, Daria Fidgeon and Elysia Greene, the Mullingar girls were very pleased to finish 1st Club and Westmeath finished 3rd County to get us off to a great start on the medal scoreboard. We had the just the minimum four needed for a team in the 6,000m for boys u/19, led home by Jack Moran finishing strongly in 4th place, followed by Euan Lagan (11th), John Whitelaw and Brian Martin in close order, to place Mullingar 3rd Club and Westmeath just out of the County medals in 4th place.
Some of the Mullingar team in the 1,500m for girls u/11 had moved up an age and ran in the u/12 race in Navan two weeks before, but some of them were getting their first taste of Leinster competition. They all took it in their stride and turned in strong performances, led home by Katie Kilmurray, followed by Tianna O’Leary, Lydia McDonnell, Therese Daly, Katie Glennon, Eileen Farrell, Síofra O’Reilly and Aiveen Lynch. The girls were very unlucky to finish 6th Club, tied on the same points score as 4th and 5th but placed 6th on count-back, disappointing for the girls but they are a young team with bright futures ahead of them. When Matthew Molloy made his break for home in the 1,500m for boys u/11, he quickly pulled clear and finished comfortably ahead to win the Leinster title. Joining him in the winners enclosure was Jake Bell (6th) and Cian Corcoran (7th), and with Luke Greene putting in a terrific finish just out of the individual medal places, it was Club gold for Mullingar by a big gap. With great support from Niall Brady, Arthur Drummond, Oliver Lynch, Sean Byrne, Brian Longe and Eoin Donohue, the boys also finished 1st County and will be a team to watch in the All-Ireland finals.
Caoimhe Kilmurray worked very hard in the 2,500m for girls u/13 and was rewarded with a fine 11th place finish to win an individual medal. Morgan Corcoran was unlucky to finish just out of the individual medals in 13th place but with Adele Geoghegan and Grace Byrne following her in close behind, the girls finished 3rd Club in a very close contest where only three points separated gold, silver and bronze. It was close too in the inter-County contest. Despite great team support from Orla McDermott, Jessica Cunningham, Rachel Murphy, Ellen Daly, Leah Geoghegan, Orla Manning, Lucy Donnelly, Rose Macken, Anna May Flannery, Ellen Foran, Muireann Donohue and Caoimhe Donohue, the girls were very unlucky to finish 4th County, just out of the medals, but they can be very proud of their sterling efforts. Ciara Glennon started but was unable to finish due to illness and we wish her a speedy recovery. The Mullingar boys were the clear pre-race favourites in the 2,500m for boys u/13, and with good reason. Ryan Jenkins fought hard all the way down the long finish straight to hold on to first place in a close race and win the Leinster title, the second for Mullingar. Followed by Luke O’Leary (6th), Callum Costello (7th), Conor Liston (11th), Philip McCartan just returned from injury with a strong race (12th), Pablo Lozano with the vital sixth score, and terrific team support from Alex Lynch, Daire McDonald, David Burke, Rory McDonnell and Ryan Bell, the boys finished 1st Club and 1st County by a big margin.
Amy Geoghegan battled hard in the 3,500m for girls u/15 and her reward was a great 2nd place for her efforts. Supported by Phoebe Bate (10th), Meghan Bates, Aoife McGouran and Eva Farrell, the girls finished 3rd Club, only a few points off second place to book their places in the All-Ireland finals. Diarmuid Fagan had the honour of leading the Mullingar team home in the 3,500m for boys u/15 with a fine 7th place finish. Supported by Ross Killalea, Adam Brady, Tadgh Kenny, John Ryan, Adam Smyth, Martin Foran and Andrew Glennon, the team finished 3rd Club but out of the County medals in 5th place.
Working hard throughout and with great pace in the closing stages saw Meabh Killalea finish 11th and Bea Drummond 12th place in the 4,000m for girls u/17, to set the team up well for success. With Jennifer Fidgeon, Ciara Smith, Karla Cunningham and Francesca Walshe packing very well in support, the team finished 2nd Club and 2nd County, a great reward for their efforts. Despite being hit hard by absences, the Mullingar team in the 5,000m for boys u/17 didn’t let it affect their performances. Led home by Eoin Quinn (5th), supported brilliantly by Colin Smith (12th), Rian Hogan, Lorcan Mullen, Matthew Glennon, Ciaran Luby, Paul McCool, Colin McGee and Kevin Martin, the team easily finished 1st Club and also took bronze medals for 3rd County.
We had no senior women and Mullingar’s sole representative in the Senior Men 10,000m was Andrew Nevin who battled hard with the rain and mud throughout five tough laps but came through it with a strong finish and expressed good satisfaction with his effort and race to round off an excellent day for Mullingar.
Leinster titles for Matthew Molloy (u/11) and Ryan Jenkins (u/13); another 18 top-twelve finishers, 9 Club team medals, 5 County team medals and 2 County teams in fourth place, means that Mullingar and Westmeath will have a very big presence at the All-Ireland finals in Navan in mid-December. The All-Ireland finals are a step up though and everyone that has qualified for the even ages in Abbotstown in two weeks time and for the uneven ages in Navan three weeks after that needs to continue to apply themselves fully in training, at the Club on Tuesdays and Thursdays but especially in Belvedere on Sunday morning.
