National Juvenile Inter-Club XC Relays 2022 (16th Oct)
In a change from the norm, Athletics Ireland brought the Juvenile Inter-Club National Cross Country Relay Championships forward to kick off the cross country season, and the event took place on Sunday 16th October before the Autumn Open International Cross Country Festival at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown, Co. Dublin. Held on the same course that hosted the European Cross Country last December, over 140 relay teams from all across the Country battled it out for National honours and the event gave athletes the perfect opportunity to whet their appetites for the upcoming cross country season.
Mullingar Harriers AC had teams in each of the six races, starting with the u/11 girls who had to complete four legs of 500m each. Led out by Clodagh Keane with a strong start she put the girls in contention from the early stages of the race. Strong running from Penny Bohan and Amelie Kelly kept the team with the leaders throughout. Running the fourth leg, Chloe Bell took off sensing glory around the final corner and ran the girls on to the podium, crossing the line in third place and collecting National team medals in the process.
The Mullingar team in the u/11 boys race set out with great determination in an attempt to continue the Club’s early success. Although Conor Gavin, Harry Flanagan, Myles Thornton Sleator and Gareth Glennon gave it their best around the circuit where they stayed in the top ten throughout, they were unfortunate to see the top three pull ahead as the race progressed. Although they didn’t match the girls accomplishments, they’ve shown their potential for what’s to come at the Leinster Cross Country Championships over the next few weeks.
The u/13 girls had to contend with the biggest race of the day, with nearly 40 teams toeing the start line. The large group took off with great speed and by the time Aobh Smith met Lucy Kilmurray at the first hand-over some of the stronger teams had already made a commanding lead. The Mullingar girls never gave up though and all four girls, with Lisa O’Brien and Lily Walsh completing the line-up, chased the race all the way to the finish showing great fighting spirit, something that will encourage the girls considering half the team were giving away a year on their competitors.
Nearly all of Mullingar u/13 boys were giving a year away in this age group but that didn’t deter them from putting it up to their rivals. Just like the u/11 boys earlier, the team of Antonio Bertolo, Cormac McGrath, Louis Kiernan and Cillian Galvin kept in touch with the leaders over the four legs but were similarly unfortunate to gradually drop off the fast pace before reaching the finish line. The boys did themselves and the Club proud and can look forward to showing their strengths again in the upcoming Leinster events.
For the u/15 girls, the race distance doubled and each athlete had 1,000m to cover. Blathnaid Peters took on the responsibility of leading the Mullingar girls in to the race and had an impressive run on the first leg. The team was depleted before race day but Chloe Duggan, racing well out of age, ensured Mullingar could field a team. She kept the girls in the race but even though Emma Lagan and Sadhbh Carey made their way through the field as the race progressed the girls were unfortunate to finish with nothing to show for their hard efforts.
The final race of the day, the u/15 boys, proved to be the most exciting race with the lead changing hand on almost every leg. Luke Greene led out the Mullingar team and although keeping in touch with the main pack, a couple of runners made a break just before the changeover. Conor Walsh took the baton and set out to close any gaps as quickly as possible. Making ground on the leaders there was a sense that more medals could be going home to Mullingar before the day was done. On the third leg a huge run by Niall Brady brought the team in to third place and when Matthew Molloy took the baton for the final leg everything was to play for. Just 300m in to the last 1,000m Matthew had caught the leaders but so too had the fourth place team. A battle to the line ensued and although two runners managed to pull slightly away Matthew dropped the fourth runner bringing Mullingar home to win National bronze medals.
Many thanks to the parents and coaches who helped organize and prepare the teams for their races. Memorable days like this can only happen with the support and volunteering of the parents of juvenile members.
