Star of the Sea AC Open XC 2024 (22nd Sept)
A big squad of over 50 Mullingar athletes travelled to Meath on Sunday 22nd September for the Star of the Sea AC Open Cross Country, the traditional season-opener for Mullingar for many years. The event had to move from its normal course but the new course nearby was just as hilly and with a cold wind on the day, it proved quite testing for everyone, but the Mullingar athletes gave great accounts, winning 16 individual juvenile medals, including 4 gold, 7 juvenile teams won medals, our women team was second Club, and Conor Sherwin finished second place in the men race. An added bonus to the day was when Olympic athlete Andrew Coscoran of Star of the Sea AC appeared and stayed for a long time, chatting with athletes, presenting some of the medals, and happy to pose for photos, an opportunity taken by many of the young athletes from Mullingar.
The first race of the day was the u/9 girls 500m where Cara Hickey raced to second place, ahead of Mia Barry in third, and with Tara Coyne, Adele Bertolo, Cliodhna Fitzpatrick, Sophie Whitelaw, Marie Harte, Aoife Gavigan and Eanin Staunton putting in great efforts, there was little surprise that the girls finished 1st Club. Shay Gavigan was pipped right on the line of the u/9 boys 500m to finish fourth, but with great support and team packing from Austin Keaveney, Matteo Fitzpatrick, Luke Cosgrove, Senan Whelehan and Cian Clifford, it was 1st Club again for Mullingar.
We got our first individual win of the day with Emily Rose Coyne racing clear in the u/10 girls 500m, but despite great efforts from Rachel Robinson, Elsie Hegarty, Madeleine O’Brien and Rosie O’Brien, the girls were very unlucky to finish 4th Club, missing the bronze team medals by just 3 points. We had no team in the u/10 boys 500m but Emmet Walsh ran a very good race, finishing fast and strong and even though he finished out of the medals, his performance will give him confidence for the season ahead.
Seeing Lauryn Smith race to fifth place in the u/11 girls 1,000m, just ahead of Helen McGrath in sixth with Roisin Keane right behind her, and backed up by Kate Horohoe, Lyla Lennon Currill and Rose Harte, hopes were high of team gold, but it wasn’t to be, though the girls were still very pleased to finish 2nd Club, just 3 points off the gold. Our second individual victory of the day came in the u/11 boys 1,000m where Donagh Bourke won well after a great race, to lead the team of Olly Wright and Huw Keaveney to 2nd Club, narrowly missing team gold.
Grace Farry, Aoife Dunne and Faye Carroll battled well on the tough hills in the u/12 girls 1,500m and were unlucky to finish out of the medal places. No problem for the Mullingar team in the u/12 boys 1,500m, led home by Conor Gavin in fourth, ahead of Cillian Gavin in sixth, and with great support from Aaron Robinson and Fintan Harte, the team were worthy winners of the gold medals for 1st Club.
On to the u/13 girls 1,800m where Chloe Bell put in a brilliant race, finishing strong in second place, and with Amelie Kelly in fifth, and Liadan Gavin and Mina Sheridan finishing strong, the team finished 2nd Club, missing gold team medals by just 3 points, showing how close cross country team scores are and how every place counts in the finish. Not having a team to help him meant that if Harry Flanagan wanted a medal in the u/13 boys 1,800m he was going to have to win it himself, and that’s exactly what he did. Going out strong from the start, Harry was always in contention and running fast and strong all the way he finished comfortably in third place to earn an individual medal.
Emily Tully, Aoibhe Martyn and Muirin Dunne combined brilliantly in the u/14 girls 2,000m and though they finished out of the individual medal places, their combined scores placed them 2nd Club to win well-deserved team silver medals. Antonio Bertolo was never really troubled in the u/14 boys 2,200m where he took the early lead and pushed on to win by a distance with a dominant display and will be one to watch in the season ahead.
It’s a real pity we didn’t have a third boy in the u/15 boys 2,500m where Daniel Horohoe and Morgan Isdell put in terrific performances to finish an excellent third and fourth place respectively. If we had a third boy the team would certainly have been in the hunt for team medals. No surprise that our final individual win of the day came from Matthew Molloy who gave a master class in the u/17 boys 4,500m, surging to the front early on and pushing hard all the way to finish well clear of the field.
The women’s 3,000m was a combined race for u/20, senior and master women and after a tough race where she worked hard all the way, Sinead Whitelaw finished an excellent fifth place, followed in by Orlaith Flanagan in eighth, and with great support from Claire Lennon and Kelly Dunne, led the Mullingar women team to a very well-deserved prize for 2nd Club. The final race of the day was the men’s 6,000m, which was a combined race for u/20, senior and master men. With four laps to complete, Conor Sherwin went with the early pace and his bravery paid dividends as though he couldn’t stay with the eventual winner, he had opened a big gap on the field and taking the hills in his stride he came home strong in second place, delighted with his performance so early in the season.
This was an excellent opening fixture for Mullingar Harriers and everyone that took part will gain from the experience and bring it into the season ahead. Thanks very much to the coaches that attended to look after the juvenile athletes, but especially the parents for bringing their children to the event [GD].
