Week ending Saturday 16th November
Leinster Team Titles for Mullingar Senior Women
Back in 1995 the Mullingar senior women team of Caroline Mullen, Paula Gowran, Brigid McCabe, Vera McCool (then Flynn) and Lorraine Nooney won the Leinster (then called Eastern Region) senior women cross country Club title in Pedigree Corner, Co. Laois. Last Saturday at the Leinster Senior and Juvenile Uneven Ages Cross Country Championships in Ferbane, Co. Offaly, our senior women ended a nearly 25 year drought when they won the Leinster Club title with a dominant display that saw the first four on the team finish in the top twelve. Led home by Claire Fagan in second place and with great team support from Aine O’Reilly (seventh), Sinead Whitelaw (tenth), Elizabeth Carr (twelfth), Michelle Bohan, Jennifer Algar, Anna Broderick and Amy Mahony the team not only finished first Club but also first County by some distance.
The only Leinster cross country team title never won by Mullingar is the senior men, and our senior men team of Padraig Moran (fourth), Andrew Nevin (twelfth), James Keegan, Gerard Gavin, Patrick Muldoon and Eoin Lynch came very close but fell short by only a few points to finish second Club. This second place is the closest that Mullingar has ever come to winning the senior men Club title. The men also finished fourth County, just two points away from third place and the bronze medals.
We have become very accustomed in Mullingar, almost blasé, about underage cross country success, but senior titles are so much harder to win, making the victory of our senior women, and the close call by our senior men, particularly noteworthy. This success did not happen just by chance of course, and is as a result of long hours of dedication in training by our senior athletes under the watchful eye of our senior cross country coach, Colm Walsh.
The senior races in Ferbane came after a long day of thrilling races in the underage programme in tough weather conditions with the odd shower of rain and with gusting winds to test the athletes and spectators. Underfoot conditions were quite good despite prolonged heavy rain in the days leading up to the event and with all types of testing terrain and uphill and downhill sections to challenge the athletes, it was a proper cross country course. Ferbane AC hosted the event and congratulations to them for setting up a great course and providing excellent on-site catering that greatly contributed to the success of the event.
Undeterred by the tough course and conditions, in addition to the senior team medals, the Mullingar underage teams won medals in every underage race from u/11 to u/19 that we had teams in, a total of 9 sets of Club team medals from 10 underage races, not to mention 5 sets of County medals too, making for a truly dominant team display. Diarmuid Fagan won the u/15 boys race and we another 16 Mullingar athletes won individual medals by finishing in the top twelve places.
Before the Championships proper, there were open races for boys and girls under 9 years of age. Emily Collentine ran in the girls race and Killian Galvin was the runaway winner of the boys race, where Aonghus O’Reilly and Louis Kiernan also competed and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We are sure to see these youngsters in the coming years racing in Championships proper.
For some of the twelve-strong Mullingar team in the 1,500m for girls u/11 it was their first Leinster race, though others they had moved up an age to compete in the u/12 race in Gowran two weeks before, but they all took it in their stride. Leading the team home in seventh place was Tianna O’Leary, and with Muireann Galvin, Mollie Conlon, Therese Daly, Eleanor Kiernan, Allison Tourish, Aiveen Lynch, Katie Glennon, Isabel Daly, Lisa O’Brien, Eleanor Mulligan and Blathnaid Peters providing great support, the team finished second Club, but out of the County medals in sixth place. Jake Bell finished fifth in the 1,500m for boys u/11 to lead the Mullingar team of Oliver Lynch, Darren Corcoran, Daniel Boyle, Conor Geoghegan, Conor Walsh, Thomas Daly, Jack Geoghegan and Greg McDonnell to first Club, but out of the County medals in sixth place.
Team medals continued to come our way in the 2,500m for girls u/13 as Morgan Corcoran in ninth place led the team of Rachel Murphy, Orla Manning, Ellen Daly, Rose Macken, Lydia McDonnell, Muireann Donohue and Síofra O’Reilly to third Club, but still County medals eluded us as the team also finished sixth County. Four in the top twelve in the 2,500m for boys u/13 thanks to Matthew Molloy (second), Conor Liston (fifth), Jamie Wallace (sixth) and Luke O’Leary (tenth) guaranteed the gold medals for first Club. With strong finishing and support from Alex Lynch, Luke Greene, Cian Corcoran and Niall Brady, the team also finished first County, our first of the day.
Caoimhe Kilmurray pushed herself very hard in the 3,500m for girls u/15 and was rewarded with fifth place, and with Adele Geoghegan just missing an individual medal in thirteenth place, followed by Grace Byrne, Leah Geoghegan, Jessica Cunningham, Caoimhe Donohue, Lucy Donnelly, Shauna Traynor, Aisling Lane and Ellen Foran packing well in support, the girls finished second Club and third County. We had our first and what transpired to be our only individual victory of the day in the 3,500m for boys u/15 when Diarmuid Fagan timed his break from the leading pack to perfection to pull clear and win. Followed in by team mates Ross Killalea, Adam Brady, Philip McCartan, Conor Sherwin, Callum Costello, Adam Smyth, David Burke, Tadhg Sheridan, Andrew Glennon and Conleth Mullen the boys finished second Club and third County.
We had four in the top twelve, in the 4,000m for girls u/17 where Phoebe Bate finished seventh, Meabh Killalea ninth, Amy Geoghegan tenth and Bea Drummond eleventh to comfortably secure the gold medals for first Club. Thanks to great support from Karla Cunningham, Annie Kilmurray and Anna Macken the girls also finished second County. On to the 5,000m for boys u/17 where Matthew Glennon in fifth, Colin Smith close behind in seventh, Lorcan Mullen, Tadhg Hunwick, Colin McGee, and Kevin Martin were very happy to finish first Club but missed the bronze medals by just four points when they placed fifth County on count-back.
The only event where we did not field a team was the 4,000m for girls u/19 but that did not prevent Aoife Darby putting in a great effort, only to miss an individual medal by just one place when she finished in thirteenth. Lisa Gavin (Athlone IT) also ran well in a tough competitive race. We ended the underage programme with the 6,000m for boys u/19 where Mullingar fielded the minimum team of four, led home by Eoin Quinn in sixth, Oisin Lane right behind him in seventh and with strong performances by Brian Martin and Ruairi Fagan and boys finished second Club and with just four needed to score for a County in this age group, they also finished third County.
We concluded the day with the 5,000m for Senior Women and 10,000m for Senior Men where as previously noted, our senior teams were in excellent form and put in terrific performances to win the women title and the men placed second, to send the big group of Mullingar friends and supporters home in high spirits.
A Leinster title for Diarmuid Fagan, another sixteen top-twelve finishers, nine Club team medals and five County team medals, means that Mullingar and Westmeath will have a big squad at the All-Ireland finals in Dunboyne 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 and for the uneven ages in Dunboyne three weeks after that needs to continue to apply themselves fully in training, at the Club on Tuesdays and Thursdays but especially in Belvedere at the week-ends.
Fundraising Table Quiz
The Club is holding a fundraising table quiz at Wallace’s Pub in Dalystown this coming Saturday evening at 8pm and we are asking everyone to show their support. A table of four adults is €40, that is €10 each, but juveniles will be €5 each. There will be cash prizes up for grabs and a raffle too, so we would greatly appreciate donations of raffle prizes.
Four Mullingar athletes on International duty
Four of our master athletes head to England this week to represent Ireland at the British and Irish Masters International Cross Country in Aintree, Liverpool. Eileen Kenny, Brigid McCabe and Aine O’Reilly have represented Ireland before, but for Gerard Gavin this will be his International debut, which is a tremendous honour for him, his family and the Club. Gerard has applied himself diligently to training and racing in recent years and his progress and dedication to the sport has been rewarded with this honour. Everyone at the Club wishes them all the very best of luck.
Clane 10k
Over 600 braved the early morning cold and took to the roads around Clane in Co. Kildare last Saturday morning for the Clane 5k & 10k, in aid of Acquired Brain Injury Ireland. Finishing well up in the 10k race was Paul Ginnell in 42:48 to place third in his master category followed by Terri Greene in 49:04 delighted to win her master category. Congratulations to Paul and Terri on their successes in a race in support of an excellent cause.
Dressing for the cold
We’re really getting a sharp reminder lately of how cold it can get at training, so it’s a good time to remind all athletes that they should wear appropriate running gear for the cold weather. Warm clothing is essential and that includes going to and from training and competition. A pair of lightweight gloves, a woolen hat and a few layers of warm clothing is all it takes. Having a warm sweat shirt, fleece or jacket for after training is especially important. Parents of younger juveniles should insist that they wear the proper clothing. Also, lightweight running tights or leggings are recommended and will give much needed protection against the cold. Athletes not properly dressed for the cold weather will not perform to their best.
Get well soon wishes to Pearly Tanner
Everyone at the Club wishes a speedy and full recovery after a recent illness to Pearly Tanner, our local Community Employment Scheme Supervisor. Pearly has been a regular around the Club for many years and the fruits of her work are to be seen as she supervises the upkeep and maintenance of the Clubhouse and grounds by our excellent Grounds Staff.
Finally, the Executive and members of the Club extend sincere sympathy to Tommy Conroy on the death last week of his father, Toss (Tommy) Conroy, Gaybrook, Mullingar and to Mags Hogan and the entire Hogan family on the death last week of her brother Rob (Robert) Tynan in Douglas, Cork. May they rest in peace.
For the latest results, news and details of all upcoming fixtures check the Club’s website at www.mullingarharriers.com.
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