Eugenia Bateson reports: Another fine showing of Juvenile Athletes at the Dublin Uneven Age Cross Country Championships in the beautiful course of City West.
Leah Horgan was our first out and our only U9 Girl. Leah had an excellent run and was rewarded with a 12th place medal. Leah had set the scene for what was to be a great day ahead for our young athletes. Charlie Rooney was our only U9 Boy and ran a fine race finishing 16th overall.
U11 Girls were represented by Ria Hobbs, Matilda Hughes and Molloy O’Brien, all three ladies giving it everything out there.
U11 Boys saw Joshua Daily put in a fine run.
Our U12 Girls stepped up to the U13 Race and made their presence felt. Young Ava Fagan lead the girls home in 19th place with an impressive top 20 finish. Adrianna, Emma, Julia, Lucy, Molly, Muireann and Rosie all put in fine runs. Official results are yet to follow but regardless the girls are showing fine form. Most of this team will run in Enniskillen in two weeks in the National Championships and are looking fit and strong at this early stage.
U13 Boys had some fantastic runs, again many of the group running up an age. Seamus Phelan put in a fine strong run and earned individual qualification finishing 9th and the ever impressive Sam Steenson finishing 10th. Issac O’Neill finished 18th with Daire Cronin coming in as 4th scorer earning the boys team 3rd place and with 67 points, qualification for National Championships in Tramore on 1st December. Rhys Jenkins and Max Schwarzbaher was 5th and 6th home. Adam Phelan, Channing O’Shea, Darragh Kidd, and Rhys Daly all had fine runs. Well done lads.
U15 Girls team was hit with late withdrawals throwing the girls off a bit on the day but with two left, Kate Gill powered home in 21st as she continues to improve and progress. Lucy McFetridge finished approx 30th and is already looking to the indoor season. Love the spirit of these two girls.
U15 Boys was made up primarily of U14 Boys joining Cormac Tynan. Fantastic runs from Mark Kelly, Braxton O’Shea, Conor Kenny, Hayden Kenny and of course Cormac. An anxious wait for the lads to see if they made nationals as a team but excellent prep for the Nationals in Enniskillen in two weeks with impressive runs from all 5.
U17 Girls – Goda Buivydyte had a brilliant run and finished 3rd overall. Hannah Walsh also had a brilliant run and finished 8th having been disappointed with a 13th place finish last year, she ensured that she will compete at Nationals this year. Sophie Kernan running up an age ran the best race she has run in a long time and came home as the 3rd Clonliffe girl with Rebecca Finn coming in as 4th scorer. Leah O’Reilly and Rachel Ardiff also had good runs today. Isla Duncan unfortunately had a muscle strain during the race so unfortunately had to pull out as did Harriett Kenny who is just coming back to racing form.
U17 Boys – Sean Henry packed in well from the start and has put last years injury well and truly behind him. Sean finished 5th in todays race. Edy Blacque was next man home followed by Liam Arthur, Tadhg Cowley, Fiachra O’Donovan. Tobiasz Lewandowski who has only recently joined the club completed the 4k course with a smile on his face and showed great grit and determination. Definitely a good future ahead for one of our newest Clonliffe Harriers.
Unfortunately official results are not yet available but will be updated once they come in.
Special thanks to Willie and Lorraine Fagan and Jane Charles who took on the volunteering duties for this event. Very much appreciated. Thank you also to the coaches who have prepped so many of our Juveniles for this magnificent Cross Country Season.
Best of luck to all our Juveniles who have qualified for Even or Uneven Age National Championships. We will have 6 Juvenile Teams heading to Enniskillen for the National Even Age Championships on 17th November, with U12 Girls making history being the first Girls team of this age to qualify. We will also have an U12 Boys team, U14 Boys Team, U16 Boys Team and and U18 Boys and Girls Team.
Uneven Age National Championships will take place on 1st December in Tramore, Co. Waterford.
Fantastic Cross Country Season – well done to all coaches and athletes.
Official results to follow
