Gallery- Ballycurran basks in sunshine as Kilkenny cross-country season begins

After a week of downpours, Sunday saw the first of Kilkenny’s cross-country events get underway in great sunshine in Ballycurran.

Hosted by St Joseph’s it was a superb event, with a great setup from the start to the finish, while the coffee shop trailer kept everyone warm and fed.

The first events of the day were the under-eight girls and boys’ non-championship races. Like previous events over the last number of years, the younger fields are well represented with a high number of athletes at the start line from all of the juvenile clubs in Kilkenny.

Both the girls and boys gave it their all as they ran the 200m distance in two highly competitive races, with 28 girls and 17 boys shooting off at the whistle.

The under-10 girls was also a stacked race, with a total of 49 girls competing for podium places over the 600m distance. It was the well-timed running of Aoibhe Ledingham and Isabelle Langton, both Kilkenny City Harriers (KCH) athletes that won first and second place, with Kate Kelly of St Senan’s taking third place on the podium. In the under-10 boys’ race 33 athletes took to the start line with Castlecomer duo Diarmuid Maher and Cian Nolan taking first and second place with Sam Coogan of St Senan’s in third place.

In the girls’ under-12 race Kate Malone (Castlecomer) got off to a flying start, pushing out a great lead that she maintained for the whole race. She fought off a push on by Molly Clarke of KCH at the end to claim the gold with Molly taking silver. Siofra Croke O’Neill of Thomastown was the first home for her team and another athlete with a fine run to take the bronze.

In the under-12 boys’ race Daniel McIntyre (KCH) ran a superb race over the 1,500m distance to take the top spot with his clubmate Daniel Quinn finishing shortly after in second place. Luke Hanlon of Thomastown was the third boy home in the under-12 race and first for his club. KCH took the honours of first and second in the teams, with St Joseph’s third.

The under-14 girls were the first of the races to cross over into the bigger 1,000m field, a true test of cross-country endurance for all the athletes. The leading girls kept a good steady pace throughout the race, while a sprint by Laura Aylward of St Senan’s down the finishing straight saw her take the gold in first place. Gowran’s Orla O’Keeffe and Abigail Hunt finished seconds after in second and third places, both girls helping their club to a great first place in the team event.

In the boys’ under-14 race Daniel Greene (KCH) and Tom Doherty (St Joseph’s) started strong with a good lead in the race, as the rest of the runners were spread out further back. Daniel claimed first place from Tom, but there was very little between them. Sam Woodcock (KCH) ran in third place helping the Harriers take gold in the team event, with Gowran in second place.

The girls’ under-16, under-18 and junior races were all run off together in the 3,500m distance race. Kilkenny City Harriers held the top three places and the first team in both the girls’ under-16 and under-18 races. Sinead Cormack was the first home, with Amelia O’Brien second and Katie Byrne third in the girls’ under-16 race. The under-18 was won by Eimear Cormack, with Evelyn McEvoy second and Aine Foley third. Hazel Coogan (KCH) won the junior women’s title with Eimear Cormack second and Caoimhe Barry (St Joseph’s) third.

The boys’ under-16 5,500m race was won comfortably by Zack Fenton (St Senan’s) with Gowran’s Gearoid Farrell taking second place and Lewis Morgan finishing third for the last podium spot. Senan’s were the only team in the boys’ under-16 race, winning the gold.

The boys’ under-18 and junior race were also run off together with all athletes running the 5,500m distance. The race was led by Kyrell Mtinsi (KCH) all the way around and he won with a substantial lead on second placed Evan Aylward (St Senan’s) and third placed Finn O’Neill (St Senan’s). The top three winners were also crowned junior men’s winners with double medals for their efforts.

The county teams will now prepare for the Leinster cross-country championships, which will be held in Gowran on Saturday, October 25. Congrats to all in St Joseph’s for another fantastic day of cross-country running.

Masters

The Masters men and women’s over-50 races were the last two events of the day and finished up just in time before the rain showers began.

It was a sea of green and white in both races as the host club St Joseph’s fielded three teams altogether, two in the men’s 3,000m and one in the women’s 3,000m race.

The course was undoubtedly a test of endurance and stamina for all, with the wind offering strong resistance no matter which direction the athletes ran.

Maria Griffin was the first woman home in the masters, taking gold for St Joseph’s. She was followed in by clubmates Breda Hennessy in second and Maggie Helen O’Conner third with Susan Lanigan the fourth runner home.

The men’s 3,000m was won comfortably by Graham Bourne (KCH) with St Joseph’s duo Peter Barry in second and Bernard Keane third. The host club St Joseph’s took the gold and silver in the team event too.

Women’s Masters over-50: 1 Maria Griffin, SJ; 2 Breda Hennessy, SJ; 3 Maggie Helen O’Conor, SJ; 4 Susan Lanigan, SJ.

Men’s Masters over-50: 1 Graham Bourne, KCH; 2 Peter Barry, SJ; 3 Bernard Keane, SJ; 4 Eamon Bookle, SJ; 5 David Lanigan, SJ; 6 Bill Carroll, TT; 7 Martin O’Sullivan, SJ; 8 Michael Power, SJ; 9 Michael O’Keeffe, TT.

Teams: 1 St Joseph’s, 2 St Joseph’s.