Richardson’s silver lining as Harriers enjoy their European adventure
The local athletics scene was to the fore as a large contingent of Irish athletes travelled to Lisbon for the European Cross-Country Championships at the weekend.
Among the party of athletes were four from Co Kilkenny – all from the city’s Kilkenny City Harriers (KCH) club in the city. The fab four - Shay McEvoy, Peter Lynch, Aoibhe Richardson and Eoin Everard - competed with distinction and brought honour to their club, county and country.
Accompanying the Irish team in the capacity of team manager for the under-23 teams was Niamh Richardson. Niamh was a former Irish international cross-country runner, competing at this level for a number of years. Having a manager who understands the game of athletics from an athlete’s perspective, their fears, expectations and needs on race day was of huge benefit to the young teams.
Junior Men
Shay McEvoy was part of a strong Irish team who carried some credentials into the Junior Men’s (under-20) race. Darragh McIlhenny (Bandon) was ranked number one in Europe over 5,000m and 3,000m this summer and finished third in the European 5,000m junior track and field championships, while McEvoy reached the final of the 3,000m at those championships.
The team of Efrem Gidey, Darragh McIlhenny, Thomas McStay, Keelin Kirehill, Jamie Battle and McEvoy had raced one another for the last few years and been competitive rivals in Irish races. In Lisbon they were a team.
Getting to the Europeans has been McEvoy’s target for the last two years. Coached by Niamh and Noel Richardson, he was patient and trusted their coaching experience. After the disappointment of a ninth place finish at last year’s National Juniors, he rightfully earned his international place with a fifth place finish at this year’s finals.
McEvoy, who is studying for his Leaving Cert at St Kieran’s College, is eligible again for the European Junior Cross Country again next year, when they will be held in Ireland.
While 2020 is his real target, the 2019 Europeans gave him a lot of experience that will prove invaluable for next year. He finished 76th in a race that saw team-mate Efran Gidey take the bronze medal.
Gidey himself has an interesting path to Irish athletics. Born in Eritrea, he came to Ireland two years ago.
Just a few months later he won the Irish schools cross-country championships. Having spent a few years in refugee camps in Northern France he was, upon arrival in Dublin, noticed by his school as a potential athlete. He joined Clonliffe Harriers and has been coached to the current success.
It is only this year with his passport pending that he was entitled to run for Ireland. Indeed he had to travel to Portugal on a Schengen visa.
The race was won by Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway for the fourth year in a row. The Irish team were very unfortunate when they lost out on a bronze medal on countback. They scored the same points as Portugal, finishing on 39 points and just one point off Norway who finished second on 38 points. Great Britain won the team race.
Silver for Women
Although there were no Kilkenny athletes on the under-23 Irish team they had their manager Niamh Richardson jumping for joy. With Stephanie Cotter finishing third the team won the silver medals. Followed by the Flanagan twins, first European under-23 steeplechase medallist Eilish and her sister Roisin, the three girls were phenomenal.
All three run for Adams State University and just two weeks ago finished first, second and third in Division Two of the NCAA.
Lynch has a stormer.
The men’s under-23 race featured Kilkenny’s own Peter Lynch. Peter is the grandson of Sean Lynch, a very familiar figure in Kilkenny athletics. Sean coaches the younger KCH members - all four athletes competing in the Europeans would have trained under Sean’s guidance at some stage in their juvenile career.
Peter ran a great race, finishing in 26th place and was the third athlete home on the Irish team. Currently on scholarship at the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma, he recently finished in 13th place in the Division One NCAA championships.
Oklahoma, being quite flat, was in stark contrast to the very hilly course on offer in Lisbon. However, Peter was prepared, having raced lots of races this season in the USA, many of them hilly and similar underfoot conditions.
His brilliant NCAA race saw him perfectly control his pace, starting slow and building up. On Sunday he had to employ a different strategy. To ensure he did not get caught at the sharp bends leading to short but steep up and down hills, he had to start off a little harder than normal. This was a race he and his coach back in Tulsa had gone over time and time.
Lynch was accompanied by his Irish team-mates Brian Fay (22nd) and Jack O’Leary (25th) for nearly the entire race, O’Leary finishing with the same time as Lynch.
Everard
Eoin Everard raced on the Irish men’s senior team, his first European Cross-Country race.
At 33 years of age, he had a life of competitive athletics behind him and was the oldest and most experienced of Kilkenny’s athletes at this competition.
In contrast to both Peter Lynch and Aoibhe Richardson he chose to stay in Ireland and not take the American route. He has worked long and hard with Brian Maher, who had competed on many Irish teams at both world and European cross-country championships - Maher has been both a training partner and mentor to Everard.
A qualified Physio, with a practise in Kilkenny, Everard’s work and athletics life are perfectly balanced, which enables him to have the best of both a professional and sporting career.
Coached by Emmett Dunleavy, Everard finished eighth in the recent national championships, earning his place on the Irish team on the back of that great performance.
Eoin finished in 61st position and was the third Irish man home. He finished three places ahead of Liam Brady, the recent Irish National Cross Country champion. Sean Tobin from Clonmel was the first Irish home, finishing in 18th position.
Everard can be very happy with his 2019 season. As well as making the European cross-country for the first time, scoring a personal best (PB) over 5000m in Heusden in July, clocking 14.00.12 and running just one second off his 3,000m PB of 8.03 in Watford. At 33, he is still good for a few more seasons.
Silver for Aoibhe
Aoibhe Richardson was the next Kilkenny athlete to come to the line. Fresh from her 19th place at the NCAA championships two weeks ago she felt confident - and had every reason to be.
The Irish team picked to run in Lisbon was special. With Fionnuala McCormack making a comeback and having run a PB at the Chicago Marathon, she was running better than ever. Along with Ciara Mageean, who finished 10th in the world 1,500m in Doha in September, the pedigree of the team was enormous.
The girls had a great performance, finishing second in the team standings with fourth-placed McCormack leading the way. She also made a little history, earning the most European Cross Country appearances for Ireland.
Richardson was the next Irish athlete home, passing Mageean on the penultimate lap to move from 18th to 17th. Like all her other races, she started conservatively and was just 25th after 2km. She knew the top three Irish girls would have to finish in the top 20 to be guaranteed of a medal.
To get to races of this calibre and win medals you have to be psychologically strong. This means digging deep and breaking that pain barrier, not just once but several times in a race. It means knowing your race strategy and being able to adapt positively when surprises happen mid race.
Richardson was ready and performed brilliantly. She came to the race with European Cross experience, having been part of last year’s u23 team.
A little surprised by the frequency of the hills on Sunday’s course, she was not phased – it was a challenge and she loved and embraced challenges. On Sunday afternoon, the hard work paid off as she, along with her five other team-mates, proudly wore their silver medals around their necks.
The result brought a great end to the season for Richardson. From her new base at the University of San Francisco, she could travel home to Kilkenny for a few weeks and relish in her moment.
Juveniles
With the excitement of the Europeans and the excellent performance of the KCH athletes over, it is the turn of the county’s juveniles to take centre stage, with the All-Ireland uneven ages to look forward to next week in Dunboyne.
Kilkenny, as a county, will be represented by nine county teams out of a possible 10 races. There will be nine club teams; St Senan’s and Thomastown have three each, KCH two and Gowran one. More than 100 athletes from the county will travel to the All-Ireland uneven ages in Dunboyne, one of the biggest contingents in a few years.
With 19 athletes on Leinster teams, hopes are high that some medals will be brought home.
The teams are as follows (club code: BH = Barrow Harriers, CC = Castlecomer G = Gowran, KCH = Kilkenny City Harriers, SJ = St Joseph’s, SS = St Senan’s, TT = Thomastown):
Girls’ Under-11: Leinster team - Katie O’Shea (TT), Sinead Cormack (KCH). County team - Katie O’Shea (TT), Sinead Cormack (KCH), Kate Maher (KCH), Grace Gilmartin (SS), Kate Hayden (G), Martha Bergin (KCH), Amy O’Shea (TT), Moya O’Shea (TT), Megan Kinsella (BH), Erin Morrissey (TT). Club - Thomastown, Kilkenny City Harriers.
Boys’ Under-11: County - Robert Coogan (G), Conor Carroll (G), Robert Lacey (KCH), Hugo Tierney (BH), Thomas Carroll (G), Evan Ryan (G), Patrick Quinlan (SS), Thomas Hayes (KCH), Shay Molloy (KCH), Daniel Bolger (BH), Darragh Carroll (G). Club - Gowran.
Girls’ Under-13: Leinster - Charlotte Carpendale (SS), Eve Dunphy (SS), Siofra Kennedy (CC). County - Charlotte Carpendale (SS), Eve Dunphy (SS), Siofra Kennedy (CC), Lily Ryan (SJ), Eabha Mullally (SJ), Niamh Cleary (SS), Hazel Coogan (G), Aine O’Callaghan (SS), Lucy Coomey (G), Caoimhe Barry (SJ). Club - St Senan’s.
Boys’ Under-13: Leinster - Joss O’Connor (SJ).
Girls’ Under-15: Leinster - Sara Kehoe (G), Caoimhe Phelan (SS). County - Sarah Kehoe (G), Caoimhe Phelan (SS), Orlaith Kirwan (TT), Maeve Bookle (SJ), Maria O’Keeffe (TT), Molly Long (SS), Rachel O’Neill (G), Emer Phelan (CC), Jessica Roche (SS), Niamh Cuddihy (SS).
Boys’ Under-15: Leinster - David Williams (SS), Billy Coogan (G). County - David Williams (SS), Billy Coogan (G), Gearoid Long (SS), Ben Wallis (SS), Naoise Gilmartin (SS), Kealan Gray (KCH), Ruairi McEvoy (KCH), Luke Phelan (G), Harry Boyle (KCH), Eoin Aylward (SS). Club - St Senan’s.
Girls’ Under-17: Leinster - Hannah O’Keeffe (TT), Aine Kirwan (TT). County - Hannah O’Keeffe (TT), Aine Kirwan (TT), Fiona Dillon (TT), Clodagh Monahan (SS), Eabha Carroll (TT), Pia O’Grady (G), Orlaith O’Shea (TT). Club - Thomastown.
Boys’ Under-17: Leinster - Tadgh Connolly (SS), Cathal O’Reilly (CC). County - Tadgh Connolly (SS), Cathal O’Reilly (CC), Colm Roche (SS), Cillian Dunne (G), Billy Power (TT), Matthew Holland (G), Ryan Cummins (SS), Peter Holohan (CC), David Byrne (G).
Girls’ Under-19: Leinster - Tara Ramsawmy (SS), Sophie Jackman (SS), Aoife Allen (SS). County - Tara Ramsawmy (SS), Sophie Jackman (SS), Aoife Allen (SS), Ellen Ryan (TT), Ciara O’Keeffe (TT), Sinead O’Keeffe (TT), Nell Murphy (SS), Orla O’Keeffe (TT). Clubs - St Senan’s, Thomastown.
Boys’ Under-19: Leinster - Shay McEvoy (KCH), Kevin Burns (KCH). County - Shay McEvoy (KCH), Kevin Burns (KCH), John Muldowney (KCH), Cathal Kearney (KCH), James Kearney (KCH), Dylan McLoughlin. Club - KCH.