County Novice Titles for Martina O Dwyer and Danny Smith

Powerstown Racecourse was the venue for the County Novice Cross Country titles that got the season off to a fantastic start in glorious sunshine. All the Clubs that participated are to be complimented on getting their athletes out to compete and it was great to see record entries in both the Ladies 3K and men’s 6k events.

In the Ladies race we had 24 athletes go to the start and they represented eight clubs, both new records, brilliant. Right from the start Martina O Dwyer of Carrick on Suir went into the lead and she was determined to add this title to the County Novice Road title she won last February. She made every step a winning one as she came home a very worthy winner. The battle for the Silver and Bronze positions was a lot tighter with Catherine Kelly of Dundrum and Niamh Hennessy of Templemore matching stride for stride as they went out on their last lap. Then midway through the race Catherine moved clear and maintained that position all the way to the line to win the Silver medal with Niamh running well to win the Bronze medal. Then we had Pamela Lynch of Clonmel coming through over the closing stage to finish 4^th with her clubmates Catherine Rice and Elaine O Brien finishing 5^th and 6^th respectively. Midway through the race Templemore were leading in the team event but over the closing stages the Clonmel athletes put in a strong finish to win the team title and that team was Pamela, Catherine and Elaine. Templemore won the Silver medals and it is great to see them back competing strongly again at Senior level and hopefully this squad will continue this great effort. The Templemore Silver medal winning team were Niamh, Cheryl Stanley who was 7^th and Ailbhe Carroll who was 8^th. The Bronze medals were won by the defending Champions, Dundrum and their team consisted of Catherine along with Karen Coughlan 10^th and Mary Keane 11^th. For the record Clonmel were 4^th team( Emma Ferris 9^th, Sarah Whelan 14^th, Rosie Casey 17^th), Thurles Crokes were 5^th ( Eileen Carey 16^th, Liz McGrath 18^th, Margaret Looby 19^th). Looking down through the results it is great to see so many of these Ladies competing at County Senior  Cross Country level for the very first time, in all we had 11 out of the 24 competing in their very first Cross Country event, well done and the Clubs are asked to keep up this great work at local level.

In the Men’s race we also had a record entry of 65 athletes as well as a record number of Clubs with 13 Clubs represented, great to see such hard work at local level paying off and the County Chairman urged all the Clubs to continue this great effort. The race itself was a wonderful race, fast and furious from the start as conditions were ideal for running and the athletes made light of the terrain. Right from the start a group of four set the pace and they included Stephen Hunter of Clonmel, Kevin Moore of Dundrum, Shane Scully of Nenagh Olympic and the eventual winner Danny Smith of Ballynonty. They we still together as they past the finishing post with two laps to go. The pace increased further on the stiff incline and soon the group was down to three with Stephen losing touch. At this stage Danny Smith was leading and he kept this strong tempo going on ideal ground and as the leaders went out on their final lap Danny had increased his lead to 75 metres and was full f running with Shane Scully and Kevin Moore still locked together in 2^nd place. As they reached the top of the final hill Danny was still clear but Shane had moved ahead of Kevin and he now set his sights on reeling in Danny. He gave it  a mighty effort  on the downhill slope but Danny rallied again close to the line to come home a very worthy and convincing winner in 21 mins 30 secs, brilliant running. Shane Scully of Nenagh Olympic won the Silver in 21 mins 45 secs with Kevin Moore of Dundrum winning the Bronze medal in 22 mins 8 secs. For the record, Ross Alexander (Coolquill) 4^th in 22 mins 42 secs, 5^th Patrick Roche Carrick on Suir 22 mins 48 secs, 6^th Owen Fanning Ballynonty 22 mins 49 secs, 7^th Padraig Coen Dundrum 22 mins 53 secs, 8^th Ruaidhri Devitt Dundrum 22 mins 55 secs, 9^th Finbarr Horgan Clonmel 22 mins 57 secs, and 10^th Michael Coen Dundrum 22 mins 59 secs. With four athletes in the top ten Dundrum were worthy winners of the team award with 28 points and I have no doubt they will celebrate this win in style at their 50^th Anniversary celebrations in Dundrum House hotel next Saturday night. The Silver medal were won by Ballynonty who were the surprised packet with their team of Danny, Owen, Kevin Shelley 12^th 23 mins 17secs, Fergal Loughnane 30^th 24 mins 51 secs. Coolquill held off the Clonmel challenge to win the Bronze medal by four points with their team of Ross, Dermot Logue 13^th 23 mins 22 secs, Joe Keaney 16^th 323 mins 40secs and John Russell 18^th 23 mins 43 secs. For the record Clonmel were 4^th with Finbarr, Stephen Hunter 14^th 23 mins 29 secs, Eoin McGrath 15^th 23 mins 50 secs and Niall O Ceallaigh 17^th 23 mins 41 secs. The Nenagh Olympic team of Shane, Keith Butler 11^th 23 mins 14 secs, Kevin Sherlock 37^th 25 mins 13 secs and Paul Scully 38^th 25 mins 30 secs were 5th. 6^th Dundrum B – 112 points, 7^th Coolquill B 116 points, 8^th Clonmel B 119 points, 9^th Carrick on Suir 123 points, 10^th Thurles Crokes 140 points, 11^th Ballynonty B 163 points and 12^th Clonmel C 215 points.

One interesting competitor in last Sunday’s race was paddy Shelley who was competing in his 50^th season for Ballynonty – a brilliant achievement, well done paddy on such a brilliant and rare achievement.

Cross Country race under lights

Fethard Athletic Club is promoting a new venture – Cross country under lights on Mondays 11^th, 18^th and 25^th of October. The 5k race will commence at 7.30 pm and the entry fee is €3. Prizes will be awarded on a Draw on finishing positions each night. This is an ideal opportunity for athletes of all levels of fitness to come out and participate. For further details contact Miceal McCormack