Well deserved National title for Mullingar boys

Glen Gaffney ran the perfect race to win the AAI National Under 13 cross country title last Sunday (February 21) in Lough Key Forest Park, Boyle, Roscommon and led Mullingar to Club team gold. Run in conjunction with the National "B" Finals, this was the re-run of the race that was declared null and void in Coleraine last December but this time around there were no organisational blunders and everything went off very smoothly.Providing great support running was Cormac Dalton (14th), Oisin Quinn (who bravely fought illness to compete) and Patrick Shaw to secure the gold medals for Mullingar. With Mervyn Harris, Kevin Giles, James O'Leannachain, Declan Brady and Philip Doherty also running terrific races, it was little surprise that Westmeath finished second County. For good measure, Glen, Cormac and Oisin also won silver medals with the Leinster team. These team medals are just reward for this dedicated young team.Following the underage races, it was the turn of our master and senior athletes to seek National honours in the AAI National Masters and Intermediate cross country finals. In the master women's race, Michelle O'Halloran was top finisher for Mullingar, followed by Maura Dervin, Vera McCool, Breda Daly, Nuala Moran and Terri Greene who all ran well but finished out of the medals. Similarly in the master men, team medals proved elusive such is the standard at National level, but Tom McGrath, Liam McGlynn, Ben Vaitkavichius (3rd in age-category), Matt Glennon, Padraig Daly, Pat Muldoon, Enda Mimnagh, Aidan Daly, Christy Creagh (3rd in age-category) and Sean McMullin competed well and weren't too concerned about the lack of team medals. Last race of the day, the Intermediate men saw Aidan Gorry, Martin Lyons, JP O'Brien and Keith Gorry put in a great team effort but they too finished out of the medals. It was a great day's running enjoyed by all even if team medals were very thin on the ground. Well done to everyone for competing so well and flying the flag so enthusiastically for Mullingar, and of course not forgetting the good group of dedicated supporters that travelled in number and braved the elements to cheer the Mullingar athletes on.Celtic Schools International IndoorsCompeting alongside the Ireland Junior and Senior teams at the Celtic Indoor Cup in Cardiff last Sunday was the Ireland Schools under 16 team, which included Shane Fitzsimons, and he was clearly inspired by the occasion and won the 1,500m with a phenomenal 15 seconds to spare, in a new meeting record of 4:09.65, bettering the previous record by an impressive 5 seconds. Shane's performance helped Ireland win the Celtic Schools Cup.This is a great early-season indicator of Shane's form and there's little doubt but more records are under threat if he keeps this up.Leinster Indoor ChampionshipsThe Leinster Indoors for u/12 to u/19 will be held this coming week-end in Nenagh. The names of those entered are on the notice board in the Club house, so please check what day and time you're competing. Transport will leave from O'Brien's Topaz filling station on the Lynn Road, Mullingar at 8.15am. Please let Club officials know if you wish to travel on the bus. You can wear flat running shoes on the indoor track in Nenagh but the maximum length of spike allowed is 5mm, so please remember to remove your cross country spikes before Sunday. Your spikes will be checked before you're allowed on the track and if over 5mm you will not be allowed to wear them. Both days will be long ones, so dress warmly and bring a packed lunch and a drink.Ciara Fogarty continued her preparations for the indoor season by competing as a guest at the Dublin Indoors last Friday in Santry, where she won convincingly with a good series of throws, giving her a confidence boost ahead of next week-end's Leinster Indoors.For some of our younger athletes that are too young to compete in Nenagh, the Rás na hÉireann International Cross Country will be held in Oldbridge Estate, Drogheda this Sunday with races for boys and girls from under 9 years of age. As only a few Club athletes will be at the Rás, they'll have to make their own travel arrangements.On the matter of cross country, we wish every success to Club athletes that will be competing for their Schools and Colleges in the Leinster Schools Cross Country at the DCU Sports Grounds on Wednesday, where they'll be hoping to qualify for the All-Ireland Finals in Cork in March and join Club mates Thomas Fagan, Rachel Yorke and Robert Yorke who qualified from the Connaught Finals recently.Finally, the Executive and members of the Club wish to extend sincere sympathy to Bobbie Begley and the entire Begley family on their recent bereavement.Fixtures24th Leinster Schools Cross Country, DCU27th/28th Leinster Juvenile T&F Indoors - days 2 & 3, Nenagh28th Rás na hÉireann International Cross Country, Oldbridge Estate, DroghedaTraining continues each Tuesday and Thursday from the Clubhouse in Grange at 7pm. Check the Club's website <>at www.mullingarharriers.com for results, news and details of all upcoming fixtures.