Published: Wednesday, 3rd February, 2010 5:00pm

Sports Stars: Mullingar Park Hotel/Westmeath Examiner Sports Stars winners

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Jake Byrne who shares the June award with Shane Fitzsimons.

January

Kathryn Nea

Picking up the award for January is a very talented young singer, Kathryn Nea. Representing the St. Malachys club, Kathryn picked up her second Leinster Scór na nÓg title for solo singing, when claiming the provincial crown in Athlone.

An accomplished musician, Kathryn has competed at a variety of events over the years and most recently has been featuring on RTE's All-Ireland Talent Show, reaching the live semi-final last Sunday night, along with Niall Kelly

February

Darren McCormack

One of Westmeath's outstanding hurlers of the decade, Darren McCormack enjoyed a change in emphasis in the early part of 2009 when intercounty manager, Eamonn Gallagher deployed the Castlepollard clubman in a pivotal attacking role. It certainly paid big dividends as Westmeath produced a series of excellent performances culminating in a Kehoe Cup victory over Carlow. Previously an imperious defender, Darren has been honoured by the Leinster selectors in the past.

March

Mullingar Hockey Club

Cup competitions are renowned for producing some fairytale storylines and so it was for Mullingar Hockey Club in 2009, although the ending could have been a little happier. Performing at the top of their game, the Mullingar flagbearers made it all the way to the final of the Irish Challenge Cup for the first time in their history. Along the way they had the signal honour of hosting the PSNI. Unfortunately, for the team they enjoyed little luck in the final where they suffered defeat.

April

Barry Kelly

Since taking up refereeing in the 1990s, Barry Kelly has established himself as one of the most respected knights of the whistle in hurling circles. A very useful hurler with St. Oliver Plunketts in his playing days, he made the transformation with great ease and having obtained a good grounding at local level, he joined the national referees panel and was chosen to officiate at major games at provincial and national level. In April he was selected as the Referee of the Year, in recognition of his excellent handling of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final in September 2008.

May

Westmeath Under 16 Camogie Team

May provided another major victory for a Westmeath team when the county's Under 16 Camogie team recorded an all too rare All-Ireland victory. Competing in the 'C' championship, the girls in maroon gave their sport a timely boost when they travelled to St. Tiernach's Park in Clones in May and duly recorded an historic victory over Ulster kingpins, Tyrone.

In winning the All-Ireland crown, this team has given a major lift to the profile of camogie in the county and hopefully they will build on their success in the years ahead.

June

Jake Byrne/

Shane Fitzsimons

The sport of athletics has always enjoyed great popularity in the Lake County and in recent years many fine talents have emerged. Two of the current crop of budding stars, hoping the emulate Cormac Finnerty and Martin Fagan, are Jake Byrne and Shane Fitzsimons, who have featured prominently at many of the major events over the past few years. In June, Jake competed in the World Track and Field Championships while Shane was also selected to represent his country in an International Schools Track and Field Championships.

Undoubtedly, Jake and Shane are two exceptionally talented young athletes who have the potential to follow in the footsteps of previous Harriers and make their mark on the world stage.

July

Aoife Carton

The sport of Pitch and Putt received a timely fillip in July when a young Kilbeggan woman, Aoife Carton produced a tremendous performance to secure an All-Ireland title at her first time of asking. Competing in the All-Ireland Junior Championships in Glenville, Aoife carded a two under par total over the final fifty holes to win by fourteen shots.

A confident and talented young sportswoman, Aoife has the potential to reach even greater heights in the future.

August

Robbie McCarthy

One of the finest handballers to emerge from Mullingar, Robbie McCarthycame to prominence once more in August when he battled his way through to the All-Ireland Senior Handball Championships for the first time in his career. A former World Under 19 and All-Ireland Intermediate champion, Robbie claimed his final place with a thrilling penultimate round victory over Wexford native, Gavin Duffy. Unfortunately, Robbie's first attempt at a senior title came unstuck when Eoin Kennedy prevailed but as he has proved in the past, Robbie is a champion and will return to Croke Park in the future in search of further glory.

September

John Joe Nevin

A year on from the memories of the Olympic Games in Beijing, Mullingar's John Joe Nevin was back in the limelight in September when he travelled to the World Boxing Championships in Milan. John Joe, who boxes for Cavan BC was the pride of the Irish team when he battled his way through to the semi-finals and a coveted bronze medal. In so doing he became only the sixth Irish boxer to claim a World Championship medal.

October

Lakeside Wheelers

In its relatively short existence, the Lakeside Wheelers Cycling Club has made a very big impact on the local sporting front.

Earlier in the year, the club reestablished the highly successful Mullingar criterium which brought the cream of Irish cyclists to the midlands. The year was capped in October when it was learned Lakeside Wheelers had been chosen as the Cycling Club of the Year at an awards ceremony in Dublin.

November

Westmeath Community Games

After a lifetime of National Community Games Finals being staged in Mosney, the national event moved to a new home in Athlone. It was a signal honour for Westmeath Community Games which has continued to prosper and play an influential role within both the provincial and national structure. Further honour was bestowed on Community Games locally when long serving County Chairman, Johnny Crowley was elected to the position of Leinster Chairman in November.

December

Mullingar Equestrian Centre

For many years, the Fagan family from Rathcolman, Mullingar has been developing their ultra modern equestrian facilities at Mullingar Equestrian Centre. A centre of excellence the MEC has played host to some of the top showjumping stars in the land and was also featured on a novel television documentary. Each June Bank Holday weekend, the Centre comes alive for the staging of its biggest show of the year and in December, Mullingar Equestrian Centre was acclaimed as having staged the Show of the Year, by Horse Sport Ireland.