Medal winning performances at Leinster Cross Country

At least the athletes got to run and keep themselves warm last Sunday, January 18 but no comfort for the poor spectators who had to endure the biting cold in Tymon Park for the Leinster Junior and Senior Cross Country and Juvenile Cross Country Relays. This was a change of venue for these events, having been held in Tinryland, Co. Carlow for many years, but we can"t blame Dublin for the cold and wind. Some chose not to travel, but the loss was theirs, as the Club still performed very well and by day"s end most of the juveniles that competed took home a medal of some colour. Thanks to those that substituted at short notice.The two under 12 girls teams of Claire Fagan, Aisling Bracken, Laura Whitelaw, Emma Glynn, Faye Walsh, Niamh Quinn, Aisling Moody and Jennifer Coughlan battled well over 4 x 250m but couldn"t get among the medals, finishing 4th and 7th Club, but great credit to these young girls for enduring the elements. First medals of the day came courtesy of the under 12 boys team of Cormac Dalton, Glenn Gaffney, Oisin Quinn and Patrick Shaw who took the lead from early on and came home in first place, followed by our second team of Michael Moran, Kevin Giles, James O"Leannachain and Ciaran Bracken all combining and running well over 4 x 250m to finish in 5th place, just outside the medals.On paper, our two girls under 14 teams looked certain of medals and didn"t disappoint, proving what talent in depth the Club is fortunate to have in this age group. The 'A' squad of Linda Conroy, Elizabeth Carr, Ciara Hewson, Lorraine Daly and substitute Lorna Moody powered their way to victory over 4 x 500m, but the 'B' team of Caoimhe Shaw, Donna Kiernan, Ann Marie Kennedy and Lauren Casey made sure the 'A' team didn"t have it all their own way and worked hard chasing them in to take silver. Any wonder these girls are feared in cross country at National level, such is their unparalleled talent.We had two teams also in the boys under 14. When Liam O"Reilly took an early lead and passed over to Thomas Lynn who increased the lead even more, the gold medals looked safe, barring an accident. Padraig Moran built on the lead and it was up to Aaron Glynn to power home and secure the team 4 x 500m gold medals. Meanwhile Eoghan Moore, Eoin Sheridan, and Glenn Gaffney and Oisin Quinn (having their second race of the day) tried hard but couldn"t match their Club mates and finished 4th, just one place off a medal but Eoghan and Eoin picked up gold medals as the nominated substitutes with the other team. Unfortunately, Gavin Moore was ill before the race and was unable to compete.Aine O"Reilly, Amie Giles, Arlene Coughlan and Rachel Yorke combined well to win the under 16 girls 4 x 500m relay, using the race as a warm up for the later Junior 3,000m. The under 16 boys 4 x 500m team of Shane Kelleher, Adam Daly, Thomas Fagan, Stephen Nea and substitute Ian McCormack just couldn"t find the extra little bit to win but were still very pleased with their team silver medals after an exciting race that went right down to the last runner to determine where the medals would go.Relay racing is all about team effort and every team member must play their full part if a team is to succeed. Our juvenile athletes showed great commitment and ran with maximum effort to try and give as much lead as possible to their team mates. Very well dome to one and all for their efforts.After the relays, attention turned to the Junior and Senior Cross Country Championships. Amie Giles ran a solid race in the Junior women"s 3,000m and kept in touch with the leading group for a long time and showed great strength to finish 14th with Arlene Coughlan not far behind, followed home closely by Rachel Yorke with Aine O"Reilly providing the vital fourth score to secure bronze medals for 3rd Club and 3rd County. This was a great result for these girls, all underage again for a few more years. Jake Byrne showed great maturity and race experience in ignoring an early fast pace and settled in to a good race pace that eventually saw him run down the early leader and when he took the lead he never looked back and came home a convincing winner with 8 seconds to spare to take the Junior men"s 6,000m title. With good support from Thomas Fagan, Shane Kelleher and Adam Daly, the team finished 4th, unluckily just one place off team medals, but this is a young team and are underage for a few more years.It"s a while since Mullingar fielded a Senior women"s team and it was good to see Eva Ross, Ciara Dillon, Vera McCool, Paula Murray, Brigid McCabe and Nuala Moran running so well over 5,000m to finish 4th County, just one place off the team medals that would have been a rich reward for their efforts. Master athlete Ben Vaitkavichius was the Club"s sole representative in the Senior men"s 10,000m where he ran in his customary all-or-nothing way and turned in a great performance in the cold and wind against much younger opposition.Very many thanks to the parents and others who despite the poor weather and road conditions travelled in number to give much needed encouragement and support.Leinster YearbookCopies of the 2008 Leinster Yearbook book can be purchased any night at training for €5. This is an excellent production, with lots of local photos and features and is a great record of the 2008 season.RegistrationThe numbers at training now are so big that the Club has to stop taking any new registrations from children younger than 11 years of age this year. We"ll review the situation in six months (July). Any inconvenience is regretted, but it"s difficult to manage the large numbers properly and safely.Existing members are reminded to pay their subscriptions immediately so their registration can be renewed by the end of January, before their insurance lapses. New members must register as soon as possible. The message is simple; no subscription, no registration; no registration, no insurance; no insurance, no training or competing with the Club. Please pay your subscription now.Entries for Indoor ChampionshipsMost events on the Leinster under 12 to 19 indoor programme are held on days 2 and 3, which this year will be on Saturday 28th February and Sunday 1st March. Please see the Club notice board for details of events. Entries must be submitted by 13th February, which is only 3 weeks away, so anyone who wishes to compete should tell Greg over the coming weeks what events they wish to compete in. As in previous years, no one will be automatically entered, so please tell Greg if you wish to compete. To avoid wasting money on entries, only enter if you"re available to compete.All entries must include the 2009 AAI registration number so it is vital that athletes have paid their subscription otherwise they cannot be entered in competition. Anyone wishing to compete in the indoors that has forgotten to pay their subscription had better do so immediately.AAI 'B' Cross Country and Inter-County RelaysAs the venue this coming Sunday is Lough Key Forest Park, Roscommon and we have only a relatively small number of entrants, it is expected that most of those competing will arrange their own transport, but for anyone needing a lift, be at O"Brien"s Topaz filling station on the Lynn Road, Mullingar at 9.30am. As usual, have the correct length of spikes, club vest, pins for race number, a snack and drink, and a change of clothing. Relay teams will be finalised during the week and performances in the Leinster relays last Sunday will be taken into consideration in team selection.Fixtures24th Jan. AAI National Junior Indoors, Nenagh25th Jan. AAI Indoor Games, Nenagh25th Jan. AAI National 'B' Juvenile Cross Country, Lough Key Forest Park, Roscommon1st Feb. Leinster Indoors Day 1 (Under/16-19, junior, senior, master), Nenagh7th/8th Feb. AAI National Senior Indoors, Odyssey Arena, Belfast15th Feb. AAI National Intermediate and Masters Cross Country, Santry22nd Feb. Rás na hÉireann Cross Country28th Feb/1st March. Leinster Indoors Days 2 & 3 (Under/12-19), Nenagh1st March. AAI National Senior & Junior Cross Country, SantryWebsiteCheck the Club"s website at www.mullingarharriers.com for results, news and details of all upcoming fixtures.