Huge excitement in Coláiste Mhuire as cross country team prepares for Worlds

The excitement is palpable in Coláiste Mhuire, Mullingar this week, with the school’s All-Ireland intermediate title-winning cross country team set to depart for Slovakia next weekend for the World Schools Cross Country Championships.

Principal Malachy Flanagan gathered the school community together this morning to wish the team well, who turned out in their Coláiste Mhuire singlets with their arms and necks weighed down by trophies and medals from their provincial and All-Ireland exploits this year.

The team of Tom Daly, Tadhg Sheridan, Jamie Campbell, Diarmuid Fagan, Pablo Lozano, Darragh Hanlon, John Ryan, Conor Sherwin and captain Ross Killalea, as well as their coaches/teachers Mr Damian Lawlor and Mr Gary McMahon, “gave everything they could” in Mallusk near Belfast last month, two win a first All-Ireland intermediate cross country title for the school, Mr Flanagan said.

“We often take cross country and athletics as a given in the school, because we’re always competing at the highest level,” the principal told the students. “We take Leinster titles and sometimes All-Ireland titles for granted.

“But let’s just remember that these boys are top of their game in the entire country in their field as a sports team, and they’re now going onto to the World Cross Country Athletics Championships in Slovakia.”

Mr Flanagan paid tribute to Messrs Lawlor and McMahon for putting in the hard yards with the team in training, “running through the fields and down by the canal... five days a week”.

“And nobody hears anything about it until there’s a title won,” Mr Flanagan added, as the school community gave the team and their coaches a round of applause.

Also speaking to the students, Mr Lawlor recalled how the team ploughed through the difficult period of Covid lockdowns to keep their eyes on the prize and stick to their chosen sport.

He recounted the All-Ireland final in Mallusk, and how he and Mr McMahon were “telling lies” to the boys from the sideline to make sure they pushed themselves that little bit harder to finish higher in the individual placings and ensure team success.

“I’d just like to say how proud we are, as a staff of how far they’ve come since first year, and the amount of training they put in the Harbour Field in all weather, or at the cross country in Belvedere, when it’s usually raining,” Mr McMahon added.

“These lads have put in 110 percent effort, and I don’t think people fully appreciate how hard it was for them to win the All-Ireland – especially with the Covid outbreak. But it was an unbelievable achievement, and you should be super proud of yourselves. Now go and win the gold in Slovakia!”

Team captain Ross Killalea, who finished 12th overall in Mallusk, thanked the coaches for preparing them so well this year, and the school community for helping out with their fundraising ahead of the trip to Šrrbské Pleso, Slovakia next weekend.