Championship Success for Tallaght Juveniles

Following the great results from the Dublin Juvenile Even Age Cross Country Championships in Santry two weeks ago there was further success for the club when our young athletes again competed in the Uneven age Championships in Marlay Park on Sunday last, where they secured 13 individual medals and 5 sets of team medals, with many also securing qualification for the National finals which will take place in the Curragh on the 11th of December.

The recently crowned winner of the U9 cross country league Moses Ikpefua produced another fine performance to take the U9 title after he had a clear victory over the longer distance of 800m, and he was followed home by John Lyons who also won an individual medal after he finished 5th. Both combined with Luke Groome and Zakaria Djebbari to win the team Silver medals.

In the girls equivalent Aimee Kenna also won an individual medal when she crossed the finish line in 4th and she led home Emily Bradshaw, Alex White and Lida Bradshaw to win the team Broze medals, with Niamh Doyle finishing next, followed by Erica Doyle and Adriann Wozniak.

Eve Keegan led the Tallaght charge in the U11 1500m contest which was run over a challenging winding and hilly course and she showed she was well up to the task after she crossed the line in 5th to take another medal for the club and secure an automatic place on the Dublin team for the Nationals. She was followed home by Sophia Kourrini, Orla Doyle, Destiny Ikpefua, Blaithin Seville and Katie Jordan, but the combined score of the first four finishers left them in 4th overall in the team standings, just short of the medals.

In the boys equivalent, the U10 bronze medallist from the previous weeks Championships, Yanaengus Geraghty, despite stepping up in age he put in another gutsy performance to secure an automatic place on the Dublin team for Nationals, after he finished 6th and led home Jack Gill, Kevin Lahiff, Jordan Bracken, Yakoub Djebarri, and Fionn Seville to 4th place in the team standings.

The U13 contestants had 2500m to run over a very challenging hilly course and these young athletes again showed great strength and stamina with Grace Dervan and Nadine Johnston Hickey who were both conceding a year to many of the other competitors securing individual medals and National qualification after they finished 4th and 8th respectively. Rebecca Casey and Ciara Jordan followed them home and their finishing places combined with Grace and Nadine’s were enough to win the team Silver medals, and along with the next two finishers Jennifer Mc Guinness and Alan Walsh they will also be travelling to the Curragh for the Nationals as the club team.
 

The boys U13 team also qualified for the Nationals after they combined strongly to also take the Silver team medals, with Cathal Dervan winning the individual Bronze medal ahead of individual medal winners Seamus Noone, conceding a year and Sadiq Nasir who finished 6th and 7th respectively. All three will represent Dublin County and Regional teams and the club at the Nationals in the team category, but this might not have been achieved if Fionn Carroll, who was obviously unwell throughout his race hadn’t shown such great bravery and commitment to finish as the vital 4th scorer. Paul Lyons who finished a few places further back will join the team at Nationals and with a fully recovered Fionn they will undoubtedly be challenging for team honours.

The U15 contest which was run over a longer distance of 3500m saw Mustaffe Nasir the U14 champion from the previous meeting, despite being unwell for five days following his success and conceding a year he put in another good performance to take Bronze medal, after he was just passed on the line by a Donore athlete for the silver, and in the same contest Joseph Lyons secured his second National qualification after he took the final medal and automatic qualifying spot with a great run over the final few hundred metres.

At U17 degree the Tallaght boys secured a 4th set of team Silver medals on the day, after individual medal winners Conor Murray (8th) and Sean Mc Cabe (12th) combined very well with Boniface Chege, John Daly and Liam Cahill in their 5000m contest, whilst Philip Murray ran another gallant race to finish 22nd in the U19 boys 7000m race.

There was further good news for the club after the results of the National Marathon Championships, which was incorporated in the National Lottery Dublin City Marathon were finally completed. Not only did Sean Connolly win the Individual title, but both Niall Coppinger and Gerry O’ Brien both won Silver after they were the second Irish men to finish respectively in the O/50 and O/55 categories and Niall combined with Brendan Ryan and Dessie Shorten to win the O/50 team Silver medals.

The women also did very well with Jaqui Boyle leading home Sharon Tighe and Anna King to team Silver in the 40+ category.

Some of our senior athletes will be contesting the Dublin Intermediate Cross Country Championships in Tymon Park on Saturday 26th November whilst many of our juveniles will be looking forward the National Cross Country Championships in Sligo on 27th and the Curragh, Co Kildare on 11th December.

More photos in gallery – Courtesy Alan Mc Cabe