At the recent Rathfarnham 5k annual road race
which boasted a field of over 700 runners, our junior and master men
combined exceptionally well to win top team honours in both
categories. Davy Byrne was our first master to cross the line in a
time of 15.47 and he was followed next by Niall Coppinger (16.04),
James Crowley (17.18) and Dessie Shorten (17.59).
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Niall &
Peter |
Dessie &
David |
The Junior men’s team were led home by Brian
Connolly who recorded a P.B of 15.59 for the distance with Peter
Fitzsimons and Sean Fitzpatrick combining to take the top prize.
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Brian
Connolly (1st Jnr home) |
Luke
Coleman |
Tomas Fitzpatrick just missed out on the
medals in the Senior men’s category, after he carded a very
respectable 14.52 when crossing the finish line in 4th overall, whilst
Eoin Brennan (16.35), Luke Coleman (17.09), David Somerville (17.47)
and Sean Walsh (17.59) all did well on the day.
Following the good results in Rathfarnham many more of our athletes
were again in contention in the Phoenix Park last Sunday where our
juveniles competed in the 3rd cross country league and our seniors in
the Dublin Novice Championships.
In the Juvenile cross country league Christopher Duffy was again in
great form at U10 degree. After a slow start he gradually made his way
through the field and with only 50m of the 600m contest remaining he
surged into the lead, but was denied a second win when caught on the
line. Seamus Noone was next to finish with Elliott Meehan following
him home, whilst Nadine Johnston Hickey finished 6th to stay in
contention for league hounours in the girls equivalent, with both Eve
Keegan & Megan Doyle following her home in their first cross country
outing.
At U11 degree, Nicole Fullam was the first
Tallaght girl to finish, followed by Rebecca Casey and Lauren Walsh,
whilst Kayleigh Clarke led the Tallaght girls home in 9th in the U12
1000m contest and she was followed by Erin O’ Connor, Ciara Carley and
Aloisa King, whilst Ronan Mc Eneaney had another good run in the boys
equivalent.
After missing the first two league outings due to illness, Conor
Murray, despite limited training, shrugged off the cobwebs with a
clear cut victory, after he led the field from start to finish in the
U14 1500m, whilst Jade Johnston ran on strongly to finish 4th in the
same age group over 1200m. At U15 degree Sean Mc Cabe ran a very
confident race, leading the field from the off, he gradually stretched
away from the other runners as the race progressed and sprinted over
the final 150m of the 2,000m contest to record an emphatic win,
placing him to the top of the league table. Heather Meehan had another
good outing in the girls U15 1500m contest to stay in contention for
league honours, whilst Philip Murray did likewise after finishing 5th
in the U16 3,000m.
Roisin O’ Hanlon stayed top of the U18 league
after she recorded her 3rd win of the series over 3,000m and in the
boy’s U18 Frankie Walsh had a titanic battle with team made Niall
Meehan, with Frankie winning the 5,000m contest. At U19 degree, Sean
Fitzpatrick maintained top position after he recorded his 3rd win over
6,000m.
In the Novice Championships our senior competitors again produced some
good results with Jaqui Boyle, after her excellent outing in the
recent half marathon doing exceptionally well to finish 6th behind
some very useful runners in the ladies 4k. Our second runner to cross
the finishing line was Sinead Mc Mahon who was contesting her first
ever cross country race at this level, and she was followed home by
Marisa Mc Millan, Jenny O’ Connor, Lisa Curley and Tracey Powell in
that order.
In the men’s contest which was run over 6k, Eoin Dunne did best for
Tallaght. After contesting the lead for more than 3 of the four laps,
it looked as if a podium position was on the cards, but unfortunately
he had the settle for 4th place after dropping off the pace over the
final few hundred metres. Peter Fitzsimons finished 13th and was
followed home by Luke Coleman, David Somerville and Dave Meehan.
