Tallaght athletes committed themselves well in
the National Juvenile uneven age and Novice Inter County Cross Country
Championships, in the grounds of Athlone IT last weekend.
Jade Johnston was the first Tallaght athlete to compete and from the
start she positioned herself well to the fore in the large field of
almost 150 young competitors from around the Country. At the midway
point of the 800m contest she slipped back in the field but again made
progress over the last 200m to finish a strong 38th of the 142 finishers
and was rewarded with her first National medal, a bronze Inter County
team medal, as the 3rd of the 6 Dublin runners to cross the finishing
line.
|
Jade Johnston (236) – U11 Inter County bronze
medal for Dublin |
In the boy’s equivalent, Conor Murray set off
like the proverbial March hare and led the field which was equal in
numbers to the girls for almost 400m, where he ran out of steam, but
like Jade finished strongly over the last 200m to cross the line 42nd of
the 139 finishers and 3rd Dublin athlete to finish.
Jade Corcoran was next up for Tallaght in the girls U15 1500m contest.
Chartering different and more difficult course than the earlier races,
she was well in contention in the first 10 where she maintained that
position until the last 500m, when she ran out of stamina to finish 48th
of the 141 finishers, which wasn’t too bad, considering her lack of
fitness.
The girl’s U17 contest featured four Tallaght competitors in the Inter
club category with Aisling Johnston also competing as a member of the
Dublin team. Running two circuits of 1,000m that included a tough hilly
section, they committed themselves well in the large field, with Aisling,
stepping up a year, well in contention for most of the way, but the
effects of a long hard year took their toll, when she crossed the line a
tired 30th of the 94 finishers. Aoibheann Tierney was next to finish for
the club, passing many tired runners to finish 53rd, with Rebecca Game,
also stepping up a year, sprinting past more than 20 runners over the
final 200m to take 57th place with Carla Fullam the last of the Tallaght
quartet to finish.
In the same age category, Peter Fitzsimons, recovering from injury had a
fairly good run to finish 30th of the 100 finishers in his 3,000m
contest, whilst Anthony Lieghio, stepping up a year to contest the U19
6k contest, had another good run when finishing 17th overall, securing a
second medal on the day for Tallaght, as the 3rd finisher on the Dublin
Inter County bronze medal winning team.
|
Anthony Lieghio (1879) – U19 Inter County bronze
medalist for Dublin |
The Novice races followed the Juvenile events
and Tallaght had a full team of both Men & Women. Whilst all of our men
had competed at this level before, there were a number of women who were
competing at this level for the first time, with one contesting her
first ever cross country.
|
Tallaght Novice Ladies team |
In the ladies 3k contest there were 9 ladies
donning the Tallaght colours amongst the large field of over 100
competitors, and their combined efforts secured 7th team placing
overall. First to cross the line was Katherina Baldinger in an excellent
14th place with Laura Mc Donnell next in 33rd, followed by National
debutantes, Deborah Burgess (62nd), Aileen Connolly (67th), Annmarie
Byrne(76th) and Susan Adams who had never run a cross country race
before, finishing a very good 82nd. Niamh Oman was next, one place
behind and was followed home by another group of National debutantes,
Michelle Fitzpatrick, Susan Holland and Janice Mahon.
|
Tallaght Novice Men’s team |
In the men’s 6k contest, the men also finished
7th team and were led home by Thomas Fitzpatrick in 17th, with Nilton
Demorez next in 38th, followed by Mark Byrne (65th) who was contesting
his first National competition, Niall Coppinger (70th), Dessie Shorten
(76th) and James Crowley (125th), of the 169 finishers.
Elsewhere, Roisin O’ Hanlon, after her recent success in the Dublin
convent schools cross country championships, continued her great form
when winning silver in the National contest in Galway on Wednesday 5th
December last.