Last weekend had a very
successful outcome for our club with our athletes winning lots of medals
in a variety of competitions.
On Saturday we had 6 athletes in the schools National Cross Country
Championships in DCU, Aisling Johnston, Rebecca Game, Stacey O’ Connor
and Laura Finley, the Leinster silver medal team represented Colaiste de
h-Ide in the Inter Girls, with both Brian Connolly in the Junior boys
and Anthony Lieghio in the senior boys representing Drimnagh Castle.
In the Inter girls 3.5k race Aisling Johnston despite a good start found
herself detached from the leading group of about 15 runners after some
crowding at the 600m mark, but as the race progressed she gradually made
progress, picking off her opponents to finish a good 10th overall, just
missing out by two places for the Irish team. Rebecca Game ran well to
finish 41st and combined with Rachael Hersey a few places further back,
secured a very respectable 4th place in the team category for Colaiste
de h-Ide. With 6 of the first 9 finishers over age next year, the
prospects of both Aisling and Rebecca making the Irish team look
extremely bright.
Brian Connolly was next up in the Junior boys 3.5k and he kept close
contact throughout his contest to finish a very strong 16th overall,
just 1 place behind the Leinster silver medalist, whilst in the Senior
6k contest Anthony Lieghio ran another sound race to finish 17th, making
his 2007 prospects in this contest very exciting, as he will again be
eligible.
On Sunday we had a large contingent of both seniors and juveniles who
turned out to compete in cross country, mountain and track and field
competitions. The first competition of the day in which we had three
senior competitors was the 5th and final mountain race of the Irish
Mountain Running Associations Leinster league. This took place at
Ballinastoe Wood, near Roundwood in the Wicklow mountains where Peter
O’Farrell was the first Tallaght athlete to finish the 10k endurance
race in 5th, with Alan Lawlor next in 8th. Desie Shortens 12th place
finish secured him the overall win in the O/50 category, and an
excellent 8th overall of the 248 competitors in the league series.
There was further success for the club later in the day. At Santry, the
first day of the Dublin Juvenile Indoor Championships took place, and
whilst we only had a little more than a handful of competitors, they all
performed brilliantly on the day. In the track events, Brian Gregan took
a convincing gold in the U18 200m with Sean Bolger finishing a good 4th,
with Laura Finlay winning bronze in the girls equivalent and Rebecca
Game silver in the U16 contest, whilst in the field events, Killian Lee,
in his first ever athletics contest won gold in the U15 shot putt and
John Dever won the silver in the U18 category. With two golds, two
silvers and a bronze already secured, the prospects of surpassing last
years achievements look likely with 3 days of competition next weekend.
Further up the country at Termonfeckin, Co Louth we had a great turnout
from our athletes and they did us proud when securing a large number of
medals in both individual and team categories in the Ras Na h-Eireann
International Cross Country.
Jade Johnston was the first to score when she won silver in the U11 800m
contest. Having led the field from the start she was eventually closed
down in the final 10m to be on the line for the title. At U13 level
Dylan Murphy put in a very brave effort throughout his 1500m to take
another good silver with Grace Kristensen (11th) and Jenny Moloney best
of the Tallaght runners in the girls equivalent.
Both Roisin O’ Hanlon and Annmarie Mc Clean had good runs in the U15 2k
contest, finishing 4th and 9th respectively.
In the U17 and U19 International 4k ladies event both Aisling Johnston
and Aobhainn Tierney put on a fine display of running, mixing it with
athletes from around the country, England, America and South Africa.
Aisling was a doubtful runner, due to her schools race the previous day
but decided to take her chance in her quest for a 7th consecutive Ras
title. Running to the fore from the off she battled with three South
Africans, eventually leaving two behind but unfortunately was denied the
title by last years winner from South Africa and had to settle for 2nd
with Aoibheann finishing in 9th overall.
The boy’s equivalent was also a very competitive contest with many
nationalities represented. Robert Fitzsimons was as usual to the front
in the early exchanges, but unfortunately he suffered a hard fall after
the first 300m, which resulted in him losing a substantial amount of
ground. However, he showed his resilience and gradually made up
significant ground on the leaders to finish a good 4th in the U19
category behind two South Africans and an English runner, with Luke
Coleman next in 10th, and with Peter Fitzsimons 12th, followed by Leigh
Bolger 26th, their combined placings were enough to secure the team gold
for Tallaght. Peter Fitzsimons took the individual bronze in the U17
category.
In the senior categories our athletes were again up against some good
home and international opposition that included competitors from Russia,
South Africa, England and America, but they certainly held their own and
produced more than expected on the day in all contests. In the Senior
Ladies 6k International, Laura Mc Donnell (12th), Bronagh O’ Hanlon
(14th), Aileen Connolly (18th) and Carla Fullam combined to take the
team gold, whilst the mens team led by Davey Byrne who was followed home
by Nilton Demorez, Desie Shorten and Gary Clarke, took silver behind the
Swansea Harriers team.
Brian Lavery (49th) was next to finish for the club and he was followed
by Ray Fitzsimons, John Stokes, Terry Fayne and debutant Pat Kelly.
In the Masters categories our men’s team, Niall Coppinger (5th), Derek
Quinn and Bill Murphy (11th) combined very well to take the silver team
medals in their 3k contest behind Armagh City A.C., and Dave O’ Kane
after an absence of many years had a good outing when crossing the line
in 24th.
In the Ladies equivalent, Anna King led Deirdre Pitts and Jackie Boyle
to winning team gold and her 3rd placed finish secured her the individual Gold
in the V45 category.