Tallaght athletes got off to a good start in
the first cross country meet which was held in glorious sunshine in the
Phoenix Park last Saturday.
Sean Connolly, a graduate of Iona University who is now permanently back
in Tallaght was no doubt the star of the day, after he took the silver
medal in the Dublin Novice Championships. Running from the front, he
contested the lead for more than 3 circuits of the 6k contest with the
eventual winner Cillian O’ Leary from Raheny, who unfortunately on this
occasion, proved to be a little stronger over the last few hundred
metres. Nilton Demorez was the next runner to cross the line for the
club in 11th position and both he and Sean will represent the County in
the Leinster Championships. Billy Murphy again ran another gutsy race,
passing 4 or 5 runners with an unbelievable sprint in the last 100m to
finish 20th with James Crowley taking 34th position and Martin Haddock a
few places further back. The combined finishing positions of the first
four Tallaght athletes to cross the line placed Tallaght 4th in the team
category, only a few points behind the Bronze medal winners, Rathfarnham.
The club had six debutantes in the Women’s 3k contest and they all
completed the 2 lap course in good style, with Paula Murray the first to
cross the line in 41st position. Susan Adams was next to finish only 3
places behind her, just ahead of Marissa Carton, with Janice Mahon a few
places further back, followed by Tracey Power and Mary Jenner.
Earlier the juveniles had their first outing of the season when they
contested the first of the cross country leagues. Jade Johnston was the
first to compete and she secured points when taking 3rd in the U12 700m
event with John Daly taking the same position a few races later in the
U13 1,000m contest. Roision O’ Hanlon went one place better in the U16
1500m contest and both Karl Arkins and Niall Doherty also secured points
when finishing in the top 10 in their respective U15 and U16 contests.
Elsewhere on Sunday the club had no less than 10 competitors in the
Rathfarnham 5k Road Race, which attracted more than 300 competitors.
Thomas Fitzpatrick was the first to cross the line in 10th position with
a very good time of 15.08 and he was followed home 12 seconds later by
Davy Byrne in 15th with Niall Coppinger taking 24th in 16.02. Keith
Sherlock was next to finish in 44th with Dessie Shorten 3 places back,
followed by Alan Lawlor, Vivian O’ Hanlon, Sean Walsh, Jacqui Boyle who
was the 18th woman to cross the line and Tom Fitzpatrick senior the
final finisher for Tallaght, finishing well up in 12th place.
Next contest for our athletes will be the 2nd juvenile cross league in
Tymon Park on Sunday where we expect our young athletes who have already
secured points to add to their tally and some more to make their mark on
the day.
Some photos from John Denny
in Gallery