Day 2 of the Dublin Cross Country Championships were held in Marley Park last Sunday. First off was little Keelan Gogarty in the girls under 9. Keelan is only seven but she ran a great race and finished in 7th place. In the Boys under 9 we had Liam Burke who also ran a great race to finish 4th. We will have to find teams for these little people next year so start chatting up your little friends and bring them along.
The girls under 11 were next off and were led in by Emily Corcoran in a fine 10th place, ( not too bad for a girl who didn’t run all last week because of a heavy cold and was up till 2.30 the night before dancing her legs off at a family wedding). Beat that! Emily led her team of Dora, Hannah Butler Lynch, Laura May, Alice, and Hannah Foley Browne to a well deserved 3rd place in the team event. These little girls showed no fear on Sunday, they just got out there and got on with it. 1500m of tough hills wasn’t going to put them off. All the girls ran their hearts out and have showed great improvement over the last few races. Thomas and Oliver found the going tough in the boys race and hopefully by next year we will have a team put together for them.
The boys under 13 were off next and after disappointing runs last weekend the lads were out to do themselves justice. Jamie, Luke and Conall got stuck in early on and ran very well to all finish in the top 12 with Sean Harper running his best race so far, close behind. The lads got a well deserved 3rd team with the two Oscars and Evan making up the team.
The girls under 15 were led in by Alison in 5th place with a much improved run by Ellen and Aoife, close behind. Maia found the going tough but did enough to help the girls secure bronze medals and a place in the Nationals.
Our star of the day was Pierre in the under 15 boys race. Right from the off Pierre was at the business end of the race, never out of the leading pack. With about a mile to go he hit the front and with supreme confidence pulled away to win by a huge margin to massive applause at the finish. Great credit is due to this unassuming young man for the manner he has come through over the last 18 months. For a long time he was at the back of every race. But consistent training with the club and keeping up his team sports as well have turned him into the fine athlete he is today. He is a real smart racer who is a pleasure to watch. A big thank you to Ian, Fiona, Susie, Sean and Rory for the help they have given this young lad. Pierre also made club history on Sunday in that he the first boy from the club to win a Dublin Cross-Country title.
The girls under 17 were next off and after her fine run in the under 16s the previous week Cliona Carthy found the under 17 a tough outing. In the under 19 Siobhan had one of her better runs with Catherine and a VERY brave Bridget running to qualify the team for the Nationals in the Curragh.
Bronze team medals were won the previous week by our under 16 girls team with a fine run by Cliona Carthy, Alison Armstrong, Cliona Murphy(on her club debut) and Maia Ryan. Silver medal winners were our under 18 girls team of Siobhan McGinley, Clare Brennan, Heather Lougheed, Olwyn Kennedy and Catherine Conroy.
Well done to everyone who turned out to support the young athletes on Sunday. Four sets of bronze team medals wasn’t a bad day at the office. Cross country is very tough but an hour in the playground after the races seems to do wonders for tired little legs.
Celtic DCH 