Report by Tom Laffan
The Munster Juvenile XC Development championship took place in Newmarket and Fergus, County Clare on Sunday December 2nd. As you can expect after the recent heavy rains the ground conditions were very soft and there was no respite on the course for athletes who endured very tough running conditions. Well done to all.
First up were the boys U11 team of Fionn Harrington, Mark Collins, Andrew OβLeary and Ruairi Harrington. The lads ran very well with Mark finishing in 21st place, Fionn 27th, Andrew 29th and Ruari competing up an age finished in 55th place. They were very unlucky to finish just outside the medals in 4th place. Mark scored on the Cork team and helped the County win the bronze prize. This was great running for a young team and I am sure we will see these boys do very well in the future.
The Boys U17 team of Gerard Crowley, Killian McSweeeny, Garry Jones, Ciaran Murphy and David Laffan had to endure 2 loops of the 2000m course. While this was longer than they were officially supposed to be running it did not stop these lads taking 2nd club team prize in Munster. Gerard Crowley fought a tough race trailing the lead runner for a lot of the race but in the final few hundred meters he managed take the lead and win the Munster U17 title. He led the team home with Ciaran finishing 14th place, David in 14th and Killian in 17th. All fours boys scored on the Cork County team earning themselves a well deserved second silver medal.
Carmel Crowley was our sole representative in the Masters Cross Country Championship and she ran a great race to take the O40 title. Again well done to all who competed today and for those took the time and effort to travel and support the athletes.