Report by Tom Laffan.
The Even age and Novice County Cross Country championships took place in Carraig Na Bhfearr today October 6th 2013. As we headed towards Carraig Na Bhfearr it looked like we were destined for a wet day but as we reached the XC course the rain stopped and we were treated to ideal weather conditions for running and no rain. The event was very well organised by Carraaig Na Bhfearr with a simple but very effective course layout. The ground conditions were excellent which helped to provide for some very competitive races.

A large number of club members competed today so a big well done to all those who made the trip. The day started with the Senior Novice championship race’s which attracted a large field of runners. Ronnie Barry competed in the women’s race and she delivered a very competitive performance. Full results to follow shortly.
The juvenile races started at 1 o’clock sharp with the Girls U10 of Aishling McKeogh, Roisin DeBurca, Erika Crowley and Ellen Murphy first in action.
They all competed very well but finished outside the team medals today. The Boys U10 team of Callum McCourt, Eoghan Cassidy, Jack Cullen, John Munday, Ciaran Howey, Henry Obialor and Conor Payne all ran very strongly helping their team to take 2nd County team place. Callum McCourt ran a very competitive race to finish in 3rd place and earn himself an individual medal.
The Girls U12 team of Stacey Komolafe, Jane Buttimer, Niamh Sugrue, Clare Flynn, Nicola Tuthill, Lilly Munday, Lauren McCourt, Erin DeBurca, Katie Murphy and Olivia Tuthill were next up to the start line and in a very competitive race they ran very well to earn themselves 3rd county team
place. Stacey Komolafe who led for much of the race finished very strongly in 3rd place after just being pipped on the line and for her first county race this was a very good result. The Boys U12 of Fionn Harrington, Keelan Crowley, Ruari Harrington, Jack Payne and Andrew O’Leary ran very well today
and were very unlucky to finish in 4th team place just missing out on 3rd place by 3 places.

We didn’t have a Girls U14 team today which was disappointing but that did not hamper our two U14 competitors as they both produced excellent individual performances with Laura Nicholson winning Gold, earning herself the County title and Moira Barrett finishing very well to win an individual 4th place medal.
The Boys U14 of Naoise Ni Fhaitheartargh, Tony O’Connell, Cian Kingston, Darragh Keane, Brian Howey , Jude Donegan and Michael Laffan were in very competitive company today and they all ran very well to earn themselves the 3rd place county team title which was a great result. Naoise Ni Fhaitheartargh won an individual medal after running a very strong race by finishing in 4th place today.
The Girls U16 team of Fiona Everard, Aoibh Cassidy, Niamh Munday and Bethany Haigue were very strong today and their efforts paid off with the team winning the county title. In doing so Fiona Everard won gold taking the individual County title with Aoibh Cassidy also winning an individual medal in 5th place.
Patrick Hurley was our sole competitor in the Boys U16 race and for his first cross country outing he did very well and will have gained great experience from the run today. We also were very well represented in the Boys U18 race by Killian McSweeney, Adam Casey, Ciaran Murphy and David
Laffan. All 4 ran very well with Adam winning an individual medal in 6th place and helping the team taking the County silver team place.
Well done to all who competed today and keep up the training as our next outing is for the Uneven ages next weekend. Thanks also to all who helped and supported the athletes today.
Some photos