Irish Life Health Insurance Combined Event schools’ championships, Athlone 12/11/2016 – Report by Frank Stam

Congratulations to Diarmuid O’Connor who qualified for the Schools International Combined Events competition against England, Wales and Scotland on 10 December in Athlone IT International Arena. Diarmuid had a dream competition in the Junior Boys category in which he broke all his personal bests. It was a very close competition and before the final 800m, Diarmuid was coming 5th, but with a great win in the 800m (and new U15 Club Record) he managed to move up to 2nd place overall with only 19 points separating athletes 2 to 5. In 2007 Sipke O’Shaugnessy took part in the same competition, and while Diarmuid just missed out on Sipke’s club records in the 60 hurdles, long jump and 200m, he did manage to break Sipke’s pentathlon club record by over 100 points.

In the Intermediate girls Aoibhin O’Connor took part and she also showed a massive improvement from her Munster competition by over 300 points and 4 new PB’s. Unfortunately the field was very strong this year with 6 girls scoring over 3000 points which was too hard to reach. But like Diarmuid she managed to win the 800m and in a time that improved the U17 Club Record by an impressive 19 seconds. She also took Phil Healy’s long jump club record in her stride, but Ciara McKeon’s pentathlon club record just survived.

Well done both athletes, and Diarmuid good luck in your first international!

Munster Even-age cross country Report by Susan McCourt.
Sun Oct 23rd, Carrig na bhFear, Cork.
A sunny day yet again but cold with quite a strong wind. The conditions underfoot were dry and
overall quite good. The course itself at first glance looked ok but on walking it, it soon became
apparent that it was tough enough. An uphill pull at the start, turning left into a narrow part of the
course, widening out then before turning left again to traverse the field into a strong headwind. The
u10s & 12s continued on straight here, before turning left to go up the long uphill drag again, with
the 10s turning left into the finish, the 12s continuing on to do the loop again.The 14s and older
took a right on the traverse into a 500m loop before joining back in to continue as the 12s did, up
the long pull on to their 2nd loop. The club’s new purchase made it’s debut yesterday & it was most
welcome, sheltering us all from the strong wind. Thank you to all the parents who helped with
putting it up and taking it down.
The u10 girls had a great day out and their team took bronze. A fantastic result. Layla O
Neill, Natalia Dawidowcz, Doireann Kelly, Orla Ryan, Orlaith Deasy Jenny Flemming, Sarah
Burrows & Aoife Callan all had a terrific race with Aoife 11th & Sarah 12th winning individual
medals and scoring with the Cork team to get Gold county medals. The boys u10 team of Sean
Hales, Harry Good, Daniel Dollard, Daniel Coughlan, Eoin O Callaghan, Jack Twomey, Diarmuid
Brady, Jack Coomey, Dylan Looney & Cormac O Flynn all ran very well in a race with one of the
largest number of entries on the day, 157. Their team finished 6th, well done boys.
The boys u12; Joseph Buttimer, Dara McCarthy, Sean Deasy, Danny Crowley, Dara Ryan &
Ciaran Brady also ran superbly on the day and they finished 6th. The u12 girls team of Molly O
Callaghan, Ciara O Sullivan, Niamh Quinn, Ciara White Ella Collins & Amy McCarthy were 5th on
the day with Ella 10th & Amy 2nd winning individual medals and scoring for Cork, winning gold
county medals. They both will now represent Munster in the All-Irelands. Well done girls!
The girls u14 team of Ellen Murphy, Kate O Neill, Clare Flynn, Emillie Good, Nicola Tuthill &
Jane Buckley were the first to try out the longer loop. All ran very well and the team finished 4th
with Jane coming in 4th place and scoring for the Cork team, winning a gold county medal. The
boys u14 team of Jack Cullen, Gavin Kelleher, Callum McCourt & Ruairi Harrington also ran very
strongly with Jack & Gavin scoring for the Cork team and winning silver county medals. They will
now represent Cork in the All-Irelands, and Jane will represent Munster. Super stuff!
The club had some individual entries on the day too. Olivia Tuthill, Katie Murphy(u16) and
John Muckian, Naoise O Flaitheartaigh(u18). All four ran extremely well with Olivia scoring for the
Cork team winning a bronze county medal, and John and Naoise also scoring for the Cork team
winning a silver county medal. These three also qualify for the All-Irelands. Well done to all the
athletes on the day, who put in a tremendous effort and really gave everything for their teams. And
also a big thanks to all the parents and coaches, without which none of it would be possible.

County Cross Country Juvenile Report by Susan McCourt
The cross country season is well under way now, with both County events over and the Munster Championships just around the corner. After a very wet day at the West Corks, the sun was brightly
shinning at both County Championships, which made for very pleasant conditions for the spectators and competitors alike. The underfoot conditions were good on both days, with the
athletes surprisingly clean after their races! Not too much washing on the ole spikes!
Sunday Oct 2nd, was the even-age event and was held in Conna. Bandon AC had 5 teams entered with individual entries in the older age groups. The u10 girls team of Aoife Callan, Natalia
Dawidowicz, Orlaith Deasy, Layla O Neill, Orla Ryan, Doireann Kelly & Jenny Flemming, all ran superbly, finishing well up the field and took team gold on the day, with Aoife Callan finishing in 3rd
place, earning herself an individual medal. The u10 boys weren’t going to let the girls get one up on them. Daniel Dollard, Eoin O Callaghan, Glen DeBurca, Harry Good, Daniel Coughlan, Jack
Twomey, Jack Coomey, Dylan Looney and Sean Hales all ran their hearts out and they too brought home a team gold. Great stuff from these young athletes. The youngest to compete on the day.
The u12s were up next. The girls team on the day were Ciara White, Ella Collins, Ciara O Sullivan, Amy McCarthy, Niamh Quinn & Molly O Callaghan. A great tactical run by Amy secured
her 1st place, the gold medal and the title County champion. Niamh Quinn picked up a nasty little injury in the early part of the race but showed true grit by battling on and finishing the race. All the girls ran extremely well, having to go in and out of two fields and their great team effort earned them a team silver. The boys team of Sean Deasy, Liam Murphy, Danny Crowley, Joseph Buttimer & Dara Ryan also ran very well on the day with Joseph finishing in 6th place and thus winning an individual medal. The teams luck wasn’t in on the day and they finished just outside the medals. The course for the u14s consisted of two loops and was also ran over two fields. The girls team of Jane Buckley, Nicola Tuthill, Kate O Neill, Clare Flynn, Emillie Good & Ellen Murphy took silver on the day and all of them finished strongly, which is great to see at this early stage of the season. Jane ran most of the race from the front and saw off any challenges to become Bandon’s
second County champion of the day, coming home strongly in 1st place and winning gold. Callum McCourt took part in the boys u14 race and ran very comfortably, especially in the
second lap and finished in 5th place, earning himself an individual medal. Olivia Tuthill & Katie Murphy competed in the girls u16 race and again both ran very well and finished 5th & 12th
respectively, Olivia winning an individual medal. Naoise O Flaitheartaigh, John Muckian & Matt Devine competed in the u18 race and did very well with Naoise finishing 2nd, John 3rd and Matt
10th.
Sunday Oct 9th, was the uneven-age event and was held in West Muskerry on what is a very challenging course. Bandon had 9 teams entered and came away with 3 gold, 4 silver, 1
bronze & a 4th place. The u9s were up first and although it was their first county cross country championships, they were like pros, getting out fast and running ’til they dropped. Great
determination all round. The girls team was Roisin Shannon, Clodagh Barry, Ella McCarthy, Caoimhe O Sullivan, Evelyn McCarthy, Hannah Twomey, Emma O Connell & Juliet Biggs. The
boys team was Cillian O Flynn, Harry McCourt, Lewis Lenihan, Daniel Hyde, Jayden Wilmot, Oran Coughlan, Andrew Lane, Oisin Callan & Dara Murphy. The girls won a sliver team medal and the
boys a bronze team medal. Cillian had a very strong finish and earned himself an individual medal finishing in 5th place.
The u11s were the first to take on most of the huge outer loop, which has a couple of testing inclines. The girls team of Aoibhinn McKeogh, Aoife Tuthill, Maia McCourt, Aoibheann O
Sullivan, Alex Good, Caoimhe Foley, Vicky Good, Maeve McCarthy & Claire Riordan put in a very determined effort and ran very well as a team, winning silver and just missed out on team gold by 2
points. The boys team of Dara Walsh, Charlie Twomey, Oisin McCarthy, Adam Barry & Jack Cullinane also were very impressive, with all 5 finishing well up the field. Their effort was rewarded
with team gold and an individual medal for Charlie who finished in 6th place. The u13s had to run all of the outer loop and a little bit extra. The girls team of Eabha
Crowley, Ellen Murphy, Sarah Appelbe, Lucy T McCarthy & Roisin DeBurca and the boys team of Jack Cullen, Callum McCourt, Cian Walsh, Joseph Buttimer & Dara McCarthy all ran extremely
well, after a long wait. The boys brought home a team gold with Jack finishing very strongly in 5th place, earning an individual medal. The girls were unlucky to miss out on a team medal.
The u15s had the u13 course and another small loop. A challenging route. The girls team of Jane Buckley, Katie Murphy, Olivia Tuthill, Nicola Tuthill & Erin DeBurca all had a great race,
winning team gold with Jane 3rd & Olivia 6th winning individual medals also. The boys, Fionn Harrington, Niall Desmond, Gavin Kenny & Peter Ronan also ran very well individually and as a
team, again all finishing well up the field. They got team silver with Niall(4th) & Gavin(5th) earning individual medals also.
We also had an u17 boys team of Naoise O Flaitheartaigh, Rob Downey, Fionn Dempsey & Matt Devine. Noise finished in 3rd place with the teams super effort rewarded with team silver.
Fiona Everard won the bronze medal in the junior womens race & silver in the u19s. John Muckian was 5th in the junior mens race & 3rd in the u19s.
Great running at this stage of the season by all athletes. Well done to you all. Well done
also to all the coaches & parents.