Munster Uneven Age Cross Country Championships

EVENT DATE - Sun 10/11//13
Venue - Castlelyons Co. Cork
Time - 11:30
Uploaded by Garrett Moylan, based on Nenagh Guardian notes by PRO Ray Deering
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Munster Cross Country:
The Munster Uneven Age Cross Country Championships were held in Castlelyons Co Cork last Sunday and many Nenagh Olympic athletes did exceptionally well in their races.

With a total of 26 medals in their pockets on the way home between individual, club and county, you could say it was a great day for the club and it was but it could have been so much better but for some below par runs from a few of our athletes. The course was very testing for athletes and spectators alike. It wasn't helped by the rain that started to fall as soon as we arrived and continued all day, getting heavier all the time. Well done to all who braved the elements and this is how the day went.

Boys u9:
What a great bunch of lads we have in this age group, they show no fear when they go out to race and so it was here again, as all five powered their way around the course to win the club team title which is a great achievement and not an easy thing to do. Our first athlete home was Cian Hodgins who finished in 6th place after a great effort which saw him come through the field late on with a powerful run to claim his individual medal. Just behind Cian was Tom Walsh in 7th who also had a storming finish and he continues to improve with each run. Cian and Tom also won bronze medals with the Tipperary team. Zac Egan put in a huge effort early in the race and unfortunately it took its toll near the finish, but he can be proud of his 25th place which helped the team to gold as did Filip Mc Intyre's run which saw him finish 27th with Jack O Callaghan just behind in 28th. Well done once again to all five lads.

Girls u11:
Aoibheann Slattery finished 67th in a huge field of athletes over the 1500m distance and in doing so was the 5th Tipperary athlete home thus helping the team to a county bronze. This is Aoibheann's first Munster medal and well done to her.

Boys u11:
We had three athletes representing us here and each of them had a fine races considering they were all a year out of age. Rory Grace was first home for us finishing in 28th place with Alex Reynolds in 37th and both lads were part of a Tipperary team that claimed bronze medals. Joseph O Donoghue was 57th, showing great determination throughout he should take heart from the facy that he had well over half the field behind him when he finished.

Girls u15:
Alannah Deering had a disappointing race finishing in 23rd place over the 3500m distance and we await the time when she will put two good races back to back but hopefully it's coming.

Girls u17:
Ciara Cummins had another solid run when finishing 6th in this race over 4000m. Ciara was to the fore throughout fading slightly as the pace increased over the testing ground but she held on to claim an individual medal. Aoife Deering was never in the race right from the start which was disappointing as her form had been good recently, she finished 16th.

Boys u17:
A club team silver was a just return for the efforts of all of our five lads in this 5000m race. Killian Cullagh had his best performance of the Cross Country season so far finishing 4th in a high quality race. Making light of the underfoot conditions , Killian was in a group that was battling for second place as the leader was well gone but he stuck to his task and was rewarded with a fine finishing place from a confident run. Darren Dunne was next home for us in 10th spot, a good run considering his warm-up was a half mile run from the car-park down the main street of the village before arriving at the course and this was all done in his spikes, good man Darren!! Niall Mc Intyre had a much better race than of late, showing more drive in his running when finishing 15th. Richard O Donoghue moved up in age and put ''distractions'' out of his mind to produce a fine run for his 29th place finish thus cementing the club team silver for his teammates. Cormac Dunne who was suffering with sore skins throughout the race deserves great credit for finishing and in doing so ensured that Tipperary had six counting athletes andd they claimed the bronze medal. All five lads were part of the Tipp team and added to the club and individual medals this was a great haul for the lads.

Boys u19:
Tom Hennessy produced our performance of the day when finishing 2nd in this race over 6000 grueling metres. Considering Tom is more noted for his 400 and 800m running and a fine high jumper, it just goes to show that athletes shouldn't be bracketed as one thing or another. If you put in the training and enjoy what your doing as well as fully committing yourself to a race, then you can achieve a great result like this. It was a pleasure to witness Tom's determination and never say die attitude as he fought all the way to the line in what was a super race. Well done Tom.