Weekend Roundup! 23rd, 24th October 2021
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Leinster Day 2 – Kilkenny, Even Ages, Junior and Novice Cross Country Championships
A whopping 28 Naas AC athletes took their starting positions on Saturday in Mountain View Golf Club in Kilkenny and far from golf on the agenda! Proper rip roaring cross country was on the menu with the first Leinster Championships since 2019. The course and race management was an absolute credit to our hosts St. Senan’s AC and to the Leinster Cross Country Committee.
For our U12s this was their first taste of Leinster Championship racing and they did themselves and their coaches proud with Fred Dick scoring on the winning County Team and earning himself a nice team gold medal for his collection. This is a very exciting group and we look forward to seeing them grow as they gain experience.
Our U14s had one representative – Rhys Johnson. Strong and powerful racing was on show from start to finish with Rhys powering home over the line claiming the Leinster Title a full 16 seconds ahead of the 2ndplace athlete and still looking fresh afterwards!
The weather, already very windy, took a turn and decided to give the U16 girls an extra battle to face with a deluge of rain. Nothing deterred the girls though and they fought valiantly around their 4km. Sean Behan in the boys race gave yet another strong performance this being rewarded with a scoring on the County Team and a team gold medal for his efforts.
The ground now freshly watered and well trampled by the younger age groups, our U18 and Junior girls lined up. 62 athletes total, fighting for each place gained and the results speak for themselves.
U18 Team Results
Club Team Bronze Scorers:
Caoimhe Dempsey, Aoife Dempsey, Emma Tisdell and Caoimhe Johnson
Caoimhe & Aoife Dempsey also scoring on the silver placing County Team.
Junior Team Results
Club Team Bronze Scorers:
Sarah Rowland, Caoimhe Dempsey, Aoife Dempsey, Emma Tisdell
Sarah Rowland and Caoimhe Dempsey also scoring on the Silver placing County Team
Racing coming thick and fast at this stage and next up were the U18 & Junior boys. An extremely strong field there was fine racing from all our athletes with some first time Leinster racers to boot.
With the end of the day came the Novice races with great racing from Chris O’Sullivan, fresh from the Manchester Marathon, Daniel McEntegart and Niamh O’Sullivan.
Marathon Mania!
On a weekend that normally has all eyes on the Dublin Marathon, with it going virtual again this year heads turned to Kildare!
14 of our road racers lined up present and correct Sunday morning, all anxious to get going and test themselves over the 26.2 mile distance. The course proved that Kildare does have hills when you know where to look! The Summer’s training put to work and despite the testing course our athletes proved strong and brought home 5 PBs – Leah Headon, Ann-Marie Feely, Ben Hallinan, Gwen Hughes and Aisling Hayes!
Leah Headon powered home to take the 2nd female spot on the day. Not content with this Leah has also taken the 1st female place in the Virtual Dublin Marathon! A definite lap of honour required when she returns to the track!
Overseas Action:
Absolutely thrilled to report the return to racing for Shane Coffey! Taking on his first race post injury, why not let it be a 5km cross country one with the CCSU Mini Meet! Finishing in a fine 6th place overall we can’t wait to see what the season has in store for him!
