Six Gold Medals were won at the Leinster u13 to u19 Track & Field Championships held in Tullamore on Saturday 18^th & Sunday 19^th June. Competing in the Gu18 Events Sophie Parkinson and Mary Ellen Doyle both won double Gold.  Sophie won the Shot with a Putt of 11m 22cm and the Discus with a throw of 37m 55cm.  Mary Ellen won the 3000m in a time of 11m 34.66secs and the 1500m in a time of 4m 57.10secs. Ted Drea won gold in the Bu13 High Jump with a jump of 1m36cm a new personal best. Ted also competed in the 60m Hurdles and Long Jump.  Seppi Lysaght won the Bu18 Pole Vault with a personal best jump of 3m 00 and he also won Silver in the 110m Hurdles in a time of 19.96secs.

Aoife Naddy finished joint 2^nd in the Gu14 High Jump with a Personal Best jump of 1m 43cm and also finished 6^th in the 200m final in a time of 30.16secs having run 29.29secs in her heat.  Christine O’Donnell finished 3^rd in the Gu14 75m Hurdles with a time of 10.17secs having finished 2^nd in her heat.  Evan Foley also won a bronze medal in finishing 3^rd in the Bu16 Discus with a throw of 21m 87cm he also finished 5^th in the Shot with a Putt of 8m 87 and 7^th in Triple Jump with a jump of 8m 07.  Sean O’Neill finished 5^th in final of 100m Hurdles and 12^th in Long Jump.  Grace O’Donnell was 5^th in Gu13 60m Hurdles final in a time of 10.54secs having finished 2^nd in her heat and also competed in the long jump.  Paul Lysaght finished 5^th in Bu14 Discus, 8^th in Shot and 9^th in Javelin.  Finn Connolly finished 8^th in final of Bu15 80m Hurdles and was 9^th in Shot.  Cormac Buggy was 7^th in the Bu15 1500m.  Bella Lysaght was 5^th in final of Gu16 80m Hurdles and Sinead Naddy finished 7^th in Gu16 High Jump.

SEVEN GOLD AT SENIOR AND MASTERS

Club Athletes won seven Gold Medals at the Leinster Senior and Masters Track & Field Championships in Tullamore on Sunday 5^th June.  Sophie Parkinson competing for the second successive day won the Senior Womens Discus with a Throw of 35m 30cm and was 2^nd in the Shot with a Putt of 9m 55cm.  John Gorman competing in the 0’70 age group won both the 100m & 200m. Simon O’Dwyer had an excellent run to win the 0’40 5000m in a personal best time of 16m 56.20s.  Eddie O’Mahony won Gold in the 0’45 Javelin and was 2^nd in both Shot and Discus.  Patrick Mahon won gold in the 0’50 Long Jump.  John Lennon won gold in the 0’55 3000m Walk.  Mick Kelly won silver in the 0’35 5000m.  Marty Kelly won silver in the 0’55 800m and Mary Ellen Doyle won Bronze in the Senior Women’s 1500m.

SUCCESS IN KILMACOW

Tommy Evans had a great run to finish 4^th in St Senans AC Kilmacow 4mile Little South run on Sunday 5^th June in a very good time of 19m 18secs.  Paul Deegan also had a great run to finish 8^th in a time of 20m 58secs to win the Masters Men 0’45 event in his first race in this grade having recently turned 45, also running well was Jimmy Barcoe who finished 19^th in a time of 22m 31secs.

ANOTHER WIN FOR SOPHIE PARKINSON

Sophie Parkinson added another title to her collection in winning the Intermediate Girls Discus at the Irish Schools Track & Field Championships in Tullamore on Saturday 4^th June with a throw of 38m 54cm her second best ever Competitive Throw she also won the Silver Medal in the Shot with a Putt of 10m 72cm.  Albrecht Plettenberg representing Glenstal College finished 12^th in the Intermediate Boys Javelin with a throw of 32m 11cm.

GREAT PERFORMANCES BY SOPHIE PARKINSON

Sophie Parkinson turned in two great performances to win both Discus and Shot at the Leinster Junior Track And Field Championships held in Scanlon Park Kilkenny on Sunday 29^th May.  In winning the Discus Sophie produced a brilliant throw of 40m 62cm a big new personal best which is 38cm short of the qualifying standard for the European Youth Olympics. Her winning putt in the Shot was 10m 53cm. Seppi Lysaght was also in excellent form in winning the Junior Mens Pole Vault with a vault of 2m95cm a new Championship best performance.

DOUBLE GOLD FOR EVE AND SARAH

Eve O’Dwyer and Sarah O’Donnell competing in the girls u9 Pairs competition at the Leinster Championships in Navan on Saturday 28^th May combined brilliantly to win Gold Medals in both the 60m and 300m events.  In the 60m Eve ran 10.45s and Sarah ran 10.50s and in the 300m Eve ran 1m00.19s and Sarah ran 1m09.19s to finish equal 1^st. Both qualified for the All Ireland Championships which take place in Templemore Co Tipperary on Saturday 25^th June. In the boys u9 events Brogan McAviney and Jimmy Lennon combined to finish 5^th in the 300m and 7^th in the long jump. In boys u10 events Conor Cleere and David Holland combined to finish 8^th in the long jump and 8^th in the ball throw. Cormac Nolan finished 8^th in the Bu12 Shot Putt.

UNIQUE RECORD FOR JOHN LENNON

Competing in the Senior Men’s Walk at the Final Stage of the Kilkenny Track and Field  Championships at Scanlon Park on Friday 27^th May, John Lennon in winning the 1500m Walk set a unique record having won the event for the 1^st time in 1969, he has now won this event in all the succeeding decades up to this year giving him senior county medals in six different decades, and to crown a great evening John also won the Masters 0’50 Shot.  In what was a good night for the club, Eddie O’Mahony was 2^nd in the Senior Javelin, David Farrell won the 0’45 800m, Pat Mahon won the 0’45 Long Jump and the 0’50 100m.  Mick Walsh won the 0’50 1500m, Gerry Fogarty won silver in the 0’50 100m, silver in the 0’50 Shot and bronze in the 0’50 1500m. Marty Kelly won silver in the 0’50 1500m, Kevin Fenlon won silver in the Novice 800m.

BUSY SUNDAY FOR CLUB MEMBERS

Sunday 22^nd May was a busy day for the club with athletes competing at three different venues. Tommy Evans won the Lucan 5km Road Race in a good time of 15m 05s. Leona Connolly won the ladies 0’40 1^st Prize in the Longford 10km Road Race. Two Teams competed in the Leinster Juvenile Relays in Greystones, the Gu9 4×100 team of Sarah O’Neill, Maria Nolan, Eva O’Donnell and Sarah O’Donnell finished 3^rd in their heat but were disqualified for a lane infringement.  The Bu10 team of Patrick Brennan, David Holland, Brogan McAviney and Gavin Manning finished 5^th in the final.

DOUBLE FOR SOPHIE PARKINSON

Sophie Parkinson competing for Kilkenny College in the Leinster Schools Track & Field C’Ships in Santry on Saturday 21^st May won the Girls Intermediate Discus with a new Personal Best Throw of 37m 11cm, and also won the Shot with a great Putt of 11m 31cm.  In the Boys Intermediate Seppi Lysaght finished 4^th in the Pole Vault.  In Senior events Mary Ellen Doyle finished 6^th in 3000m and Shawn McCormack finished 8^th in 800m. In the Munster Schools finals Albrecht Plettenberg finished 2^nd in the Intermediate Javelin with a throw of 37m 11cm.

GOOD EVENING AT KILKENNY TRACK & FIELD

Friday 20^th May saw the 3^rd Stage of the Kilkenny Track & field Championships turn in to a successful evening for the club Sarah O’Donnell won the Gu9 200m, Christine O’Donnell won the Gu14 60m Hurdles, Aoife Naddy won the U14 High Jump and was 3^rd in the Discus and Rebecca Kennedy won the Gu15 80m Hurdles and 1500m and was 3^rd in the High Jump. Evan Foley had a busy evening he finished 2^nd in 100m Hurdles, 2^nd in Shot, 2^nd in Triple Jump and 3^rd in 1500m.  Finn Connolly finished 2^nd in 80m Hurdles and 2^nd in Shot.  Cormac Buggy finished 2^nd in Bu15 1500m.  Sinead Naddy finished 2^nd in Gu16 High Jump.  Bella Lysaght Finished 3^rd in Gu16 80m Hurdles and 3^rd in High Jump.  Ruth Kennedy finished 2^nd in Gu12 200m and 3^rd in 60m Hurdles.  Grace O’Donnell finished 2^nd in Gu13 60m Hurdles.  Conor Cleere finished 3^rd in Bu10 300m.  Cormac Nolan was 3^rd in Bu12 Shot and Jimmy Byrne finished 3^rd in Bu13 Hurdles. In the Senior Mens 3000m Jimmy Barcoe had a great win Joe Wolfe finished 3^rd and with David Farrell 8^th the club won the Team title

SUCCESS AT AAI GAMES

Sophie Parkinson continued her excellent early season form in finishing 3^rd in both Shot and Discus at the Senior AAI Games held in Santry on Sunday 15^th May.  In the Discus she improved her Personal Best to 36m 80cm and her best Putt in the Shot was 10m 92cm

EXCELLENT PERFORMANCES AT 2^ND DAY OF KILKENNY TRACK & FIELD

The Club had an excellent day at the 2^nd Stage of the Kilkenny Track & Field Championships in Scanlon Park on Sunday 8^th May.  Sarah O’Donnell and Eve O’Dwyer had a personal battle in Gu9 races.  Sarah won the 60m with Eve 2^nd and in the 200m Eve was 1^st and Sarah 2^nd.  Sarah also ran a great final leg to take the Gu10 relay team to Bronze Medals, the other team members were Eve O’Donnell, Sarah O’Neill and Maria Nolan.  In Bu9 age group Brogan McAviney was 3^rd in 200m and won silver with Bu10 relay team. In Bu10 Conor Cleere was 3^rd in 500m, 3^rd in Long Jump, 3^rd in Ball Throw and won silver with U10 4×100 relay team.  David Holland won silver in Long Jump and silver with Relay team.  Patrick Brennan also won silver with relay team.

In Gu12 Ruth Kennedy was a very impressive winner in 500m.  Ted Drea won four medals in Bu13 events.  He was 2^nd in 200m, 2^nd in Long Jump, 2^nd in Ball Throw and 3^rd in 800m.  James Byrne won bronze in Bu13 Ball Throw.  Aoife Naddy was 2^nd in Gu14 Shot. Paul Lysaght was 3^rd in Bu14 Javelin.  Sean O’Neill won the Bu16 800m and was 2^nd in both the 200m and Long Jump.

In the Junior Women’s events, Sophie Parkinson continued in top form winning gold in both the Shot and Discus.  In the Junior Men’s events, Hans Christian Von Hobe won the Shot Putt.  Seppi Lysaght was in great form winning the 1,500m and 400m hurdles, and 2^nd in 400m and Shot and 3^rd in High Jump.

In the Senior Men’s 800m Joe Wolfe won gold and Denis Cormack was 2^nd.  Denis Cormack also finished equal 3^rd in 5000m and O’35 5000m, and was also on relay team that won silver.  Paul Deegan won the 5000m Senior and O’35 5000m and won silver with relay team.  Mick Kelly was 2^nd in Senior 5000m and 2^nd O’35 5000m and also won a third silver medal with Senior relay team.  Marty Kelly was equal 3^rd in Senior 5000 and equal 3^rd in O’35 5000m and also won silver with 4x100m relay team.

FIVE WINS AT SOUTH-LEINSTER SCHOOLS TRACK & FIELD

Club Athletes won five gold medals at the South-Leinster Schools T & F Championships at Scanlan Park on Friday, 6^th May.  Sophie Parkinson won double gold in the Intermediate Girls grade.  She won the Discus with a great throw of 35m 60, which was a new record for the event and also won the Shot Putt with a putt of 10m 61.  In the Intermediate Boys grade, Seppi Lysaght won gold in the Pole Vault.  In the Senior Girls event, Mary Ellen Doyle had a great win in the 3000m and also won bronze in the 1500m.  In the Senior Boys grade, Shawn McCormack had an excellent win in the 800m. All will be competing in the Leinster Schools finals on Saturday, 21^st May.

GREAT PERFORMANCE BY PAUL DEEGAN

Paul Deegan recovered from a recent injury turned in a great performance to win the silver medal in the Leinster O’40 6k Road Championships held in Gowran on Monday, 2^nd May.  He led the Kilkenny team to bronze medals.  Also in great form  was Simon O’Dwyer who finished just seconds behind Paul to take the bronze medal and won a second bronze with the Kilkenny team.  Mick Walsh showed excellent form to win the silver medal in the O’55 6k Championship and Mick Hogan running his first race in 23 years, won the bronze medal in the O’60 race.  In the Men’s Novice 6k Championship Lyndon Barcoe finished 23^rd and Gary Farrell 29^th and both helped the Kilkenny Team to win the silver medals.

ALBRECHT PLETTENBERG HAS GREAT DAY AT COUNTY T&F

The Club had a reasonable start on the first day of the Kilkenny Track & Field C’Ships on Sunday 1^st May at Scanlan Park, Kilkenny.  Eve O’Dwyer was in great form winning the Gu9 300m and 2^nd in the 80m.  Ted Drea was in top form winning the 500m and High Jump and 2^nd in 80m in Bu13.  Aoife Naddy turned in a great run to win both her heat and the final in Gu14 200m.  Sean O’Neill won five medals in the Bu16 age group.  He was 2^nd in High Jump and 250m Hurdles, 3^rd in 100m and Discus and was on the winning Bu17 Relay team.  Also in Bu6, Evan Foley won the Walk, 2^nd in Discus and 3^rd in High Jump and won gold on Bu17 Relay team.  Edward Murphy won bronze in Bu16 400m and gold u17 relay team.

Albrecht Plettenberg was the outstanding athlete of the day competing in Bu17.  He won the 100m, 400m, High Jump, Discus and Relay and was 2^nd in 1500m Walk.  In the Bu14 Discus Paul Lysaght won bronze.  Shawn McCormack was in great form in winning the Junior Men’s 800m.  In the Senior Women’s events, Sophie Parkinson won gold in both Shot and Discus.  Yvonne Hickey won silver in both Shot and Discus.  In the Senior Men’s events, Mick Kelly won the 1500m, Denis Cormack was 3^rd in 1500m.  Mick Kelly also won the O’35 1500m.  Denis Cormack was 2^nd in 200m O’45  and 3^rd in 1500m O’35.  Gerry Fogarty won the 200m O’50.  Marty Kelly won 200m O’55.  Mick Hogan won 200m O’60, Liam Kealy was 2^nd in 200m O’60 and John Gorman won 200m O’70. Eddie O’Mahony was 2^nd in Shot O’45.

Tommy Evans turned in a great performance to finish 11^th in the Great Ireland 10km race in the Phoenix Park on Sunday 10^th April.  His time of 31m17secs saw him finish 4^th Irishman in the race.  Simon O’Dwyer finished 101^st in a time of 35m51secs, Lyndon Barcoe finished 261^st in a time of 39m09secs.

GREAT TURN OUT FOR WALK/RUN SERIES IN CASTLE PARK

The Club is at present promoting a series of Road Walks & Runs in conjunction with Kilkenny Sports Partnership.  The Castle Park Kilkenny is the venue.  Two events have already been held and over 80 Walkers and Runners took part in the 1^st race on Sunday 3^rd April which was held over a distance of 2km.  The 2^nd Race of 3km took place on Sunday 10^th April with over 100 finishers. The final event takes place on Easter Sunday 24^th April also in the Castle Park starting at 11am over a distance of 5km. Tee Shirts will be given to all adults who complete the full series with

Club athletes won three Silver medals and one bronze at the All Ireland u12 to u19 Indoor Track and Field Championships held in Magherafelt, Co Derry on Saturday 19^th & Sunday 20^th March.  Sophie Parkinson won silver in the Gu18 Shot and in the process set a new personal best with a Putt of 11m 34.  Diarmuid Hickey won silver in the Bu18 Shot with a Putt of 12m60.  Christine O’Donnell finished 2^nd in her heat in the Gu14 60m Hurdles and produced a great performance to win the Silver medal in the final in a personal best time of 9.66s.  Aoife Naddy had a great performance to win the bronze medal in the Gu14 High Jump with a Jump of 1m40.  Grace O’Donnell running in the Gu13 60m Hurdles finished 2^nd in her heat and finished a very close 4^th in the final. Ted Drea finished 12^th in the Bu13 High Jump with a jump of 1m20.

IRISH RECORD FOR PAT MAHON

Pat Mahon travelled to Ghent in Belgium to compete in the European Masters Indoor Track & Field Championship on Friday 18^th March.  Competing in the 0ver 50 Long Jump he set a new Irish Indoor Age Group Record in jumping 5m65 finishing in 5^th place overall. Pat improved on his own record of 5m35 which he set earlier in the year.

WIN FOR TOMMY EVANS

Tommy Evans had a clear cut win in the St Patrick’s Day 5km Charity Road Race in Kilkenny in a time of 16m15s.  Kevin Fenlon finished 3^rd in a time of 17m40s, Jimmy Barcoe was a close 4^th in 17m43s, Tom Brennan finished 9^th and Lyndon Barcoe 11^th. In the Girls race Rebecca Kennedy finished 3^rd and Rose Kennedy finished 5^th.

MICK KELLY WINS OVER 35 CROSS COUNTRY

Mick Kelly showed a great return to form with an easy win in the Kilkenny Over 35 Cross Country Championship at Bramblestown Gowran on Sunday 6th  March.  Mick took the lead from the start and finished well clear of the opposition.  He also led the Club team to the team title.  He was well supported by David Farrell in 3rd place Derek Deevy 7th Denis Cormack 9th and Gary Farrell 10th.
In the Juvenile Races Ruth Kennedy had a big win in the Gu12 race and led the team to silver medals she got great support from Nicole Carter 3rd and Ellen O’Donnell running her first race finished 19th.  David O’Carroll had a great win in the Bu12 Race.  The Bu10 team won silver medals Conor Cleere finished 6th Brogan McAviney 8th Gavin Manning 9th Felix Lysaght 11th David Holland 14th and Jimmy Lennon 17th. Aoife O’Carroll finished an excellent 3rd in the Gu14 race.  Sarah O’Donnell ran well to finish 4th in the Gu10 race with Eva O’Donnell 15th.  Bella Lysaght was 6th in the Gu16 race and Marcus Hogan was 5th in the Bu16 race.

POOR TURNOUT IN SENIOR CROSS COUNTRY

Just two athletes from the Club ran in the All Ireland Senior Cross Country in Santry on Saturday 26th  February.  Simon O’Dwyer finished 81st and Denis Cormack was 124th.

MEN WIN INTERMEDIATE TEAM TITLE

The Club won the Kilkenny Intermediate Cross Country Team Title which took place on Kevin O’Donnells land at Bramblestown Gowran on Sunday 20th February.  Simon O’Dwyer running his best ever race was the top performer in 2nd place, Jimmy Barcoe was a close 4th Kevin Fenlon was 5th Lyndon Barcoe  6th Brendan Kavanagh  7th and Denis Cormack  10th.
In the Womens Championship Siobhan O’Dwyer running her first race for the club finished an excellent 6th closely followed by Deirdre Phelan 7th and Martina Prendergast 8th.
In the juvenile races Sarah O’Donnell won the Gu9 race Eve o’Dwyer was an excellent 2nd Maria Nolan 9th Emma Farrell 11th and Maeve O’Neill 12th.  In Bu9 Felix Lysaght finished 4th Brogan McAviney 5th Patrick Langton 9th Jimmy Lennon 12th and Tommy Phelan 13th.  Sean O’Neill had a good win in Bu17 race and Edward Murphy finished 2nd. Bella Lysaght was 4th in Gu17. In the Gu11 relay the team of Tiffany Fitzgerald Amy Lennon and Sarah O’Donnell finished 5th. The Bu11 team of Gavin Manning David Holland and Brogan McAviney also finished 5th. Tiffany Fitzgerald ran on a mixed team in Gu13, Jamie Hogan and Sean Grace also ran on a mixed team in Bu13 as did Aoife Naddy u15 and Marcus Hogan and Paul Lysaght in Bu15.

ALL IRELAND SENIOR GOLD FOR SOPHIE

Sophie Parkinson competing in her first ever Senior Competition caused a huge surprise when she won the Shot Putt at the All Ireland Senior Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Odyssey Arena Belfast on Saturday 19th February.  Sophie’s best Putt of 10m94cm came in the second round and it proved to be the best of the competition.  This is the first time a woman member of the Club has won a Senior All Ireland title.

FOUR GOLD AT LEINSTER JUVENILE INDOORS

The Club won Four gold One silver and Three bronze medals at the Leinster Juvenile Indoor Track and Field Championships which took place in Nenagh on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th February.  Ruth Kennedy won gold in the Gu12 60m Hurdles in very impressive style having easily won her heat.  Her sister Rebecca also won gold in the Gu15 60m Hurdles and she also finished fourth in the High Jump with a PB of 1m40cm.  Ted Drea won gold in the Bu13 High Jump with a leap of 1m27, Ted also got to the final of the 60m Hurdles and finished 7th.  Sophie Parkinson was a very impressive winner of the Gu18 Shot Putt with a new PB of 11m 28cm.  Aoife Naddy won Silver in the Gu14 High Jump with a leap of 1m 40.  The O’Donnell family trio all won Bronze medals Grace won her heat and was 3rd in 60m Hurdles u13, Christine also won her heat in Gu14 60m Hurdles and took bronze in the final and Phillip won bronze in the Bu15 60m Hurdles.  Evan Foley was 4th in Bu16 Shot and 8th in 800m.  Sean O’Neill was 6th in High Jump and 7th in 600m and 4th in 200m heat in Bu16.  Edward Murphy was 3rd in Bu16 200m heat.  Sinead Naddy was 9th in Gu16 High Jump.

DAVID O’CARROLL WINS ALL IRELAND GOLD

David O’Carroll ran the race of his life to win the Bu11 ‘B’ All Ireland Cross Country title at muddy ALSA Dublin on Sunday 6th February. David was always near the front and took the lead approaching half way and held off all challengers to claim gold.  David’s great run helped the Kilkenny Team to win the silver medals. David’s brother Connor also had a brilliant run to finish 3rd in the Bu15 championship and with great support from Sean O’Neill who won individual 6th place medal, Evan Foley who finished 19th Edward Murphy 30th and Marcus Hogan 42nd the Club Team won the Gold Medals. The first time a cross country team from the Club won Gold. Connor, Sean and Evan also won silver medals with the Kilkenny Team. In the Gu17 Championship Rose Kennedy ran a steady race to win 9th place individual medal and was a member of the Kilkenny Team that won Gold.  In the Bu14 Inter County Relay Cormac Buggy ran a great leg to help the Kilkenny Team to win silver medals. In the Mens Intermediate championship Tom Brennan and Denis Cormack were members of the Kilkenny Team that finished 7th.

Sophie Parkinson and Simon O’Dwyer both won Gold Medals at the Leinster Indoor Track and Field Championships held in Nenagh on Sunday 30th January.  Sophie won the Junior Womens Shot with a throw of 10m38cm and Simon won gold in the Masters Men 040 3000m in a time of 10m 06s. Marty Kelly won a bronze medal in the Masters Men 055 400m.  Denis Cormack finished 6th in the 045 1500m, Pat Mahon who set a new Irish Indoor 050 Long Jump Record the previous week was unable to compete having injured his calf warming up.  Also on Sunday last
Tommy Evans finished 11th in the Raheny 5mile Road Race in a time of 25m16s and in the Dungarvan 10mile Road Race Mick Walsh finished 2nd in the Masters Men 055 section in a time of 69m47s.

Sunday 23rd January was an excellent day for the Club with Patrick Mahon winning the Gold medal in the Masters Men over 50 Long Jump at the All Ireland Indoor Track & Field Championships in Nenagh, and in doing so set a New Irish Indoor Record of 5m 35cm for the event to become the First ever Athlete from the Club to set a National Record.  Also in Gold Medal winning form was John Gorman who won Gold in the Over 70 400m and he also won silver in 200m and finished 4th in the 60m. Marty Kelly finished 4th in the over 55 400m and Denis Cormack finished in the over 45 1500m.
The Kilkenny ‘B’ Cross Country Championships also took place on Sunday 23rd in Thomastown and four Gold Medals were won.  Sarah O’Donnell was 1st in the Girls under 9 race,  Nicole Carter won Gold in the Girls u11 race David O’Carroll won Gold in the Boys u11 race.   Deirdre Phelan had a clear cut win in the Womens Novice event.  Silver Medals were won by Felix Lysaght in Bu9 and Marcus Hogan in Bu15.  Bella Lysaght won Bronze in the Gu15 event, others who produced good performances were Jimmy Lennon 4th u7, Sarah O’Neill 4th u9, Brogan McAviney 4th and Gavin Manning 6th u9.

Ruth Kennedy ran a brilliant race to win the Silver Medal in the Girls u11 All Ireland Cross Country Championship in Tullamore on Sunday 16th January. The race had been postponed since December due to snow but this did not deter Rose who was in the leading group from the start and only lost out in the sprint to the finish.  As well as winning individual silver Ruth led the Leinster Team to the Gold Medals in the Inter Regional section.  Her sister Rebecca ran a great race to finish 15th in the Girls u15 race and won a Bronze Medal with the Leinster team and led the Kilkenny Team to 6th place.  David O’Carroll had a great run to finish 26th in the Boys u11 Race and led the Kilkenny Team to 12th place.  In the Boys u15 race Connor O’Carroll finished 46th Cormac Buggy 48th Sean O’Neill 54th and Evan Foley 81st for 10th place in the team event.  Mary Ellen Doyle was unable to complete the course in the Girls u17 Championship owing to illness. In the Boys u17 race Keith Flavin finished 66th and Seppi Lysaght 70th the Kilkenny Team finished 5th.  David Farrell was the only club member to run in the Mens Novice.

BRONZE AND PERSONAL BEST FOR SOPHIE PARKINSON

Sophie Parkinson got her season off to a great start when she set a new personal best  of 10m85cm to win the Bronze Medal in the Shot Putt at the All Ireland Junior Indoor Track & Field Championships in Nenagh on Saturday 15th  January.  In the Junior Mens 800m Shawn McCormack finished 6th in a time of 2m12.58s.

LEINSTER SILVER FOR TOMMY EVANS

Tommy Evans turned in a great performance to win the bronze medal in the Leinster Senior Cross Country Championships in Kilmacow on Sunday 9th January.  This was a great return to form for Tommy as he was forced to miss the Kilkenny Senior in December.  Tommy also led the Kilkenny Team to win the bronze medals the team also included Lyndon Barcoe who finished 48th and David Farrell 50th also competing were Tom Brennan, Roger Middleton and Denis Cormack. In the Junior Womens 3000m Rose Kennedy ran a good race to finish 11th and won a silver medal with the Kilkenny Team that finished second. In the Junior Mens Race Shawn McCormack showed a great return to form to finish in 7th place and with Seppi Lysaght in 17th place, both helped the Kilkenny Team to win the silver medals. In the Boys u16 4x500m relay the club team of Sean O’Neill, Keith Flavin, Evan Foley and Connor O’Carroll finished 5th.

The Club had an unlucky day at the Kilkenny Senior Cross Country Championships in Conahy on Sunday 5th December.  Looking for their 8th title since 2002 they suffered the loss of Tommy Evans unable to run owing to a tendon injury and Niall Sheehan even though suffering from illness battled on to finish 10th.   Mick Kelly and Paul Deegan were the top performers with Mick finishing 4th and Paul 5th Robbie Magee was 7th and Jimmy Barcoe 8th the Team finished 2nd.   The club 2nd team had Niall Sheehan 10th Lyndon Barcoe 11th David Farrell 12th and Gary Farrell 15th they finished 3rd on 48 points but for some obscure reason were demoted to 1st in section ‘B’. The 3rd team finished 2nd in section ‘B’ the scoring team was Muiris Bric 17th Denis Cormack 18th Mick Walsh 22nd and Marty Kelly 24th.
In the Senior Womens Championship over a distance of 3000m Deirdre Phelan running in her 1st senior finished 11th Martina Prendergast 12th Lisa Hennessy 14th and Annette Fitzpatrick 15th the team won the Bronze medals.  This is the first time that a senior womens team from the club has won medals in a Kilkenny Senior Cross Country Championship.

GOOD RUN BY LYNDON BARCOE

Lyndon Barcoe travelled to Edenderry on Sunday 12th December and finished in 8th place in an 8km road race.

Jimmy Barcoe ran the race of his life to win the Kilkenny Novice cross country championship held in Kilmacow on 14th November.  Jimmy was in the leading group from the start and with 2000mts to go he broke away for a very convincing win and with great support from Shane Noonan in 6th Mick Walsh 12th and newcomer Simon Maher 20th the team won the bronze medals. In the Womens Novice Deirdre Phelan ran a great race to finish 4th and with great support from Martina Prendergast 6th and Maria Whelan 7th the team won the silver medals.
In the ‘B’ juvenile races Sarah O’Donnell was an impressive winner of the Gu8 race and Rose Prendergast was 7th.  In the Bu8 Felix Lysaght was an excellent 2nd Brogan McAviney was 3rd and Patrick Langton 8th. In the Bu12 David O’Carroll ran a great race to finish 2nd and led the team to bronze medals with Sean Grace 13th Cormac Nolan 15th Jamie Hogan 16th and James O’Neill 18th. Andy O’Donnell just missed out by finishing 4th in the Bu10 race and David Holland was 13th. Good performances were put in by Kate Drennan 4th and Grace O’Donnell 6th in Gu12.  Aoife Naddy 7th and Aoife O’Carroll 8th in Gu14.  Tommy Bric 5th and Marcus Hogan 6th in Bu14. Sarah O’Neill, Lisa Prendergast and Laura Langton in Gu10.

BIG WIN FOR TOMMY EVANS

Tommy Evans had a marvellous win in the Dunleer Open Cross-Country held in Dunleer, Co. Louth on Sunday 14th November.