St Abban’s excelled at Day 2 of the Leinster juvenile uneven ages, U-23 and senior cross country championships held in Kilbeggan on Saturday last.
The club had great numbers on show with almost 60 Juveniles wearing the green, white and gold of St Abban’s.
While there had been a lot of rain in the lead up to the event, Saturday brought warm, dry conditions which certainly added to the enjoyment of the event.
The club had eight athletes qualify individually for the National Championships while the Girls U-15 and U-19 teams also booked their place at the National Championships in four weeks’ time.
The Girls U-11 ran over 1500m with Ava Brophy very much to the fore throughout. Ava ran a brilliant race to claim 5th place.
Behind her, Meave Kearney battled well to finish in 19th, Fiadh Rose Kelly was 67th and Meabh Murrin completed the team in 96th.
Backing them up were Charlotte McMahon, Lucy Kelly, Heidi Lalor, Kate Brennan and Ellie-Ann Lalor. The team finished in 6th place overall with the county team one better in 5th.
The Boys U-11 was also ran over 1500m and the club had two athletes in the individual medals on this occasion.
Conor Keegan pushed the pace throughout and was rewarded with a 2nd place finish with Rian Bolton close behind in 8th place.
Joe Leonard was next in 43rd and Ciaran Doyle in 88th completed the scoring members of the team.
Conor Boran wasn’t far behind them in 90th, while Daniel Donovan and Ollie Fitzgerald battled hard throughout the race. When the team scores were added up the lads were just outside the medal in 4th while the county team finished in 8th.
Next up were the Girls U-13 where Bailee Bolton was right in contention all the way around the 2500m course. Bailee finished in 3rd place, leading the St Abbans team home.
Penelope McMahon was next in 34th, Aoife Lawlor in 70th and Sorcha Sullivan completed the team in 110th. The club team finished 6th with the county also finishing in 6th place.
The Boys U-13 packed very tightly in the race. Sean O’Doherty led the team home in 34th, next was Liam Doyle in 37th, Paudi Murrin came 49th with Edward McDOnadl finishing out the team in 51st.
Also competing were Dara McDonald in 65th, Sean McDonald in 67th, Reuben Kelly in 76th, Conor Kennedy came 88th, Donal Farrell was next in 90th and Callum Kenny completed the St Abbans boys in 98th place. Overall, the club team placed in 6th while the county was one further back in 7th.
The Girls U-15 brought great success for the club. Sinead Fitzpatrick led the team to victory when she finished in 2nd place.
Close behind was Laura Ayers in 5th, both also winning an individual medals for themselves.
Ellie Knowles and Ella Murray finished in 32nd and 43rd respectively, while Mollie Kelly completed the club representation in 60th place. This saw the team claim gold and the county team won silver medals.
Cathal English was the sole competitor from the club in the Boys U-15. Cathal finished in 42nd place after navigating the 3.5km course strongly.
In the Boys U-17, Kalem Buggy led the club team home in 11th place.
Will Duffy wasn’t far behind in 13th Eoin Mulkerrins finished in 27th while Jake Kelly was 46th and Luke McCaul 65th. Kalem, Will and Eoin were scoring members of the county team which won gold medals.
Riley Connolly won the race from St Michaels, while Dylan Yarrow and Gearoid McCann ensured the lads took home gold medals in the county competition.
Ironically, while all the lads scores combined saw them take gold in the county race, St Michael’s finished 7 points ahead of St Abbans in the club race to take bronze medals with St Abbans one place further back in 4th.
The penultimate juvenile race of the day also saw great success for the club. Rachel Ayers had a very strong run to finish in 7th place overall.
Anabelle Lawlor was just outside the individual medals in 16th and Aine Carters brave run for 23rd saw the girls claim 2nd club and 2nd county.
The club’s final athlete in action was Stephen Hunter who finished in 55th place in the Senior Men’s 9000m.
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