It was a happy bus load of young athletes who returned from Lough Key Forest Park, Roscommon, on Sunday evening. The bus departed with the St Senan’s athletes from Kilmacow shortly after dawn, collecting the Thomastown, Gowran and KCH athletes on the way and linking later with the boys and girls from St Joseph’s.
The reason for the trip was the “B” cross-country championships and the re-run of the boys under 13 and girls under 15 cross-country championships which came unstuck in Coleraine in December. This proved to be a more satisfactory outing. The boys under 13 team of Sean Power, Thomastown (eighth ), Cormac Buggy, Gowran (18th ), James Power, Thomastown (24th ), Paul Manning, St Joseph’s (28th ), Eoghan Wallis (53rd ) and Stephen Greene (54th ), both St Senan’s, finished fourth, missing out the bronze medals by a mere four points. Sean Power and Cormac Buggy scored on the Leinster team which took the silver medals. The Thomastown girls under 15 team, of Megan Morrissey (third ), Maeve O’Connor (24th ), Sinead Whelan (31st ) and Niamh O’Shea (52nd ) had an excellent run to finish second. With Gowran girls Rose Kennedy (13th ) and Amy Morrissey, the county team came fifth. An additional bonus was that Megan, Maeve and Rose won bronze All-Ireland medals when they scored on the third placed Leinster team.
The boys under 14 county relay team of Oliver Mullally, St Joseph’s, Sean Morrissey and Bill O’Neill, Thomastown, and Pat Maher, Kilkenny City Harriers, also won bronze.
In the “B” All-Ireland Championships there was more joy to come. The under 11 girls were fourth. Chloe Richardson, St Joseph’s, finishing seventh led the team in. The other team members, all from St Senan’s, were Katie Murphy, Eve Lacey, Ann Marie Moloney, Megan Phelan and Sinead Mc Evoy. There was a superb performance from the girls under 13. The county team with three runners from Thomastown, Ailish Farrell, Marita Butler and Ailish O’Shea, and three from St Senan’s, Hannah Irish, Michelle McDonald, and Tara Lacey, won the inter-county championship. The three Thomastown girls with the addition of Sive Behan took first place in the Inter-club event. St Senan’s who in addition to the three on the county team had Clare McEvoy, Sarah Phelan and Sarah Butler, were second in the inter-club race.
