Star of the Sea AC cross country Thank You

I would like to thank all the clubs and athletes who supported this year's event to make it our most successful day ever. However I would like to apologise for the delay with the junior senior and masters results due to bad connections in the chip timing setup. While we had moved to chip timing to speed up results of the senior races and all their permutations it did not work out on this occasion.I went through the whole lot last night and checked all the results and entries. They are included on the attched spreadsheet. Times can be had by visiting the Precision Timing website. While the times for the men's race are correct the ladies are not. I have uploaded both the reports below to our Star of the Sea Facebook page where they can be viewed on the files section. There are approx 230 photos also up on our page. You can view Star of the Sea AC on facebook by following this link: http://www.facebook.com/groups/staroftheseaathletics/ Regards, Brendan Meade Race Secretary Star of the Sea AC Star of the Sea AC Star of the Sea AC held their 24th Annual Cross Country Meeting on September 23rd 2012 in perfect conditions on the hills of East Meath last Sunday. The sun shone over East Meath early in the day for the juvenile races but while the weather might have got a little cooler as the clouds gathered for the junior, senior & master races the pace of the races was definitely hotter. The crowd of about 800 (our largest to date at the Greenanstown venue) were treated to great racing through all age groups from the U9’s to the last race on the programme the senior men’s 6k. Once again we had athletes from as far apart as Portarlington to Belfast and were particularly well supported by our neighbouring counties of Westmeath, Kildare and Louth. The club would like to thank our sponsors FBD Insurances who sponsored the prizes for the winners of the ladies and men’s race and Dunne’s Centra Stamullen who supplied us with bananas for all our finishers. The committee of Star of the Sea AC would like to thank all our members who contributed by setting up the course, making cakes and sandwiches, those that then had the energy to go and run those hills, all our volunteers on the day that help to make the event run so smoothly and especially those in the tea tent that manage to refresh the many weary limbs with a hot cuppa. The quality of the racing through all the juvenile races was exceptional with some very close finishes. In the team stakes for the Star of the Sea Shield, which goes to the best juvenile club, Dunleer AC and Rataoth AC made the early running but true to form Mullingar Harriers moved into the lead in this competition from race seven in the programme. In the end they finished easy winners of the Shield with a total of 82pts from Naas AC in 2nd place on 31pts. The first podium finish for the host club came in the u12boys 1500m with Cian Casey finishing strongly to take the bronze medal. The U15 girl’s race had Mullingar winning the gold medal from Naas AC based on the position of the last scoring athlete as both teams tied on 24pts. The U17 boy’s 4500m race for the Sean Higgin’s Memorial Cup saw a new name added to the cup with Jack O’Leary (Mullingar Harriers) taking the win from Gary Campbell (Dunleer AC) with Jack McGowan (Bohermeen AC). Sarah Fitzpatrick (Dundrum South Dublin AC) led from gun to tape to take the victory from Clodagh O’Reilly (Annalee AC) in the ladies race over 3000m. These two junior athletes were followed home by Nicola Bull (Star of the Sea AC) who fought hard to hold off the challenge of master athlete Emilia Dan (Dunboyne AC). Dunshaughlin sisters Ursula Byrne and Linda Fahy fought out the battle for 5th and 6th place with Ursula gaining the upper hand on the race to the line. Nuala O’Reilly (Drogheda & District AC) came down to the cross-country after already running the Rathfarnham 5k earlier in the morning and took the victory in the ladies O/50 category. The men’s race over 6k was an enthralling contest with Colin Costello from the host club going into an early lead. As Costello the All Ireland 1500m champion opened up a sizeable lead over the first two laps, Robbie Matthews (Dunshaughlin) moved clear of the chasing pack and set about bridging the gap. Matthews who had a great season on the Meath road racing circuit this year, gradually closed on Costello and edged passed the East Meath man as they went out on their last lap. These two athletes last raced against each other in the South O’Hanlon 5k Road race where Costello came out on top but this time Matthews was making no mistakes and he powered home for a great win with Costello 2nd some 13seconds back. Patrick Roche (Naas AC) was 3rd with Vinny Connolly (Mullingar Harriers) taking 4th place. Damian Martin (Raheny Shamrocks AC) was the first master man across the line in 6th place. The junior men’s race was easily won by Robert Tully (Star of the Sea AC) from Cormac Costello also Star of the Sea with Tony Aspel (Crookstown-Millview) in 3rd place. In the men’s O/50 category Patrick O’Grady (Drogheda & District) took the win from Dermot Clarke (Bohermeen) with Benny Byrne (Dunshaughlin) in 3rd place. In the O/60’s race Pat Collins (Liffey Valley AC) finished first with Patsy Fitzsimons (South O’Hanlon AC) second and Conor Cooney (Drogheda & District AC) claiming 3rd place. In the team race Star of the Sea easily won the combined Jun/Sen team prize from Liffey Valley while in the master’s men the team prize was won by Raheny Shramrocks AC with Dunshaughlin AC in 2nd place. Results: U9 Girls 500m 1st Grace Fitzpatrick Dunleer AC 2nd Amy Doherty Ratoath AC 3rd Lily McEnteggart Blackrock AC 4th Caer NiGhibne Boyne AC 5th Hannah Breen Crookstown-Millview AC 6th Ciara Smith Tara AC Teams 1st Boyne AC 38pts 2nd Tara AC 42pts 2nd Mullingar Harriers 67pts U9 Boys 500m 1st Fionn Drummond Ratoath AC 2nd Oisin Cheshire Dunleer AC 3rd Sean Quinn Glenmore AC 4th Patrick Farrell Dunleer AC 5th Criostar Bewne Beechmount Harriers 6th Sean McEvoy Dunleer AC Teams 1st Dunleer AC 12pts 2nd Glenmore AC 40pts 3rd Boyne AC 53pts U10 Girl’s 500m 1st Nessa Reilly Blacrock AC 2nd Doireann Ni Fhlatharta Dunboyne AC 3rd Aoife Rutherford Ratoath AC 4th Beatrice Drummond Mullingar Harriers 5th Ava Ross Glaslough Harriers 6th Alice Ferguson Glenmore Ac Teams 1st Mullingar Harriers 25pts 2nd Dunboyne AC 42pts 3rd Ardee & District AC 53pts U10 Boy’s 500m 1st Tom Kligannon Ratoath AC 2nd Conor Gray Dunshaughlin AC 3rd Dean Carroll Shercock AC 4th Colin Smith Mullingar Harriers 5th Conall Quinn Mount Pleasant AC 6th Mark Shaw Mullingar Harriers Teams 1st Mullingar Harriers 19pts 2nd Tara AC 35pts 3rd Boyne AC 53pts U11 Girl’s 1000m 1st Abigail Dunne Naas AC 2nd Abbey Sheridan Ardee & District AC 3rd Ciara Quinn Glenmore AC 4th Eavha Stewart Naas AC 5th Niamh O’Reilly Tullamore Harriers 6th Sally Murphy Naas AC Teams 1st Naas AC 11pts 2nd Boyne AC 32pts 3rd Mullingar Harriers 37pts U11 Boy’s 1000m 1st Shane Smith Tara AC 2nd Patrick Tucker Crusaders AC 3rd Eoin Quinn Mullingar Harriers 4th Andrew Shaw Mullingar Harriers 5th Ciaran Luby Mullingar Harriers 6th James McArdle Unattached Teams 1st Mullingar Harriers 19pts 2nd Mullingar Harriers 30pts 3rd Crusaders AC 46pts U12 Girl’s 1500m 1st Susan Glennon Mullingar Harriers 2nd Elysia Green Mullingar Harriers 3rd Molly Aspell Crookstown-Millview AC 4th Lauren Carey Naas AC 5th Rebecca Balfe Emo Rath AC 6th Megan McNamee Mullingar Harriers Teams 1st Mullingar Harriers 9pts 2nd Beechmount Harriers 39pts 3rd Naas AC 49pts U12 Boy’s 1500m 1st John Whitelaw Mullingar Harriers 2nd Adam Bate Mullingar Harriers 3rd Cian Casey Star of the Sea AC 4th Danny O’Brien Ardee & District AC 5th Aaron Getty St. Brigid’s AC 6th Enda Gaffney Mullingar Harriers Teams 1st Mullingar Harriers 9pts 2nd Naas AC 36pts 3rd Tara AC 45pts U13 Girl’s 1500m 1st Amy Clarke Na Fianna AC 2nd Sarah Clarke Na Fianna AC 3rd Andrea Brady Mullingar Harriers 4th Eva Cummins Boyne AC 5th Rebecca Duffy Beechmount Harriers 6th Davicia Patterson Beechmount Harriers Teams 1st Na Fianna AC 13pts 2nd Mullingar Harriers 24pts 3rd Beechmount Harriers 43pts U13 Boy’s 1800m 1st Jack McCullough Dunleer AC 2nd Conor McHugh Mullingar Harriers 3rd Shane Hanly St. Brigid’s AC 4th Tony O’Conor Naas AC 5th Ruarcan O’Gibne Boyne AC 6th Jack Moran Mullingar Harriers Teams 1st Mullingar Harriers 21pts U14 Girl’s 2000m 1st Alannah Bate Mullingar Harriers 2nd Naoise McConnon Ardee & District AC 3rd Eva O’Donovan Navan AC 4th Leah Cooney St. Michael’s AC 5th Hannah Stewart Glenmore AC 6th Orla Mullally St. Michael’s AC Teams 1st Glenmore AC 25pts U14 Boys 2200m 1st Darragh Drury Shercock AC 2nd Paddy Maher Dunshaughlin AC 3rd Jack Fitzgerald Newbridge AC 4th Pierce McCormack Beechmount Harriers 5th Tadgh Leahy Glenmore AC Teams None U15 Girl’s 2200m 1st Eimear Fitzpatrick Dundrum South Dublin AC 2nd Anna Cleary Naas AC` 3rd Cliodhna O’Connor Crookstown-Millview AC 4th Roisin Crowe Crookstown-Millview AC 5th Rachel Glennon Mullingar Harriers 6th Janet Copeland Beechmount Harriers Teams 1st Mullingar Harriers 24pts (last athlete 11th) 2nd Naas AC 24pts (last athlete 13th) 3rd Beechmount Harriers 31pts U15 Boy’s 2500m 1st Oisin O’Callaghan Abbey Grammar 2nd Oisin O’Gibne Boyne AC 3rd Shane Hughes Mullingar Harriers 4th Conor McGee Beechmount Harriers 5th Christy Conlon Beechmount Harriers 6th Cormac Dalton Mullingar Harriers Teams 1st Beechmount Harriers 17pts 2nd Mullingar Harriers 21pts U17 Girl’s 3000m 1st Siobhain Delany Naas AC 2nd Aishling Moody Mullingar Harriers 3rd Lorna Moody Mullingar Harriers 4th Ruth Murphy Naas AC 5th Edel Glennon Mullingar Harriers 6th Ciara Gallagher Naas AC Teams 1st Mullingar Harriers 10pts 2nd Naas AC 11pts U17 Boys 4500m 1st Jack O’Leary Mullingar Harriers (Winner receives the 2nd Garry Campbell Dunleer AC Sean Higgins Memorial 3rd Jack McGowan Bohermeen AC Cup) 4th Odhran Copeland Beechmount Harriers 5th Oisin Quinn Mullingar Harriers 6th Lorcan McGee Beechmount Harriers Teams 1st Beechmount Harriers 24pts 2nd Glenmore AC 32pts Star of the Sea Shield 1st Mullingar Harriers 82pts (for best juvenile club) 2nd Naas AC 31pts 3rd Dunleer AC 26pts