Race Report: Day 2 County Cross Country Championships
A big well done again to the 18 Bray Runners A.C. juvenile athletes who competed so well at day 2 of the Wicklow county cross country championships in Avondale yesterday. The heavy rain of the early morning stopped just before the first race began making for good cross-country racing conditions on a challenging course. All our athletes put in fine performances again, demonstrating their determination and toughness.
Our first runner of the day was Sophie Mackle who again got the day off to a great start finishing 7th out of a field of 32 U9 athletes. Sophie was followed by the boys U9’s where Feidhlim Harvey followed his day 1 3rd place with yet another 3rd place finish, well done Feidhlim!! Oisin Whelan followed close behind having another fine run finishing 10th.
Jenna Daly and Isla Graham both had good runs in a large girls U11 field both finishing well up the pack in 16th and 23rd places respectively. In the boys U11’s Aaron Egan and Samuel Whelan both had excellent runs finishing 3rd and 5th respectively, well done boys, super runs!!
The only team from our club competing yesterday was the girls U13’s, where all 4 girls came in the top 10 claiming the team gold medal a long way ahead of their nearest competitors. Roisin Murray (3rd), Catherine O’Neill (4th), Eile Kennedy (5th) and Mia McEntee (10th) all put in superb performances and demonstrated what cross-country racing is all about – teamwork!! In the boys U13’s James Foot running out of his age followed up his excellent win on day 1 with another superb win yesterday. Bobby More and Adam Craxton both had fine runs finishing 5th and 15th respectively.
In the girls U15’s Hannah Kelly had a superb race taking home the county gold medal. For all our younger athletes Hannah is a great example of an athlete who has been working away for a number of years and yesterday took her first county cross-country individual gold. In the boys U15’s Matthew Daly and Finn Campbell both running out of their ages had superb races finishing 4th and 6th and Dara McGrandles made an excellent debut performance on the cross-country scene.
Well done to all who took part and a big thanks again to all the mums, dads, brothers and sisters who came along for support. Looking at these results it again goes to show that all the hard work and dedication put in by your children is paying off and it also shows particularly for the older athletes that the additional training sessions on a Thursday and Sunday are making a huge difference to the athlete’s endurance and stamina.
Training
Tuesday training will continue in Woodbrook College tomorrow from 6.50 - 8.00pm.
Thursday training will be on the promenade in Bray, meeting at the boathouse coffee shop 7-8pm (Southern end of the prom). This session is open to all athletes born in 2008 or earlier.
Details of the Sunday run will be posted on the What’s App groups this week.
Upcoming Events
Following the county champs. we now look forward to the Leinster Cross Country Champs. Details will follow next week of proposed teams for these events.
Saturday 26th of October - Leinster Cross Country (Evens) - Gowran Co. Kilkenny
Saturday 9th of November - Leinster Cross Country (Unevens) - Ferbane, Co. Offaly
Thanks again to the parents who recently volunteered to help out at training. Without your assistance we would not be able to keep accepting new members. We will keep the appeal going for parental assistance: We now have 100 registered juveniles with the club and in order to maintain the smooth running of our training sessions we need help. You do NOT have to be a runner, all you have to do is provide encouragement and support to our young athletes. Please feel free to speak to any of our coaches about volunteering.
Race Report: Day 1 County Cross Country Championships
A big well done to everyone from Bray Runners A.C. who competed so well at day 1 of the Wicklow county cross country championships in Roundwood yesterday. It was the perfect day for racing with excellent underfoot conditions. All our athletes put in fine performances demonstrating their determination, toughness and teamwork.
We had 5 new athletes racing cross country for the club for the first time all having fine runs. 3 of our newest and youngest members Sophie Mackle and Nicoleta Captari got the day off to a great start finishing 10th and 22nd in a large girls U10 field of 42 athletes. These were followed by the boys U10’s where another of our newer athletes Feidhlim Harvey had a great run finishing third. Oisin Whelan and Adónai Sugrue both also produced fine runs finishing 18th and 14th respectively.
Next it was time for our u12s to shine, where both the boys and girls teams won team gold medals with superb displays, the girls enjoyed a 1-2 finish and not to be outdone the boys had a 1-3 finish. Both Róisín Murray and James Foot won their individual age group titles for the 4th year in a row, with Catherine O'Neill (2nd) also making the girls' individual podium for a fourth consecutive year. Aaron Egan running out of his age and only recently returning from a foot injury came a superb 3rd. Huge credit to the rest of the girls team, with another great run from Kate Hanly (5th) and Kripa Kissanthomas (9th). Meanwhile, there was a really gritty run from Samuel Whelan (12th) and another of our first time cross country racers, Adam Craxton (20th) in the boys race.
Our u14 boys fought bravely to win silver medals bunching nicely in the top 12 with 6th, 8th, 11th and 12th places going to Finn Campbell (another first time runner for the club), Matthew Daly, Bobby More and Fionn Begley respectively. Unfortunately, there was no full u14 girls team from Bray Runners this time, but there were some really outstanding performances particularly from Éile Kennedy improving from 10th place last year to finish a brilliant 4th this year and only missing out on a medal by the narrowest of margins on a sprint finish, Jennifer O'Dwyer and Mia McEntee both also put in excellent performances finishing 6th and 9th respectively.
In a race where the U16, U18 junior and novice women ran together 13 year old Niamh Murray led the charge with a superb win running an incredible time of 15.58 for 4km. Niamh was ably supported by Hannah Kelly who had a great race just missing out on a podium position finishing fourth, Eleanor Foot 5th and Ciara Murray 7th. Both Hannah and Eleanor were also running out of their ages. These results meant the girls claimed team gold for the fourth time in 5 years. Well done all and a big thanks to all of the mums, dads, brothers and sisters who came along for support.
Looking at these results it just goes to show that all the hard work and dedication put in by your children is paying off and it also shows particularly for the older athletes that the additional training sessions on a Thursday and Sunday are making a huge difference to the athletes endurance and stamina.
Unfortunately we will not have the team medals from the county board on time to hand out at training tomorrow night, but should have them soon.
Training
Tuesday training will continue in Woodbrook College tomorrow from 6.50 - 8.00pm.
Thursday training will be on the promenade in Bray, meeting at the boathouse coffee shop 7-8pm (Southern end of the prom). This session is open to all athletes born in 2008 or earlier.
No Sunday run this week due to the cross-country event in Avondale.
Wicklow Cross Country Championships Day 2
The second day of the county cross country championships take place this Sunday. Again, we will have a Finnegan’s bus leaving from the main gates at Shanganagh park at 9:00am and returning at 1:30pm approx. Athletes and parents are welcome to travel on the bus, or alternatively (of course) make their own way.
A check-list of things to bring includes:
- Bray Runners t-shirt /singlet
- Running spikes (if you have them)
- Spare shoes / socks / tracksuit bottoms
- Rain jacket
- Towel
- Food / drink
These championships are very important for the club and every athlete should make every effort to compete (or at least support their club mates). We hope to see as many of you as possible on Sunday. All our registered members are eligible to participate and are encouraged to do so, particularly as this is a team event.
Date: Sunday October 13th
Venue: Avondale, Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow
Start Time: 11.00 am.
Distances:
Boys and Girls
U/9 800m (b. 2011)
U/11 1500m (b. 2009, 2010)
U/13 2500m (b. 2007, 2008)
U/15 3500m (b. 2005, 2006)
U/17 Girls 4000m (b. 2003, 2004)
The following cross country teams have been put together for this Sunday, if your child has not been included they are of course more than welcome to compete the better the chance each team has. For teams the first 4 athletes are scoring athletes. Please let us know if you child has been listed and isn’t competing.
Girls U9 Sophie, Lily, Sofia
Boys U9 Feidhlim, Oisin
Girls U11 Jenna, Saorlaith, Nicoleta, Alannah, Isla
Boys U11 Aaron, Samuel, Adónai, Ryan
Girls U13: Catherine, Kripa, Mia, Eile
Boys U13: James, Reuben, Con, Bobby, Adam
Girls U15: Hannah, Eleanor
Boys U15: Sam, Dara, Rian, Fionn, Matthew, Finn
Upcoming Events
Saturday 26th of October - Leinster Cross Country (Evens) - Gowran Co. Kilkenny
Saturday 9th of November - Leinster Cross Country (Unevens) - Ferbane, Co. Offaly
Thanks again to the parents who recently volunteered to help out at training. Without your assistance we would not be able to keep accepting new members. We will keep the appeal going for parental assistance: We now have 100 registered juveniles with the club and in order to maintain the smooth running of our training sessions we need help. You do NOT have to be a runner, all you have to do is provide encouragement and support to our young athletes. Please feel free to speak to any of our coaches about volunteering.
