Kerry Cross Country Championships 2017 - Day 2

Day 2 of Kerry Cross Country Championships took place in Currow, hosted by An Riocht AC.
This time it was turn for juveniles uneven ages, Intermediate and Masters runners.

St.Brendan's AC was represent by following 14 athletes:
Boys U9 - Kevin Horgan, Ruairi Walshe and making his first start in cross country competition Max Fitzgerald

Boys U11 - Zach Walshe, Aaron Horgan, Darragh O'Flaherty, Eoin O'Flaherty and another first timer Ben O'Connor
Boys U13 - Tom O'Flaherty
Girls U15 - Eimear O'Sullivan and Daisy Nowak
Master Women - Moira Horgan & Ursula Barrett
Master Men - Artur Nowak

First race of the day was Women Intermediate & Masters and featuring Ursula Barrett and Moira Horgan, finishing outside medal positions in highly competitive age categories.

Following this race we had 3 boys competing in U9 race over 750m. All St.Brendan's AC athletes did very well with Kevin Horgan placed 3rd and Ruairi Walshe in 5th individually and 3rd in team standing with Max Fitzgerald in the team.

Boys U11 was another very competitive race over 1500m and our club had more success individually and in team competition. Five St.Brendan's AC runners line up at the start of this race. Aaron Horgan took the lead after the first 100m and not let anyone pass him to the finish line winning gold medal. There was more success in this race when Zach Walshe finished 5th (bronze medal) and St.Brendan's AC team place second overall in team standing.

Next race with our club member was Boys U13 with Tom O'Flaherty running 2500m and finishing in the middle of the pack, doing well considering that he just came second in Tralee Junior Parkrun few hours earlier.

The only girls from St.Brendan's AC took part in Girls U15 race over 3500m with Eimear O'Sullivan finishing in excellent 4th place and Daisy Nowak 9th place.

Last race of the day was Men's U17, U19, Intermediate (5000m) and Masters (7000m). St.Brendan's AC had Artur Nowak in Masters men category.

Big congratulations to all athletes who took part and represent our club and all the parents for support of our young and a bit older athletes. 

Gallery of photos on our FB page HERE.

Kerry Cross Country Championships 2017 - Day 1

Kerry Cross Country Championships 2017
 - Day 1, 1 October 2017, Killarney:
Juveniles Even Ages, U23 & Novice
First cross country event of 2017 took place in Killarney.

St.Brendan's AC had a small group of juveniles competing in:
U10 Boys - Matthew O'Sullivan & Kevin Horgan
U12 Boys - Jamie O'Sullivan, Zach Walshe & Aaron Horgan
U12 Girls - Lilly Nowak
U16 Girls - Eimear O'Sullivan

Our juvenile athletes collected 4 medals on the day when Matthew finished 5th in Boys U10, Aaron also 5th in Boys U12, Zach 6th in Boys U12 and Eimear 3rd in Girls U16. Well done also to Kevin on his first cross country competition and Jamie and Lilly on good performances on the day.

In Novice category, St.Brendan's AC was represented by Linda O'Sullivan in Women's race and Declan Sheehan & Artur Nowak in Novice Men.

Gallery of photos HERE

Kerry Seniors & Juveniles Cross Country Relays

Kerry juveniles cross country relays for U10,U12,U14,U16 Boys and Girls , 30 October 2016 in Cahirciveen. Teams of 4 plus 1 sub, distance 4 x 500m for all ages.

U10 born 2007/8

U12 born 2005/6

U14 born 2003/4

U16 born 2001/2

Also Kerry Seniors Cross Country championships on the same day.

Please contact club secretary if interested in going (0877985557).

Kerry Cross Country Championships - Day 2

Second event of the 2016/2017 cross country season took place on Sunday, 
9 October 2016 in Firies, organised by FFMV AC. Weather conditions were very good for this time of the year with sun shining all day long.

This week it was the turn of juveniles uneven ages, Intermediate and Masters athletes.
Day started with Intermediate and Masters Women race over 4500m distance and our club had Linda O'Sullivan (Intermediate), Yvonne Quill and Cathy Quilter (both in Masters O35),Moira Horgan and Kirstie Nowak (both in Masters O45). This was the biggest turnout in cross country event in recent club history and means that St.Brendan's AC had 2 teams competing - Intermediate: Linda, Cathy, Moira, Kirstie & Yvonne and
Masters: Moira, Cathy, Yvonne & Kirstie.

As the rules of Masters categories changed regarding age in Kerry, we have to wait for official results in individual and team placing based on new structure for Masters (O35-44, O45-54, O55-64, O65+). Great performance by all the ladies (some of them did 10K in Killarney the day before!) and the few slips on the course is just part of the fun! Cross country running is not easy and has a huge benefit for overall performance in any other running events.


Juveniles competition started with U9 categories.
St.Brendan's AC was represented in Boys U9 by Matthew O'Sullivan and Kevin Horgan, our youngest athlete on the day in his cross country debut. Both boys did very well with Matthew earning bronze medal, finishing 4th (medals awarded for top 6 in cross country competitions) and Kevin in excellent top 10 position.

Next on the starting line was our team of U11 girls who unfortunately missed official start and had to chase main group almost 1 minute behind from the start line. Despite this early mishap all 4 girls finished the race and deserve big applause for their determination and team spirit to finish this race with smiles on their faces. This was also the first ever cross country race for 3 of the girls from the team: sisters Caragh & Caoilionn Kenny O'Sullivan and Ellie O'Connor. 4th runner on this team, Lilly Nowak was more experienced and managed to move up the field over the 1500m and finished in remarkable 6th place and earned a medal in the process.

After Girls U11 it was turn of Boys U11 and we have one newcomer in cross country running - Jamie O'Sullivan who put a great effort on the day. Aaron Horgan and Zach Walshe stepped up into U11 category and produced another top 10 finish with Aaron placing 5th and Zach in 7th position.

In Girls U13 category we had Daisy Nowak tackling 2500m distance and finishing in a respectable 10th place, getting stronger as the race progressed. Longer distances are definitely more suited to this young athlete.

Our only competitor in Boys U13 was Rian Kenny O'Sullivan also in his first cross country event at the same distance of 2500m. He paced himself very well to finish in comfortable middle of the field position.

Our last juvenile athlete on the day was very experienced (at this stage) Eimear O'Sullivan in Girls U15 category (running a year out of her age which is currently u14). From the very start this was group of 3 runners including Eimear. Girls were running distance of 3500m and our club athlete repeated her result from previous week to finish in 3rd place and a  huge distance ahead of next runner.

Last event of the day was men's Intermediate and Masters race over 7000m.
There were some puzzled faces at the start with Masters age categories changes made in lead up to this competition (O35, O45, O55, O65+).    
This was not made clear before competition started and caused a lot of confusion among participants at the finish line.

St.Brendan's AC welcomed back past member David Kissane from a long break. Together with Pat Sheehy and Artur Nowak, they made up St.Brendan's AC team - another novelty for our club in cross country competition. Both David and Pat stepped up the distance to compete in 7000m race to score for the team - they only had to finish 5000m in they own age category. Not only did they finish the race but managed to finish in medal positions with David getting silver and Pat in bronze medal position, just a few seconds behind in O55 age category. Third team member - Artur Nowak also finished in medal position, finishing 3rd in the debated and confusing O45 age category.

Few pictures from Cross Country competition on our FB page HERE

Kerry Cross Country Championships - Day 1

First event of the 2016/2017 cross country season took place on Sunday, 2 October 2016 in Killarney, in excellent weather and ground conditions.
St.Brendan's AC had boys and girls competing in even age categories, some of them year out of age.

The first race for our athletes and the most attended was Boys U10 race at 1000m distance. We had Matthew O'Sullivan, Zach Walshe, Aaron Horgan and Darragh O'Flaherty. Aaron took the lead midway through the race and held on to win despite the very best efforts from a Killarney Valley runner to pass him several times. There was more good news at the finish line as Zach Walshe finished very strong to take 3rd place and bronze medal. Great weekend for Zach, who just day before set another PB in Tralee Parkrun (5K).
Thanks to an outstanding performance from Matthew (just outside top 6) and Darragh - St.Brendan's AC were declared team winners!

Next at the start line was Lilly Nowak competing in Girls U12 category. Lilly had a good race, finishing in the middle of the pack and she was happy with her effort competing out of her age.

In Boys U12 we had Tom O'Flaherty competing over 2000m distance and it was another good performance from our young athlete who ran a very comfortable first lap to up the tempo on the second lap and move a lot of places at the finish line. It's good to see some of the training effort being put to good practice.

In the last race of the day with St.Brendan's AC athletes, Girls U14 we had Eimear O'Sullivan and Daisy Nowak taking part over 3000m distance. Very fast first lap was set by Star Of The Laune AC runner with Eimear in second place while Daisy competing in out of age category was running at her comfortable pace for first 2 laps. On the last lap FFMV AC athlete took the second spot from Eimear to eventually win this race on sprint finish in the last 100m. 

Eimear finished in excellent 3rd position and Daisy in few places below, passing a good few runners on the last lap.

Unfortunately, we had no one representing St.Brendan's AC in any of the older age categories (U16, U18, U23) or adults in Novice category. We are hoping for better turn out next week for Intermediate and Masters competition. 
Few pictures from Cross Country competition on our FB page HERE.

Cross country 2015 - part 2

Second part of of Kerry Athletics Cross Country championships took place on Sunday, 11 October in Firies.

This weekend it was the turn of the uneven ages juveniles, Intermediate and Masters athletes. Unusually dry and warm weather conditions for this time of the year, brought a large crowd of runners from clubs around the county.

Day started with Intermediate and Masters Women's race with 4 laps of the course. In Masters O35 we had Ursula Barrett who got bronze medal after finishing 3rd in her age category with Yvonne Quill representing St.Brendan's AC in Masters O40 category.

In juvenile races we had Aaron Horgan & Zach Walshe running in Boys U9 category with Aaron finishing very strongly in the last 200m to take the bronze medal. Well done to Zach Walshe in his very first competitive race for St.Brendan's AC.

In Girls U11 our sole representative was Lilly Nowak running in older age category and still doing very well, finishing in top 20 position.

Boys U11 category had one of the highest number of entrants and St.Brendan's AC was represented by Stuart Daley, also competing in an older age category. Great run by Stuart in his second race in 2 weeks.

In Girls U13 we had Eimear O'Sullivan and Daisy Nowak. Girls had 2500m to run (2 laps) and Eimear placed just outside medal position with Daisy a few places behind.

In the last Race of the day, St.Brendan's AC had representatives in the Men's Intermediate and Masters race over a 7000m distance.
James Daley had a very productive race, finishing 4th overall in Intermediate section and Artur Nowak was participating in Masters O40 category.

Few photos on our FB page HERE.

Cross Country 2015 season opener - Killarney

Sunday, 4th October 2015.
First cross county event of 2015/16 season was the Kerry Juveniles Even ages, U23 and Novice competition in Killarney on a very solid and dry surface, well suited for fast runners.
Competition started with Women's Novice and U23 category for 3 laps of Demesne field. For the first time in a good few years we had women in "Novice" category -  Ursula Barrett and Kirstie Nowak representing St. Brendan's AC. This is a 200% increase from previous year. 

After this race it was time for Kerry juveniles to shine with Girls U10 and Boys U10 at the starting line. Big numbers of athletes took part in both of these races and in Girls U10 our club was represented by Lilly Nowak, who had a good race finishing in top half of field of over 30 girls.

In Boys U10 race it was a bigger field of around 40 juveniles and St.Brendan's AC had a trio of first timers in cross country racing - Shane O'Connor, Stuart Daley and Aaron Horgan. All three boys had a solid race, considering we only had 3 training sessions until that point and all 3 placing in top 20 with Aaron narrowly missing a top 6 medal position.

Next for St.Brendan's AC on the starting line was Daisy Nowak in Girls U12 category with another middle of the field finish in this fast race.

Our last juvenile club member was Eimear O'Sullivan running in U14 category (a year out of age). She ran a very controlled race on the first 2 laps and picked up a pace on the last one to finish strongly. 

We did not have participants in U16 or U18 categories so the next race to feature St.Brendan's AC was the Men's Novice race. It was  6 laps of the course together with U18 Boys and U23 Categories.

We had James Daley, making his debut in cross country and Artur Nowak on the starting line. 

It was all smiles before the race!

Not so much after .....

Great day in Killarney, with excellent weather and solid running track.

Well done to our club athletes for making an effort and taking part in this competition and all the parents who travelled to Killarney and cheered on all our runners.

Few photos from the day on our FB page HERE. 

XC Championships 2014 - Day 2, Kenmare

Kenmare was the venue for Day 2 of the Kerry Cross Country Championships and uneven age Juveniles, Intermediate and Masters athletes had the chance to try out in one of the toughest running events in the athletic season.
Building on momentum from last weeks performance in Killarney, St.Brendan's AC had even more athletes this time around with half of the entrants making this a Cross Country debut.

First up in the girls U9 was Lilly Nowak who came in 6th overall and winning a medal (in younger age categories the first 6 earn a medal). This was a very impressive run over 750m through difficult terrain. 

Next up was Liam Og O'Connor in Boys U9, running 750m. Liam Og was making his debut in cross country at this event and placed well overall. 

Girls U11 were next up with Daisy Nowak and Sadbh Lowth representing the club over 1500 m distance which included a steep hill. Both girls finished strong and were placed in top half.

The boys U11 had two newcomers with Donal O'Sullivan and Fiachra O'Connor participating at the 1500 m distance. Both boys finished well with Donal narrowly missing out on a medal with his seventh place overall. 

Girls U13 had Eimear O'Sullivan representing the club (running in an age category above her own) over 2500 m. Eimear ran a fine race and finished eighth overall, which was an outstanding performance.

Another first timer for cross country running was Meabh Pierce who was competing in the Girls U17 age category. This was run over 4000m and entailed running four laps of a challenging course. Meabh ran an excellent race and finished fifth in age category.

There were also two athletes participating in the Masters category - Kirstie Nowak running her first cross country event over 4000 m in the Masters O40 and earning a silver medal.
Artur Nowak ran Masters O40 over 7000m and finished fourth in his category. 

Well done to all athletes who travelled to Kenmare and especially those who were participating in their first cross country competition. 

Full results HERE.

More photos HERE.

XC Championships 2014 - Day 1, Killarney

First day of Kerry Cross County Championships saw Juveniles in Even Age groups and Novice starting the season in Killarney. After a long spell of dry weather conditions,the  field in Demesne was in great condition and it was a good turn out of athletes.
St.Brendan's AC had a small group of athletes competing and for some this was their very first cross country experience.
We started with Lilly Nowak in Girls U10 (1000m) and she did an excellent job, placing in the middle of the over 30 strong pack, running one year out of her age. 
Next in line was our U12 girls (2000m), again with a high number of runners. Daisy Nowak & Sadbh Lowth were also competing in a higher age group category and both finishing in the middle of the field. Stand out performance of the day belonged to Eimear O'Sullivan in her first ever XC race in U12 as she ran a strong race and placed 8th.
In the Men's Novice race (6000m) we had Artur Nowak & Dariusz Odwazny battling hard but finishing outside medal position.

Well done to all athletes for great performance on the day and hoping for more of the same (or better) next week in Kenmare on Day 2 XC Championships with Juveniles Uneven Ages and Masters categories.

Full results HERE.

More photos HERE.