IN PICTURES: Weekend of cross-country success for Laois athletics club in Stradbally

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St Abban’s Athletics Club were in fine form last weekend at Stradbally Hall, as the club’s athletes competed in the Leinster B Cross Country and Mixed Relay Championships. It was a day of thrilling performances, with St Abban’s picking up medals in every relay age group, as well as multiple individual and team medals in the B Championships. READ FULL REPORT BELOW THE PICTURE.

The Leinster B Cross Country and Relay Championships were held on familiar territory on Saturday when Stradbally Hall played host to the penultimate Cross Country event in 2025. The Championships had two parts: The Leinster B Cross Country Championships for those athletes who had not medalled individually in Leinster Cross Country events, and then the Mixed Cross Country Relay Championships. Amazingly, St Abban’s picked up a medal at each of the Relay age groups as well as 7 individual and 2 sets of team medals in the B Championships.  

The Relays got proceedings underway, where athletes were mixed boys and girls for the competition. The St Abban’s U-11 team of Ava Brophy, Lucy Kelly, Conor Keegan, and Rian Bolton finished in 3rd place in the 4x250m relay. In the U-13 race, Bailee Bolton, Roisin Kearney, Daire O'Sullivan and Liam Doyle had a great race to secure 1st place. The team of Emilia Pampliega, Penelope McMahon, Reuben Kelly and Jack Ramsbottom finished just outside the medals in 5th place. The U-15 event moved up to 4x500m, and it suited the team of Laura Ayres, Sinéad Fitzpatrick, Dylan Donovan, and Cathal English, who won gold medals. The U-17 event was also a tightly contested event where the team of Kalem Buggy, Will Duffy, Cara English, and Chelsey Dooley finished in 2nd place. 

Following this, it was on to the second part of the programme, the Leinster B Cross Country Championships. In the Girls U-11 race, Fiadh Rose Kelly was first home for the club in 19th, next home was Heidi Lalor in 37th, Charlotte McMahon followed in 50th, Sadie McEvoy finished 60th, Ellie-Ann Lalor and Rosie Culliton finished out the St Abban’s team. The girls' team efforts saw them finish in 5th place in both the club and county competitions. The Boys U-11 race ran over the same distance of 1km, saw the club’s first individual medal winner. Joe Leonard had a brilliant run to finish in 6th place, Ciarán Doyle was next home for the club in 25th, Conor Boran was next in 34th, with James Conway in 43rd. Daniel Donovan, Aidan Conway, Darragh Hosey, and Ollie Fitzgerald completed the St Abban’s team competing. The boys’ team were just outside the medals in 4th place in both club and county competitions.After this came the Girls U-13, where the club had 3 athletes in action. Ella Meabh Lyons ran strongly to finish in 20th place, Hannah Haughney was just behind in 35th, and Lana Abbey finished in 64th. Both Ella and Hannah were scoring members of the Laois county team, which finished in 2nd place. 

The Boys U-13 ran very strongly and packed well together, which helped the team to 2nd place overall. Edward McDonald led the team home in 9th place, Dara McDonald was next in 24th, Jack Ramsbottom was just behind in 28th, Reuben Kelly was 37th, while Conor Kennedy finished in 44th. This helped the team to silver medals, but they just missed out on county medals when they finished in 4th place. 

The Girls U-15 race saw Mollie Kelly as the sole representative from the club. This didn’t faze her, though, as she ran a great race to finish in 10th place after 2500m.The Boys U-15 race was certainly the most successful race of the day for the club. Dylan Donovan was first home for the club in 5th place. Cathal English was next in 15th, Shane Miller was 17th, and Harry Brennan completed the scorers in 25th.

Also in action were Darragh and Cian Buggy in 28th and 29th, with Rory O’Doherty just behind in 30th. With 6 boys inside 30th place, the boys were very well placed for the team competition, and it turned out they were in the best position of all, winning both club and county team prizes.The Girls U-17 race also had St Abban’s athletes to the fore when Katie Hartnett and Chelsey Dooley finished in 2nd and 3rd place, with Caoimhe Bradley finishing in 15th place. The Girls also helped the Laois team to 1st county team overall. 

In the final race of the day, Jake Kelly won an individual medal, finishing in 10th place. Cormac Fenlon came 13th, while Luke McCaul was 18th. Jake and Cormac also helped Laois to the overall county honours.      

Well done to all the athletes, coaches and parents who were in action in Stradbally. It’s a great championship offering a different group of athletes a chance of being successful. It also provided the opportunity for athletes to compete on a team, which is unusual in athletics. Juvenile athletes will travel to Dublin next weekend for their final Cross Country Championships of 2025 in the Uneven Age group and Novice Cross Country.