Great support from clubs in Tipperary for cross country championships

Above: The first three women at the County Novice Cross Country Championships. From left, Ruby Carroll, Clonmel AC, silver; Aoife Delargy, Nenagh Olympic, gold; and Orla Healy, Moyne AC, bronze, with County Chairman Owen Fanning

Galbally, nestled at the foot of the Galtee Mountains, was the setting for the County Novice Cross Country Championships.

Conditions were very good for the events and both races attracted very good entries for the early start of 10am.

Once again Mooreabbey Milers AC had everything in place for a great day’s competition.

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The women’s 4k race saw 43 athletes representing seven clubs while the men’s race attracted 45 athletes from nine clubs, which was great to see.

The women’s race over four laps saw the early pace set by Aoife Delargy of Nenagh Olympic and Ruby Carroll of Clonmel AC, with a great tussle for the third place between Orla Healy of Moyne AC and Fethard’s Laura Earley.

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As the race progressed, Aoife stamped her authority on proceedings and came home a very worthy and convincing winner in 15 minutes 48 seconds. This was a brilliant run by Aoife, as she turned last year’s silver medal into this year gold.

Then we had Ruby Carroll running on very well to win the silver medal in 16 minutes 39 seconds. It is great to see both Aoife and Ruby emerging from the juvenile ranks and making their mark in adult competition.

Orla Healy made her move midway through the race to win the bronze medal in 17 minutes 5 seconds.

Laura Earley was fourth, Carol Molloy of Fethard AC was fifth with Edel Delaney of Moyne AC sixth. With both Moyne AC and Fethard AC having two athletes finished and both clubs on nine points, the strong running by Lisa Quinlan of Moyne AC over the final lap saw her finishing seventh and that ensured Moyne AC won the club title by just one point from Fethard AC, with Tanya O’Brien of Fethard finishing eighth in a great competitive race.

The bronze medals were won by the Clonmel trio of Ruby Carroll, Sareen Walsh 13th and Michelle Doherty 15th.

The Men’s 6k over six laps was also very competitive. As the athletes came into view at the end of the first lap, we had a group of three athletes setting the pace. They were the Thurles Crokes duo of Tom Tracey and Thomas McCarthy along with the eventual champion, Jamie Moloney of Nenagh Olympic.

Midway through the race the lead was shared by Jamie and Tom. Like his clubmate in the women’s race, Jamie stamped his authority on the race over the final two laps to come home a very worthy and convincing champion in 20 mins 40 secs. No doubt both performances were enjoyed by their coach on the sideline, Sean Finn.

Then we had Tom Treacy also running very well to win the silver medal in 21 minutes 2 seconds with his clubmate Thomas McCarthy winning the bronze medal in 21 minutes 18 seconds, which were great performances by all three athletes.

Shane Moloney of Thurles Crokes was fourth, Mark Corcoran of Nenagh Olympic was fifth and Michael Bourke of Mooreabbey Milers was sixth.

With Denis McCullough of Thurles Crokes finishing seventh, this ensured that Thurles Crokes were very convincing winners of the club title, thus bridging a gap of seven years, having won it at the Turnpike in 2018.

The silver medals were won by the Fethard AC team of Hugh Morgan eighth, Fintan Rice 10th, James Maher 11th and Jack Spillane 16th.

The host club won the bronze medals with their team of Michael Bourke sixth, Kevin Patrick Lenihan 14th, Ger Hanley 23rd and Liam Lewis 25th.

Owen Fanning, County Chairman, thanked the landowner for the use of his land. He also complimented Mooreabbey Milers AC for hosting these championships.

He thanked the clubs for supporting the championships and he wished all the athletes the very best of luck at the Munster Juvenile and Novice Cross Country Championships on this Sunday at the new venue, the Turnpike, Two Mile Borris, and hosted by Moycarkey Coolcroo AC.