Bronze for Brennan, Harriers in Europe

There were shining performances at home and abroad for Kilkenny athletes over the weekend.

Kilkenny City Harriers (KCH) were in action at the European Club Cross Country Championships in Albufeira, Portugal on Sunday, where they fielded teams in both the under-20 women’s and senior men’s races.

On Saturday the Leinster B Cross Country and Mixed relays were held in Stradbally, Co Laois. Mia Brennan (Thomastown) was the top performer on the day as she clinched the bronze medal in the girls’ under-13 race, while Kilkenny came home with a haul of eight individual, three sets of county team medals and one set of relay medals.

Harriers take on Europe

The European Club Cross Country is one of the oldest cross-country fixtures on the athletics calendar, over three decades older than the European Cross Country Championships. Established in 1962, the first 13 years of the event were held in Arlon, Belgium.

Back at this early stage it was just a men’s event. It was only in 1982 that the senior women’s race was added, while the under-20 races were only added in 2006.

Fast-forward to 2024 and Ireland had two junior girls’ teams - KCH and Youghal AC. The Kilkenny team of Pia Langton, Clodagh O’Callaghan, Isabella Burke with reserve Hazel Coogan were supported by their team manager Niamh Richardson.

The course in Albufeira like many European courses is technical with twists and turns and small hills, something Irish runners are not that used to. However, with many groups going to warm weather training in Portugal the course is one that athletes take in on a regular basis for long runs.

On paper Pia Langton was the fastest. Off the back of a great cross-country season Langton has emerged as a strong contender. However, on the day it was Clodagh O’Callaghan that proved to be the strongest of the three athletes who competed. Finishing in 29th place out of 55 runners, O’Callaghan, who is only under-17, still has three more years in this age group. Leaving Cert student Isabella Burke finished 31st with Langton close behind in 33rd. The team finished 10th overall just one place behind Youghal AC.

The first Irish girl home was Avril Mellerick (Youghal) who finished 12th. She was a member of the Irish team that competed in the 2023 European Cross Country along with KCH duo Hannah Kehoe and Meabh Richardson.

The senior men’s team embraced this competition on the back of their superb national performance last November. The team of Eoin Everard, Cathal O’Reilly, Ger Forde and Jamie Gahan along with reserve James Ledingham and team manager Noel Richardson gave the race their best shot and finished 17th team.

It was Eoin Everard who led the team home in 46th place, followed home in 55th by Cathal O’Reilly. Just one week after his marathon debut of 2.23 in Seville Ger Forde was just 30 seconds behind O’Reilly in 62nd with Jamie Gahan completing the team. KCH finished one spot ahead of North Belfast Harriers. One hundred and fifteen athletes started the race which, like the under-20 women’s race, consisted of a series of twists and turns up and down hills. The overall winner was Thierry Ndikumwenayo (Spain) with his club Playas Castellon taking the team title.

Bronze for Brennan

The Leinster B Championships is just in its second year. Staged once again at the home of Electric Picnic - Stradbally Hall - the location proved to be an ideal cross-country venue.

Thomastown’s Mia Brennan had a superb run in the under-13 race as she navigated the 1,500m course with ease. Over the final 200m she was chasing down Ella Louise Donnelly (Crookstown-Millview) in an effort to clinch the silver, but Donnelly held on.

In the same race Heidi Ryan (Gowran) also secured an individual medal when she finished sixth. The Kilkenny girls’ team of Mia Brennan, Heidi Ryan, Orla Maher (Castlecomer), Ellie Killian (Thomastown), Mia Kennedy (Gowran) and Charlotte Ryan (Thomastown) put in a great effort to finish third county.

In the girls’ under-11 race Kate Malone (Castlecomer) finished ninth, securing an individual medal and leading the county team of Nancy Lyons Teehan (KCH), Aoibhinn Malone (’Comer), Ella Jasinghe (Thomastown), Molly Jean Clarke (KCH) and Aoibhin Behan (KCH) to silver. Sixty athletes completed the race, the highest of all the age groups.

Ellen Melbourne (St Joseph’s) finished ninth in the under-15 girls’ race while her cousin Evan Walsh finished fourth in the under-17 boys, bringing two individual medals back to St Joseph’s. The county, however, did not have teams in either of these age groups.

Kilkenny managed to secure a bronze medal in the boys’ under-11 race as the county team of Charlie Norris (KCH), Cillian Maher (KCH), Dylan Guilfoyle (KCH), Cillian Maher (’Comer), Conor Lawrence Delaney (KCH) and Jay Pollack (Gowran) all packed well.

Led by Charlie Norris in eighth place the KCH team took the top prize as Norris, Maher, Guilfoyle and Lawrence Daly finished four points ahead of St Abban’s.

Kilkenny secured two more individual medals in Stradbally. Daire O’Flaherty (KCH) finished fifth in the boys’ under-13 race with Charlie Ryan (Gowran) two places behind Evan Walsh to take sixth under-17.

There was one team who finished on the podium for the mixed relays. The KCH boys’ under-13 4x250m team of Daniel Greene, Amelia O’Brien, Dáire O’Flaherty and Katie Byrne took the gold medals. The quartet finished ahead of Kildare teams Clane and Suncroft to win the title convincingly.

For those athletes not through to the schools All-Ireland cross-country, this marks the end of the cross-country season. The focus now will turn to indoors, with the Leinster under-12 to 19 Juveniles this Saturday and Sunday in Athlone.