Munster Even Age & Novice Cross-Country
Date: 19/10/08
Togher athletes recorded another fantastic set of results at the Munster Even Age & Novice Cross-Country championships held in Turnpike Co. Tipperary. The course proved to be a testing one with a strong wind and some mucky patches.
First into action for the club were the u14 team led gallantly by captain Eoin Bourke finishing a superb 10th. This team was 4th in the Cork championships no less than a year ago and today were crowned Munster champions. This was a magnificent feat for them and they can now look forward to competing in their first ever All-Ireland championships in November. John Durcan had another super run to come 14th and they were ably assisted by Billy Murphy 20th and Michael McLaughlin 33rd. Others to run well were Gary McCarthy, Luke O’ Leary and Brendan Couch.
The u16 team took to the line in the u16 race looking for team gold. This is a very talented bunch of athletes with no less than ten finishing in the top 30. Patrick Coleman has been in great form of late and continued on his winning ways defeating the talented young athlete Christy O’ Brien from Thurles in a dramatic finish. Behind Patrick, Cullen Lynch had an outstanding run coming 11th and with Ian Tobin 12th and Ian Hartnett 16th they easily won the team title. Other great runs came from Conor Foley 17th, Mark Seacy 18th, Emmet Bracken 21st and Shaun Healy 23rd.
The u18 boys raced over 5000m and again they dominated with 9 athletes inside the top 25. Peter Hanrahan continues to improve with every outing and he was a wonderful 3rd being narrowly beaten by Ennis Tracks Liam Markham in a sprint finish. Behind him Adam Kelleher had a great race to come 10th and with great back up from Brian Murray 12th and Dave O’ Keeffe 13th they took the team title. The ‘B’ team were 3rd with great runs from Alan O’ Brien, Padraig Sweeney, Robert Long, Sean Barry and Peter Bourke.
Last into action were the Novice mens team racing over 6000m. New Togher recruit Italian Mauro Lanfranchi, in his first race for the club recorded a superb win. Mauro comes from a Mountain running back round, but proved he was equally a fine cross-country runner. Behind Mauro, the other Togher athletes were running well with Tony Kelleher 12th, Donal Coakley 15th and Craig Harrington 42nd. Kevin Hasset also had a good run.
All in all a fantastic day for the club. The next competition for the group is the 2nd leg of the Munster Cross-Country championships on November 9th.
Also competing for the club at the weekend were Craig Murphy and Eoin O’ Sullivan in the annual Gerry Farnan Cross-Country held in the Phoenix Park. With conditions very blustery it made life difficult for the athletes. There are no official results available at present but Craig finished about 13th and Eoin around 33rd.
Photos
Togher athletes recorded another fantastic set of results at the Munster Even Age & Novice Cross-Country championships held in Turnpike Co. Tipperary. The course proved to be a testing one with a strong wind and some mucky patches.
First into action for the club were the u14 team led gallantly by captain Eoin Bourke finishing a superb 10th. This team was 4th in the Cork championships no less than a year ago and today were crowned Munster champions. This was a magnificent feat for them and they can now look forward to competing in their first ever All-Ireland championships in November. John Durcan had another super run to come 14th and they were ably assisted by Billy Murphy 20th and Michael McLaughlin 33rd. Others to run well were Gary McCarthy, Luke O’ Leary and Brendan Couch.
The u16 team took to the line in the u16 race looking for team gold. This is a very talented bunch of athletes with no less than ten finishing in the top 30. Patrick Coleman has been in great form of late and continued on his winning ways defeating the talented young athlete Christy O’ Brien from Thurles in a dramatic finish. Behind Patrick, Cullen Lynch had an outstanding run coming 11th and with Ian Tobin 12th and Ian Hartnett 16th they easily won the team title. Other great runs came from Conor Foley 17th, Mark Seacy 18th, Emmet Bracken 21st and Shaun Healy 23rd.
The u18 boys raced over 5000m and again they dominated with 9 athletes inside the top 25. Peter Hanrahan continues to improve with every outing and he was a wonderful 3rd being narrowly beaten by Ennis Tracks Liam Markham in a sprint finish. Behind him Adam Kelleher had a great race to come 10th and with great back up from Brian Murray 12th and Dave O’ Keeffe 13th they took the team title. The ‘B’ team were 3rd with great runs from Alan O’ Brien, Padraig Sweeney, Robert Long, Sean Barry and Peter Bourke.
Last into action were the Novice mens team racing over 6000m. New Togher recruit Italian Mauro Lanfranchi, in his first race for the club recorded a superb win. Mauro comes from a Mountain running back round, but proved he was equally a fine cross-country runner. Behind Mauro, the other Togher athletes were running well with Tony Kelleher 12th, Donal Coakley 15th and Craig Harrington 42nd. Kevin Hasset also had a good run.
All in all a fantastic day for the club. The next competition for the group is the 2nd leg of the Munster Cross-Country championships on November 9th.
Also competing for the club at the weekend were Craig Murphy and Eoin O’ Sullivan in the annual Gerry Farnan Cross-Country held in the Phoenix Park. With conditions very blustery it made life difficult for the athletes. There are no official results available at present but Craig finished about 13th and Eoin around 33rd.
Photos
