National Juvenile Uneven ages and Novice Cross Country championships
The final cross country All Irelands of the year were held in scenic Tramore, on the Racecourse last Sunday. Galway clubs once again secured multiple medals. At club level, Castlegar and Clare River Harriers teams both won medals at U11 Boys and U 13 Girls respectively, while at County level, Galway teams won Gold in the U11 Boys, Bronze in the U11 Girls, Bronze at U17 Girls and U17 boys level, with representation from across many Galway clubs. Scorers on the Galway U11 Boys team were Adam Fara Gheziel, Eoghan Shrayne Ryan Byrne, Ciaran Casey, Adam Carr and Darragh Steede. The Girls U11 squad comprised Ruby Coyne, Eliana Magnetti, Ciara Ward, Isal Ni Chonghaile, Elisha Wall and Leah O Toole.
At U17 level, The Girls' team included Niamh McWalter, Claudia Coyle, Orla Casey Isabella Conroy, Jennifer McCarthy and Laura Campion, while the Galway Boys squad comprised Luke Walsh, Ciaran Considine, Rian Collins, Cathal Gallagher, Sean Danker, Justin McCarthy. At club level, Castlegar AC won a total of 16 juvenile medals in the All-Ireland Uneven age’s cross country. Pride of place went to their U11 Boys (pictured) who won a great team silver, namely Adam Fara Gheziel 13th, Ciaran Casey 21st, Adam Carr 28th, Conor Deeth 87th Matthew Casserly 92nd and Charlie Gibbons in 105th. At U11 Girls level, Ruby Coyne was 11th Individual and 1st scorer on the Galway team that won bronze, and at U17 Orla Casey and Isabella Conroy were 3rd and 6th scorers on the Galway team that won team bronze. Clare River Harriers AC won a superb bronze team medal in the U13 Girls event, via the team of Elise Day, Kieva Kelly, Aoibhinn Burke and Eve Shanahan, helping both club and county to bronze! South Galway AC U17 boys Luke Walsh and Ciaran Considine had super runs in an age-up category, placing 6th and 10th. Both were racing 'up' an age. They were both also on the Galway team that won bronze. Craughwell duo David Frazer and Alan Hallinan had notable performances, placing 8th and 9th in the U15 Boys race. GCH, Tuam, East Galway and Athenry athletes also competed and scored on the Galway club teams, marking the deep pool of young talent across the county’s Juvenile squads.
National Novice Championships
Galway Athletes travelled in numbers to the National Novice Championships held alongside the Juvenile races in Tramore last weekend, Galway County men secured bronze county medals, via the scoring six of Abbas Edris, Aimed Belayd, Sean Cotter, Aaron Brennan, Damien O Boyle and Keith Fallon, with two scorers each from Castlegar, GCH and Craughwell clubs. Craughwell men’s squad placed a fine sixth overall, with Cotter, O Boyle, Paddy Noonan and Jordan Walsh scoring, with GCH eighth with Brennan, Fallon, Padraig Faherty and Chris Jonker scoring and Castlegar AC in 16th spot via Edris, Belayd, Serhil Sylenko and Eoin Staunton, a testament to the strength in depth at present in cross country running across the county. In the Novice ladies event, Galway City Harriers placed 13th club, with Edel Kelly, Deirdre Gibbons, Niamh Hennelly and Olive Gleeson the scorers, allied to Dee McCrae and Eleanor White, Triona Moran of Castlegar also raced and scored on the Galway County team which was 9th
European Cross Country Championships
Next weekend is a huge one for Craughwell AC and Galway as William Fitzgerald becomes the first ever man from the club to compete for Ireland at Senior level in a major international. He travels to Antalya, Turkey on Thursday with his coach Mark Davis and the Irish team, to compete in the 7.5km Senior Men's race against some of the best runners in the world. Also competing is Fiona Everard of University of Galway AC, who makes the Senior ladies’ team for the second year in a row. The event is on Sunday next and can be viewed on the European Athletics website
Fixtures
Fixtures upcoming include the Fields of Athenry 10k on St Stephens Day at 11 am in Athenry, and the Resolution Run, New Year's Day in Galway City at 10.15 am. Entry for both is on Eventmaster.
Cover Photo: Castlegar U11 boys team that claimed TeamSilver today in the All Ireland Uneven ages: (l to r) Charlie Gibbons, Adam Faraj Gheziel, Adam Carr, Ciaran Casey, Matthew Casserly, Conor Deeth
