Sunday 22nd Sept
With the Track & Field season behind us and the recent inaugural 5km Conna road race complete, it has been a busy year for St. Catherine’s A.C.
But, never short of things to do, we have spent the last several weeks training and preparing for the cross country races which now lie before us.
The summer has been extended by the warm and dry weather we have been experiencing, and so on Sunday, standing in the grounds of Youghal A.C.
with a warm and gentle breeze in our faces, we found ourselves peeling off the layers of clothes instead of the usual practice of piling them on.
EAST CORK CROSS COUNTRY.
This was the East Cork Juvenile Even-Age and Adult cross country, and as always, Youghal A.C. had a wonderful and testing cross course laid out
and waiting. Juvenile athletics has seen a growth in participation over recent years, with club numbers swelling and new clubs starting up around
the country. And so it was in Youghal, with the bigger clubs of Midleton, Youghal and Carrignavar fielding large teams. Although an altogether
smaller club, St. Catherine’s had 21 juveniles and 6 adults representing the parish. The races started with the U10 girls where we had a team of
six determined young ladies racing over 1000m. With four finishers in the top 25, the girls came away with team bronze, a fine achievement considering
many of them had never run a cross country before. In the boys U10 race we had two more athletes making thier debut and both ran very well. In the girls U12 we had two more athletes with Megan winning silver here. A short while later our four boys in the U12 category, Ciaran won the gold and the team bronze,demonstrating that cross country really is a team event where even the runners lower down in the field can make a difference to the outcome.
The U14 girls were up next, all three ran a great race wiyh Laura winning silver but unfortunatly bieng short one to make up a team no team prize.The U16 boys team were not prepared to be left out and ran a magnificent race finishing with Patrick winning silver and Cormac the Bronze, Eoin made up the team to win the team gold. This was especially pleasing to see as the boys have improved steadily over the last few years and deserve their spot in the limelight. The ladies masters won a team bronze.
The medals apart, all of our athletes competed to the best of their ability and represented their parish extremely well. The day had good individual
and team spirit as seen when many of our athletes spread themselves around the course to eagerly cheer on their friends. Thanks to everyone for
a good day and congratulations to everyone who took part.
EAST CORK SCHOOLS CROSS COUNTRY.
On Friday last we hosted the East Cork Schools Cross Country. The weather was kind to us and a huge crowd started gathering in Conna Community Field before the off at 11am. With big numbers in every race some very exciting compitition was had. Well done to all who competed. The refreshing flavoured milk supplied by Glanbia was enjoyed by the compititors at the end of each race. To host this event takes alot of help and goodwill. We wish to thank anyone that helped on the day and the neighbouring land-owners that provided parking facilities.
On Sunday next Cork Co. Cross Country Championships begin in Carrignavar. We are looking forward to a large club turnout on the day. For club information and training schedule check us out on stcatherines.org.
From Frank Hayes, St Catherines AC 0876192070
