Clonmel duo win County Intermediate Cross Country titles

Middlepiece, Moycarkey was the venue last Sunday for the County Intermediate Cross Country Championships.

Women

The women’s race got the programme underway and right from the start Laura Cooney Clonmel AC made her intentions known, as she wanted to add this title to the County Novice title won in 2024, as she set a strong pace.

The chasing group of Lisa Quinlan of Moyne and the Fethard AC duo of Laura Earley and Carol Molloy also moved well clear of the rest of the field on the first lap. Up front, Laura Cooney made every stride a winning one as she came home a very worthy champion.

The battle for the other podium placings was decided over the latter stages of the race with Laura Earley going clear to win the silver medal followed closely by her clubmate Carol Molloy, winning the bronze medal.

In the team event with three athletes to score on a team, Fethard AC with three athletes in the top five were worthy champions. The Clonmel AC trio of Laura, Michelle Doherty 8th and Liz Lalor 10th won the silver medals. The Thurles Crokes team of Joan Stakelum 11th, Aimee Gallagher 13th and Fiona Judge 14th won the bronze medals.

Men

The Men’s 8K race over four laps saw a group of four athletes set the early pace and they were Louis Rice of Fethard AC, Mark Corcoran, Nenagh Olympic, and the Clonmel AC duo of Aidan Flannery and Patrick Davoren.

At around halfway, the leaders were down to just Aidan & Louis, then as they were going out on the last lap, Aidan went clear and kept a strong pace going all the way to the line to win convincingly his first County title.

Then we had Louis running on well to win the silver medal. On the last lap Mark Corcoran got clear of Patrick Davoren and kept it going to win the bronze medal.

With three athletes in the top 5, Clonmel won the team gold medals with their fourth scorer Trevor Whelan 10th. The Fethard AC team of Louis, James Maher 7th, Jack Spillane 13th and Kevin Tobin 16th, won the silver medals. The Mooreabbey Milers team of Michael Bourke 6th, Kevin Patrick Lenihan 9th, Tom Blackburn 12th & Dariusz Gazdowicz 17th won the bronze medals.

Juvenile

Templemore AC claimed the first race U9 Girls title thanks to a brilliant run from Sienna Carr while Nenagh Olympic AC kick-started their day in a positive fashion claiming the team title with all four athletes inside the top 13 finishers.

Odhrán Kennedy Nenagh Olympic AC continued his club’s success to take the U9 Boys title and led his team to a convincing victory with 42 points to spare.

Having won the U12 Girls title a couple of weeks ago, Poppy Shanahan Moyne AC, showed her class again to claim the U11 Girls title while her teammates packed very well to ensure the team title with all scoring members inside the top 9.

The U12 Boys race saw two Templemore teammates battle for individual honours as Jack Ryan took first place and was followed home by county U10 champion Daniel Maher. The two boys also helped their club to the team title.

Following a tenth place finish at the Munster U14 Championships two weeks ago, Orlaith Frisby returned to the same venue looking and secured her second county title in the last four weeks with this one coming in the U13 Girls race. Dundrum AC claimed the team title with 20 points to spare over Newport AC.

Nenagh Olympic AC were top of the podium again in the Boys U14 race thanks to Michael Hynes while Templemore AC took the team honours.

The Girls U15 race saw U16 County champion Neasa Moloney take home the gold medal while Thurles Crokes convincingly won the team title with four athletes in the top 24.

Albert Maher claimed victory in the Boys U15 race to secure Dundrum AC their first individual title while Thurles Crokes AC were team champions.

The final races were Boys & Girls U17 & U19. The winners were: Eadaoin Duffy, Clonmel AC - U17 Girls, Donnacha Browne, Nenagh Olympic - AC U17 Boys, Alana Spillane, Moyne AC - U19 Girls, and Conor Kiely, Newport AC - U19 Boys.

The Josie Garrett Perpetual Cup

This Cup is presented to the best overall Club at the end of the Adult Cross Country County Championships. After two events the table is as follows: 1st - Fethard AC 277pts, 2nd - Clonmel AC 249pts, 3rd - Thurles Crokes 136pts, 4th - Mooreabbey Milers AC 121pts, 5th - Dundrum 102pts.

Munster Senior Cross Country Championships

Middlepiece is the venue next Sunday for the Munster Senior Cross Country Championships along with the Juvenile uneven age Championships. Hopefully all the clubs will once again encourage their athletes to compete at this level and if so, the County should be well represented at this level and it would be great to see Club teams and indeed County teams succeeding at this level, with the National Championships not too far away.

International Masters Cross Country

Following on from some great performances at the recent Autum Cross Country Challenge in Abbottstown, it is great to report that County athletes have been selected for the upcoming Home Countries Masters Cross Country Championships which will be held in Leeds on November 15th.

Congrats to Dymphna Ryan of Dundrum AC and the Fethard AC duo of Emmet McNamara and Fintan Rice for their selection. Also, congrats to former County Senior Cross Country Champion, Kevin Moore, now with Mullingar Harries on his selection for this international event.

County Post Primary Schools Cross Country

This popular event takes place at the Thurles Crokes AC complex on Thursday November 13th, starting at 11am.

The programme of events is:

Minor Boys & Girls - Under 14 on the 1st July 2026 - 1200m

Junior Girls - Under 15 on the 1st July 2026 - 1200m

Junior Boys - Under 15 on the 1st July 2026 - 1500m

Intermediate Girls - Under 17 on the 1st July 2026 - 1500m

Intermediate Boys - Under 17 on the 1st July 2026 - 2000m

Senior Girls - Under 19 on the 1st January 2026 - 2000m

Senior Boys - Under 19 on the 1st January 2026 - 3000m

Individual Awards: Medals will be awarded to the first three individuals in each race.

Scoring Team Awards: For Boys it is four to score, and for Girls it is three to score. Medals will be awarded to the scoring members of the first three teams. A Perpetual Shield will be presented to the best overall Boys and Best Overall Girls school. There will also be a Perpetual Shield for the best combined Girls and Boys School.

For further details contact your local Post Primary School or Athletic Club. Entries close on Friday 7th November.