Adele Retains County Title
The Kilkenny senior cross country championship produced two thrilling races in Jenkinstown last Sunday. St Senan’s leading lady Adele Walsh retaining her senior title with a confident and emphatic win, while Brian Maher of KCH captured his first men’s title after a thrilling tussle with Mick Kelly of Gowran. KCH won the ladies title, with their ‘B’ team in silver and St Senans in bronze. In the men’s race KCH took their first title in 19 years after a tense battle with Gowran while St Josephs took the bronze.

Bronze Bombshells
In the ladies race Adele Walsh threw down the gauntlet from the gun and forged into an early lead from Sinead Cummins of St Josephs and Ann Doyle of Gowran. Going up the steep hill on the first of two laps she had a 40m lead, while behind Cummins, Liz Nolan and the Foley sisters Caoimhe and Sinead from KCH were chasing hard.  At the end of lap one, the lead had stretched to 60m and Adele looked strong and relaxed. Further back the St Senan’s team of Catherine Fennelly, Cait Caulfield and Aisling Aylward were in a tight battle with KCH for the silver medals. By the time they reached the hill on lap two, Adele’s lead had extended to 80m, while KCH were holding down the places from three to seven to ensure team gold. At the finish Adele still had 80m to spare, with Sinead Cummins also well clear in 2^nd. Liz Nolan finished strongly in 3^rd while Caoimhe Foley won the battle of the sisters for the 4^th place. In the team race KCH ‘A’ were clear winners on 18points with their second squad taking silver by a single point from St Senans. When it comes to speed and power, it seems you can’t beat a DELL!! Well done to all the girls on a brilliant display. 

Results
1.A.Walsh St Sen. 2.S.Cummins St Jos. 3.L.Nolan KCH. 4.C.Foley KCH. 5.S.Foley KCH. 6.M.Kennelly KCH. 7.C.Rice KCH. 8.C.Martin KCH. 9.A.Doyle Gow. 10. M.Doolan St Jos. 11.C.Fennelly St Sen. 12.T.Daly KCH. 13. M.Walsh KCH. 14.C.Caulfield St Sen. 15.A.Aylward St Sen. 16.F.Doolan St Jos.

Teams
1.KCH 18. 2.KCH B 40. 3. St Senans 41.

Maher the Master
Brian Maher of KCH and Mick Kelly of Gowran were the main protagonists in the men’s race and from the outset the pair made the early running. They were chased by a group that included Eoin Everard of KCH, Tommy Evans and Niall Sheehan of Gowran and Peter Duggan of St Josephs. Sean Caulfield was also well placed with Aidan Lanigan, James Howley and Nicholas Halley all in the top twenty. As Kelly forced the pace Maher latched on and that was to be the story over the six laps. Time and again Kelly tried to open a gap but Maher refused to budge and in the finish it was the KCH athlete who had the stronger sprint. The battle for third place was equally tight as Eoin Everard went for home from 600m out and had too much speed for a gutsy Niall Sheehan to take 3^rd place. Willie Hoyne of Thomastown outkicked Tommy Evans on the run in with Peter Duggan and Sean Caulfield the next two to finish. The team race changed dramatically on the last lap as KCH pulled back Gowran’s two point lead to clinch the title by four points. St Josephs just pipped St Senans for bronze with Damien Cummins, Lar Leacy and Rocky Mernagh the scorers. Once again the race saw a great run by Sean Caulfield who held on to 8^th place despite an injured calf and remarkably he has never finished outside the top ten in any county senior over almost 20 years. Aidan Lanigan, James Howley and Nicholas Halley all showed good form and can be well pleased with their runs on the day. In the ‘B’section KCH also prevailed with silver going to Gowran and KCH also in bronze. The St Senans ‘B’ team of PJ Dwyer, Gerry Madden, Damien Walsh, Martin Delahunty and PJ Irish were 4^th. In all 44 athletes took part and the standard of racing was exceptional for a county championship race. An interested spectator was nine times national intercounties cross country champion Seamus Power of Clare. The absence of Owen Gahan and Colin Butler due to injury was a big loss to us on the day but as Arnie said, we’ll be back. Well done to all the winners and to all the St Senans athletes who took part.

Results
1.B.Maher KCH. 2.M.Kelly Gow. 3.E.Everard KCH. 4.N.Sheehan Gow. 5.W.Hoyne Thom. 6.T.Evans Gow. 7.P.Duggan St Jos. 8.S.Caulfield St Sen. 9.P.Cody KCH. 10.D.O’Sullivan Thom. 11.M.Ginnety KCH. 12.D.Cummins St Jos. 13.E.O’Shea KCH. 14.L.Leacy St Jos. 15.A.Lanigan St Sen. 16.J.Bergin Gow. 17.R.Reynolds KCH. 18.J.Howley St Sen. 19.S.Murphy KCH. 20.N.Halley St Sen. 21.P.Kavanagh Gow. 22.PJ Dwyer St Sen. 23.R.Mernagh Gow. 24.D.Cormack Gow. 25.H.Langton KCH. 26.J.Dewberry KCH. 27.M.Hyland KCH. 28.M.Power St Jos. 29.J.O’Haire Gow. 30.D.Deevey Gow. 31.M.Walsh Gow. 32.J.Millar KCH. 33. G.Madden St Sen. 34.E.Hawe KCH. 35.M.O’Connell Thom. 36.D.Walsh St Sen. 37.P.Bryan Gow. 38.A.Drennan Gow. 39.W.McTiernan KCH. 40.M.Kelly Gow. 41.M.Brick Gow. 42.M.O’Keefe Thom. 43.M.Delahunty St Sen. 44. PJ Irish St Sen.

Teams ‘A’
1.KCH 24. 2.Gowran 28. 3.St Josephs 56. 4. St Senans 61. 5. Thomastown 92.

Teams ‘B’
1.KCH 75. 2.Gowran 104. 3.KCH 132. 4.St Senans 134.

Just the Ticket
The winners of prizes in the County Kilkenny Athletics Association Christmas Draw were as follows DVD Player-Pat Maher; Hamper- Robbie McGee; Cash- Maria Power; Brandy -James Cleary; Basket of Fruit -Conor Bass; Whisky- Marian Kealy; Biscuits- John Walsh; Chocolates- St Joseph's Athletic Club; Wine -Richard Moore.

You’re a Star
Congratulations to club athlete Damien Walsh, who will receive a Leinster Star Award for athletics at a presentation in the Seven Oaks Hotel Carlow on 7^th Jan next. Damien had a series of excellent runs in both the Leinster senior T&F taking a silver and a bronze medal and also in the U/23 event, where he picked up a total of three gold medals. He also received the 2004 Kilkenny junior/senior athlete of the year for his numerous successes on the track in that year. Any club members wishing to attend the event should contact club chairman John Walsh for tickets.