Triple Gold in Leinster Indoors
St Senan’s juvenile athletes mined a rich vein of gold at the Leinster Indoor championships in Nenagh last weekend.

Sensational Schools Wins
The All Ireland Schools cross country in DCU college Dublin on Saturday last saw some scintillating runs by local athletes including a runaway win for young Shane Quinn of De LaSalle. All the more impressive, when you consider he was moving up to junior level for this race. The Intermediate girls race was a thrilling tussle with Ciara Cronin of Abbey College showing steely determination to win with a scorching last 300m. In the intermediate boys Kevin Cooper was always close to the leaders and despite a heavy fall still managed to finish in an excellent 6^th place. The senior races went to plan with recent junior interclubs winner Sara Treacy again taking top honours with some ease, while in the men’s race David McCarthy of Augustinians College in Dungarvan settled in on the earlier laps before storming clear on the final lap to win in style. Lots of other Waterford names well to the fore and it bodes well for the future of athletics in the county. Congratulations to one and all.

Busman’s Ballycotton Holiday
Once again the Ballycotton 10 mile event saw a busload of the cream of local talent head west to the sunny climes of east Cork for Ireland’s best loved road race. Not any old bus but a Pat Duggan bus at that. St Senans were represented by Adele and Tara Walsh in the ladies race and Alec Tully and Andy Dollard in the men’s section. Adele who was prelisted among the elite athletes, posted a nifty 63.50 for 11^th place overall, while Tara was well pleased with her run of 96.15. Alec had a brilliant 68 minute run in the O/45 section, while Andy also ran well. The race was won by recent interclubs champion Vinny Mulvey of Raheny Shamrocks in 49.04 with Pauline Curley taking the ladies title. Plenty of other Kilkenny interest with Rocky Mernagh and Michael Walsh of St Josephs in action as well as Ritchie Reynolds, Johann Dewberry, Paul Cody and Seamie Murphy of KCH. Check out all the details and results on www.ballycottonrunning.com, with photos on http://picturethis.ie.

County Board Awards Night
Next Friday night the annual Kilkenny County Board All Star Awards Night takes place in the Salmon Pool in Thomastown starting at 8.30pm. It’s a great night and a chance to reflect on what was a great year for athletics in the county. St Senans were unlucky to miss out on two major awards with Adele Walsh just pipped for the Senior cross country title by Brian Maher of KCH, while the club were just a point shy of winning the overall cross country title. Once again great credit is due to our coaching staff of James, Brendan and Pam who put in a tremendous effort right throughout the year and to all our athletes who trained hard and competed well. Not forgetting our own awards night  photo special which will be in next week edition.

Four Counties takes off
The annual St Abban’s Four County League series kicks off in Tinryland next Sunday with the first of the two cross country legs. The race starts with the junior men at 2.00pm followed by the ladies 2 mile race and the men’s 5 mile event. The second stage takes place in Wexford on 26^th March. St Senans will have both a ladies and men’s team in action, while Adele Walsh will be a strong contender for a top individual place.

Bunch of Fives
Waterford AC introduce their series of Spring 5K road races with a race on 19^th, 26^th March and 2^nd April. Registration is at RSC from 10.30am on with race start at 12.00am. Lots of prizes compliments of  Alfie hales Intersport. Full details from Des Colbert 086 1024841 or check out www.waterfordac.com.

Tartan Army

Sunday morning last saw a motley crew of the finest of Kilmacow craftsmen assemble at the Sports Complex to convert what was once a section of the RSC tartan track into a high speed launching platform for our upcoming long jumpers. Under the watchful and highly suspicious eyes of foremen James ‘Compactor’ Aylward and PJ ‘Stanleyknife’ Dwyer the raw navies were honed into a finely tuned team of shovellers, rollers, levelers, screeders and occasional dossers. Despite burnt out saws, banjaxed spines and dislocated spleens the job got done and looks a real treat ahead of our forthcoming open track and field on Easter Monday. Thanks to Billy Duggan and John Walsh of Waterford City Council for their help in acquiring the tartan and to Bill, James, John, Damien and Sean who helped with the work on the day.  Bejasus if we only had tools we’d build Knock Airport in a weekend and do Shannon as a nixer on the way home!!!

Striking Gold
There was lots of action for the club’s athletes in recent weeks, with the St Senans senior men taking part in the National Intercounties cross country in Santry and the juveniles competing in the shortcourse relays in Sion Road. The junior men were in action in the county Shortcourse 4000m with Colin Butler taking top honours, while Leanne Foskin won the ladies 2000m race in some style. The men’s team took silver just a point off winners St Josephs. Meanwhile on the road, Adele Walsh won the Kilmacthomas 5 mile race by a distance to continue her good form. We also had the club awards night in the Parish Hall and a presentation to coach James Walsh.

Intercounties, February 25th
The National Intercounties were held in Santry recently.

Shortcourse Relays in Sion Road
The club had lots to celebrate after a great outing to the County Short Course on the Sion Road in Kilkenny.

Adele Wins in Kilmacthomas
Adele Walsh carried her cross country form on to the roads with an impressive win in the Bausch & Lomb sponsored Kilmacthomas 5 road race last Sunday in a time of 30.40. She went clear from the gun and never looked like being challenged as she gradually opened up a lead on Nora Wall and Ann Dunford of West Waterford. She next takes on the four race St Abban’s Four League series which starts on 12^th March. An impressive time of 24.14 by Sandis Bralitis saw him win the men’s race from Zinter Klavis and Ravis Zakis. Other St Senans names in action included Andy Dollard and Mark Connolly. Well done to all.

Awards Night
A packed Parish Hall saw the cream of our juveniles honoured for their achievements over the past year. Club chairman John Walsh paid tribute to all the club’s athletes for their hard work and dedication and he also thanked the parents and coaching staff who worked so hard. We will have a full report and lots of photos from the night in next week’s edition.

An Oscar Beckons
The lights of Hollywood beckon for St Senan’s galloping farmer PJ Irish following his performance in the play ‘Many Young Men of Twenty’ which takes to the stage shortly in Slieverue Parish Hall. PJ who is well known to music lovers in the region for his self penned ditties is being lined up for some major parts in the near future including Cool Running, Drop Dead Gorgeous, A Few Good Men and The Full Monty. Remember you heard it here first. He’s also working on the screen play for his own film called Valentine Cards in a Massey Ferguson starring himself, Marley and John Wallis!!!

The Letter H

Stella Butler didn’t suffer any H-blocks on WLR FM’s quiz show recently when she was the winner of a substantial cash prize having wiped the floor with the other contestants in finding words beginning with the letter H. So heavens help us it could be happy holidays for our honourable hostess.

Indoor Success in Belfast
There were several top results by Kilkenny athletes at the National Indoor championships at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast last weekend.

Life of Brian
Brian Maher continued with his cross-country campaign with a second place finish in the Business houses Association CC at the ALSAA course recently. Brian's time over the five mile course was 27.32. The race was won by Peter Matthews, DSD (26.53) with Paul Fleming, Rathfarnham in third place (28.21). Brian's next competitive action will be in the National Short Course Championships in March.

Hale and Pace
There was a packed house in Alfie Hales on Ballybricken last Thursday as the prizegiving for this years Paddy Byrne Winter League took place. As well as prizes over 6,000 euro was given out to local charities, which emphasises the huge support this years event had. Congratulations to all the winners and to all the St Senans athletes who took part including PJ Dwyer, Damien Walsh, Nicholas Halley, Andy Dollard and Cait Caulfield. The event has many key people at the helm including Adele Walsh, Bobby Coady and Cathal Lowe, while in the background people like Kathleen Moran, Joe Cawley and Declan Harte, Fintan Walsh and a whole host of volunteers ensure both the safety and smooth running of the race each week. A big thanks goes also to Alfie Hale Intersports, Daryly Hale, Brooks, Blue Wall tech and all the sponsors for a great prize fund and also to Munster Express and WLR FM for excellent sports coverage of the event. Take a bow one and all and continued success. Full details and results are available on www.waterfordroadrunners.com and also check out the weekly notes on this page.

Bare Bods in Barbados
Waterford’s leading butcher and well known running celebrity Bobby Coady, was toasting both his youthful body and his wife of 25 years in the sunny climes of Barbados as he and Trish celebrated their silver wedding in Caribbean style recently. Both were in great form after a well earned break though Bobby’s tan was not as brown as one might have expected. Ah sure maybe it wasn’t the weather to be going outdoors!!

Adele Scoops All Ireland Intermediate Silver
Adele Walsh ran the race of her life to take the silver medal at the All Ireland Intermediate cross country championship in Carrignavar, Co Cork last Sunday.

Life on Mahers
Both Emily Maher and Brian Maher were in winning form last weekend when Emily won the AAA 60m indoor title in a time of 7.40, while Brian placed second to Peter Matthews in the BHAA Aer Lingus cross country race. Brian's time over the five mile course was 27.32. The race was won by Peter Matthews, DSD (26.53) with Paul Fleming, Rathfarnham in third place (28.21). Brian's next competitive action will be in the National Short Course Championships in March.Following on her victory in the Scottish Indoors in January Emily Maher has been on what could be described as a European tour and a successful one at that. Competing in the 60m sprint event she placed first in Budapest, 2^nd in Bratislava and 3^rd in Vienna where she equalled her PB time of 7.39 seconds. Then she was back in Birmingham at the week-end for the AAA's. A stumble in the heat almost put her out but she recovered to get to the semi-final and then proceeded to win the final in excellent style. This weekend she travels to the Odyssey Arena in Belfast for the Irish national Indoors where she hopes to chalk up another victory.

Rosanne in Form
Rosanne Kennedy turned in a great run at the Munster Schools cross country championship in Dungarvan last Sunday where representing the Abbey College she placed 12^th overall. There were some winning individual runs by local athletes including K.O’Brien (Minor), Ciara Cronin (Inter), K.English (Senior) for the girls, while Shane Quinn (Minor) and David McCarthy (Sen) also won gold for the boys. There were several silver and bronze medal performances as well including Niamh Ryan (Inter) and Kevin Cooper (Inter). It bodes well for the forthcoming All Ireland Schools in Dublin in two weeks time.

Brainy Mary
Local celebrity and former cross country star Mary Walsh of Kilmacow, was part of the winning table quiz team at the record breaking Sports Complex charity night in the Fox’s Den last week. Scoring an almost perfect 59 out of 60, Mary who is a regular at the quiz nights is much in demand and large amounts of money have been offered for her to transfer her store of knowledge to other teams. Meanwhile the team known as ‘Mutiny on the Boundary’ were less successful as most of the collective brain power of James, Gerry, Colin and Patricia was missing in action. Still it was great fun with 42 teams in action and lots of funds raised so keep an eye out for the next one.