A Day at the Races
Our athletes made the long haul to Sligo Racecourse last Sunday for the AAI juvenile and Intercounties cross championships. A tough course and strong competition made medals hard to come by, but all our young competitors turned in good performances on the day and will benefit from the experience before Stage 2 in Athlone IT in two weeks time. In the senior men’s race Gary Murray of Finn Valley was in stunning form, while the equally stunning Jolene Byrne raced clear of the field in a ladies race in which Adele Walsh had a good run finishing 32^nd.

Maiden Hurdles
The U/11 race saw a great run by Rose Kennedy of Gowran as she placed 5^th overall. Good runs too from Ciara Farrell, Maeve O’Connor and Emily O’Dwyer, while Gemma Aylward also ran well and finished strongly. 
In the U/13 race Bronagh Kearns despite running out of her age had an excellent run again in a race in which Eleanor Kennedy of Gowran was best of the Kilkenny squad in 10^th place, with good runs too from Niamh Farrell of Thomastown and Emma Fenlon of Gowran. 
In the U/15 race Ciara Cronin of Ferrybank was an impressive winner, while Maria Kennedy of Gowran and Mairead Power of Aghaviller were best of the Kilkenny team Rosanne Kennedy also had a good run finishing in the scoring six. 
The U/17 race saw another of the Kennedy sisters lead home the Kilkenny team as Gretta placed 27^th. Sally Forristal of St Josephs was 51^st, with Laura Fennely having an excellent run in 56^th as did Claire  Walsh 65^th and Leanne Foskin 68^th. 
Catherine Fennelly was our only U/19 competitor and she showed that she is steadily improving over the country with another good run.

Boy Racers
In the U/11 race James Deasy of Thomastown had a good run in 20^th with Eamon Power of Aghaviller in 32^nd place. 
The U/13 race saw Gerry Walsh of Gowran finish best of the bunch in 32^nd place with David Walsh running well to also make the scoring team. 
The U/17 race saw a thrilling clash between Niall Tuohy of Ferrybank and Brian Faulkner of St Malachys with Tuohy showing great strength and determination to take the win. Another Ferrybank athlete Kevin Cooper also had a superb run in 8^th place despite giving away a year to his competitors. Two names to watch. Ciaran Phelanof Aghaviller placed 50^th, with Brian Dillon of Castlecomer 54^th and Robbie Kavanagh of Thomastown 69^th.

In the junior race a very impressive Michael Clohessey of Raheny Shamrocks raced away from a strong field to win. Colin Butler was having an excellent run until a torn stomach muscle forced him to slow on the final lap, while James Howley came through strongly in the closing stages.

Jolene Machine
In the ladies senior race Jolene Byrne set out her stall early taking up the lead on lap one. Behind her there was a battle between Fiona Britton, Rosemary Ryan and Maria McCambridge and it was Britton who was the strongest over the undulating course. Jolene, Jolene went on to win comfortably to the delight of everyone with the possible exception of Dolly Parton!! Adele Walsh almost missed the starter’s flag but got off to a good start and worked hard throughout to finish in 32^nd place. This was a good run out before the National Novice in two weeks time and a chance to get in a tough race in advance.

Horses for Courses
Gary Murray of Finn Valley was a class apart in the senior men’s race over 10,000m as he opened up a gap on the first lap and extended the lead to 30 seconds by the finish. Initially it was Robert Connolly who gave chase but after he dropped out Mark Kenneally of Raheny Shamrocks took up the challenge. Brian Maher of KCH gradually worked his way through the field to finish strongly in 15^th place with Mick Kelly of Gowran next of the Kilkenny athletes in the mid 20’s. Looks like these two will be battling it out in county senior ina few weeks time. Willie Hoyne of Thomastown also had a good run with Owen Gahan coming through on the last lap to overtake Niall Sheehan of Gowran who again put in another gutsy performance. With Tommy Evans forced to retire on the first lap and several other athletes unavailable on the day, the team was considerably weakened and it was the Gowran trio of Pat Kavanagh, Derek Deevy and Denis Cormack who fought out the final place. Well one to all the St Senans athletes who competed and we hope Colin Butler recovers quickly and is back to his best before too long.