St.Senan's Open Cross Country

Download poster with details here

The St Senans Open cross country will take on Sunday 24th Sept at the Sports Complex in Kilmacow starting at 1.00pm.
Races are as follows:
Girls/Boys U/8-300m, U/9 – 500m, U/10 – 600m (Prizes for first 10 individuals).
Girls/Boys U/12 – 1000m, Girls U/14 – 1200m, Boys U/14 – 1500m, Girls U/16 – 2000m, Boys U/16 – 3000m, Girls U/18 – 3000m, Boys U/18 – 4000m.
Junior Ladies – 3000m, Junior Men – 8000m.
First three and first team of four in each race. Fintan O’Sullivan Memorial Cup for best overall juvenile club.
Senior Ladies 3000m. Prizes for 1st three individuals, 1st Vet O/35, 1st team of four.
Senior Men 8000m, prizes for 1st three individuals, 1st three juniors, 1st three Vets, 1st three teams of four to score.
Thanks to sponsors Caulfield’s Supervalue, Hypercentre and Waterford Crystal.
For further details contact Bill Lacey on 051 885684 or John Walsh on 087 9947139.

Spike Island
There’s a chance of a new pair of running spikes on offer to all those who take part in both the St Senans Open cross country race on Sun 24th Sept and the Century Homes race in Dungarvan on 15th October. All those who qualify will go into a free draw with the lucky winner walking away with some spanking new spikes.

Kelly and Daly are Masters
Joe and Murty Kelly from the Brow Rangers club had a successful outing to the Mary Peters Track for the Northern Ireland Masters Championships. Joe who was competing in the M1 category, won gold in the shot putt and bronze in the discus, while Murty who was in M5 category won silver in both the hammer and discus as well as a bronze in the shot putt. MeanwhileTeresa Daly, Kilkenny City Harriers, notched up victory in the M3 category of the Longford marathon which she completed in 3hrs 52mins 50secs. Well done, all three.

Turkey Trotting
Owen Gahan and the Irish Mountain Running squad head to Turkey this week to compete in the World Trophy Championship on Sunday next 10th Sept. A relative newcomer to this sport the Molum man has shown a natural flair for the high hills but as a former All Ireland cross country medal winner he has plenty of experience competing in races at the highest level. Gowran AC athlete Mick Kelly leads the men’s team and following his recent good form will be looking a for good individual placing. Another strong athlete on the team is Irish marathon champion Gary Crosson, the Donegal man has already competed in both mountain races and multi-discipline adventure races around the world. We wish the Owen and the team every success.
The full squad travelling to Bursa for the race is as follows:-
Senior Men Michael Kelly, Robbie Bryson, Gary Crossan, Aidan Woods, Owen Gahan & Bryan Keane
Senior Ladies Caroline Harney, Jenny McAuley & Orla McEvoy
Junior Men Eoin Rowan, Sam Hand, John O'Sullivan & Eoin Pierce
Junior Women Michelle Finn

St Senans Tops in Ten Miler
Nicholas Halley was first across the line in the Co Kilkenny 10 mile Road Championship. last Sunday and also led the team of James Howley, Colin Butler and Damien Walsh to team gold. The race, over the Waterford Road/Grovine three lap circuit, was run in ideal conditions and after three miles a group of four including Nicholas and James along with Tim Butler, KCH and Rocky Mernagh, St Josephs had seperated themselves from the rest of the pack. At the six mile mark Butler opened a small lead on Nicholas and looked comfortable, while Colin Butler moved through to join the chasing pack. On the final lap Nicholas chased hard and eventually took a lead that he neve relinquished crossing the finish line with just over a minute to spare over Tim Butler with James Howley finishing strongly to take the bronze medal less than half a minute behind. Rocky Mernagh was rewarded for his good running with first place in the Masters section, while the evergreen Willie McTiernan, KCH took the silver and Mick Walsh, Gowran the bronze. St Senans won the team title from Gowran AC. Meanwhile in the ladies race Adele Walsh showed plenty of stamina as she coasted to victory in a time of 67.44 to make it a clean sweep for the club with even the bould Bill Lacey getting in on the act.

Results. 1 Nicholas Hally 60.16. 2 Tim Butler 61.07. 3 James Howley 61.35. 4 Rocky Mernagh 61.55. 5 Colin Butler 64.19. 6 Henry Langton, St Joseph's 64.32. 7 Damien Walsh, St Senan's 65.00. 8 Willie McTiernan 65.10. 9 Mick Walsh 65.47. 10 Denis Cormack, Gowran 68.25. 11 Michael Power, St Joseph's 69.07. 12 Marty Kelly, Gowran 70.42. 13 Bill Lacey, St Senan's 72.27. Pat Bryan, Gowran 72.27. 15 Niall Lyons, Gowran 75.33. Team. 1. St Senans AC (16pts). 2. Gowran AC (45pts)

O'Keeffe Hammers Record
Eileen O'Keeffe came within 4cms of her personal best when winning the Hammer event in The Celtic Cup competition in Scotland. Two of her throws were over 69 meters, with her best of 69.32 giving her a stadium record. This fine performance brought her accolades from the event organisers and an interview with the BBC. This achievement will undoubtedly boost her confidence and hopefully she will push on to achieve that elusive 70m mark which has been so tantalisingly near on a number of occasions.

Throwing their Weight Around
Leanne Ivory and Janet Moore have joined a local throwing group under the guidance of leading coach Tom Prendergast. The group train twice a week at the RSC and are keen to develop the standard of throwing events in the area. Both Leanne and Janet have great potential in discus, shot and javelin and we look forward to seeing them make progress over the winter months. St Senans training nights are now back in full swing on Mondays and Wednesdays at the Sports Complex, while the older athletes also add in an extra session or two on Fridays and Sundays in Dunphy’s Field. Only three weeks to the start of the cross country season, so time to knuckle down.

Jack Flash
There was mixed success for some of our local athletes at The Community Games finals in Mosney a few weekends ago. Lauren Gleeson with her first taste of national competition bowed out at the heat stages of the U/8 60m sprint. In the girls U/12, Cliodhna Manning put in a great performance coming second in her heat but despite her best efforts was unable to advance to the final. The same fate befell Cormac Everard in boys U/12 sprint and Diarmuid Cody in boys U/14 hurdles. Both with 3rd place finishes in their heats went out at the semi-final stages. Diarmuid was conceding almost two years to many of his U/14 competitors and because of that he was competing with unfamiliar hurdle heights and intervals, which was a major disadvantage. Young Jack Manning, having come first in his heat of the 80m U/8, got through the semi-final and delivered a flashy finish in the final to collect the silver medal much to the delight of the Kilkenny contingent.

Fit4Life
The Irish Sports Council is sponsoring a fitness campaign called Fit 4Life. The aim is to promote general fitness through running. Kilkenny City is one of fourteen centres around the country participating in this campaign. A series of runs will take place on Saturday mornings starting on September 30th. Full information will be provided nearer to the date.

Father of the Bride
Our long term coach, grass cutter and all round Mr Fixit James Aylward, swopped his dungarees for a tuxedo last Saturday as he led daughter Catherine up the aisle of Knockmoylan church for her wedding to Slane man Bobby Tallon. James cut quite a dash and with wife Eleanor looking like a million dollars, the pair joined with family and friends at the Ormonde Hotel in Kilkenny for what was a great day all round. James had warned all his daughters that he would only accept men of the highest calibre and we’re happy to report that in this instance the cream got the Cat. Not out of the woods yet though with three more daughters to give away, James is considering putting them on eBay. I can just see it “Good Home Wanted for Three Cute Kittens” Get your bids ready lads!! Best of luck to the blushing bride and groom from all in St Senans.

Look out King Henry
Sean Caulfield hit the headlines in the Kilkenny People last week as the St Senan’s man switched roles to play a major part in the Kilmacow hurler’s great win over O’Loughlin Gaels in the Paddy Cahill Cup. Sean did a Brian Corcoran act and switched from his normal defensive role to attack, where in the final few minutes he rattled the net and the opposition. He then adding two points for good measure before the final whistle to seal a great win. A naturally fit athlete Sean may be one of the elder statesmen of the team but has stamina to burn and may now have found a new career as a goal poacher. Peader’s men continue their march in search of a county junior title and we wish them every success in their next outing against Windgap.

Maggie’s Water
Reports are flooding in of some more remarkable cures attributed to the magical spring well of Maggie Lacey of Molum. A Carrickshock man arrived half crippled with arthritis and had to be carried to the well for a drink. Lo and behold after just two slugs of the water he danced a jig back to the van and went home singing a verse of “Don’t tear his eyes out Maggie, wait ‘til you get him in the bed”. The well which dates back to the time of Our Lord is known have been used for centuries to cure everything from horses with hemorrhoids to humans with hangovers and sometimes the other way round. In recent years the club has sent runners suffering with everything from strains, sprains and chilblains up the hill for a cure and to date all have come down ready to bull cows. Despite offers of huge sums of money from the likes of Ballygowan and Kerry Spring, Maggie insists she will never sell out. What do I want with money she said, sure haven’t I the finest of grandchildren to mind me and that’s more than money can buy. Well said!!

Rusty Scanlon Memorial
There was a big turnout for the annual Rusty Scanlon 10K at Outrath on Friday night with Gowran athletes were very much to the fore in the men's race which was won in fine style by Tommy Evans. Tommy took an early lead and by the time the runners emerged onto the Waterford Road he had a full minute on club mate and second finisher, Mick Kelly. Not far behind was another Gowran man, Pat Kavanagh. Pat showing much improved form was overall 4th place finisher. As the race progressed a couple of the KCH athletes made up ground, especially Paul Cody, Johan Dewberry and Seamus Murphy and they finished the race in 3rd, 5th and 7th respectively with Kieran Phipps of Dublin dead heating with Dewberry in 5th place. In the women's section Kilkenny girls Kate Millea and Marie Walsh after a good solid run finished 1st and 2nd respectively. For Kate this was a cause for celebration as after many outings it was her first time to lead in the ladies. Billie Doyle was third and Geri Doyle Ryan occupied the 4th slot. Competition for team prizes was very tight with the first team of Tommy Evans, Tim Butler, Joe Delaney and Liz Kavanagh finishing on 37pts. Second team was Pat Kavanagh, Com Murray, Kate Millea and Orla Costelloe on 39pts and 3rd team prizes went to Johann Dewberry, Neville Scanlon, Phil Cody and Breda Murphy on 42pts.