Flanagan and Law impress in cross country action

Athletics: Offaly Master & Novice Cross Country Championships

The 2023 Offaly Cross Country season got off to a great start last Sunday morning in Fivealley, Birr. The venue was centrally located - 6kms from Kilcormac and approximately 4kms from Birr making it convenient for all the athletics clubs in Offaly.

Pat Egan and the Egan family deserve special recognition for not only providing the venue but also putting in a lot of hard work to prepare the grounds for the event. Organising such an event takes a lot of planning and effort, and Offaly Athletics expresses gratitude to all the volunteers and club officials who contributed to the success of Day 1 of the 2023 Offaly Cross Country Championships.

It was very fortunate that the weather was cooperative for the earlier part of the day during the ladies and men's races, despite the looming threat of strong wind and rain.

First to line out were the ladies, who covered a distance of 4000m, which involved completing four laps of the field. From the whistle, the leading trio of Sarah Flanagan, Caroline Donnellan and Denise Egan bunched together and held on to this position for most of the race with the gap widening in the final stages of the competition resulting in Flanagan of Tullamore Harriers taking the 2023 masters title.

Caroline Donellan, Edenderry AC, was 2nd and 3rd placed lady, Denise Egan of Ferbane AC claimed the Offaly Novice title.

Third in the Masters category was Bridget O'Sullivan from Ferbane AC. Ailbhe McDonnell, Ferbane AC, was 2nd Novice and Lynn Mooney, Tullamore Harriers AC, took the bronze Novice position.

Pauline Curley of Tullamore Harriers was 1st O50, Carmel Murray (Birr AC) was 2nd and Rita Daly, Tullamore Harriers, was 3rd.

In the Ladies O60 category, it was a win for Tullamore Harriers with Mary Galvin 1st, Martina Conlon 2nd and Olive Mannion 3rd.

Next up was the Master & Novice men's combined race. In this event, the men covered a distance of 6000m - six laps of the course. Cian Law had an impressive performance in the Novice competition, securing a clear lead from the beginning and maintaining it throughout the race.

Tom Lupton from Ballyskenach AC took the second-place spot in the Novice category, while Kevin Looby from Naomh Mhuire AC secured third place. Padraig Berry of Tullamore Harriers AC was the winner of the Master Men’s O35 category with Clara AC's David Staunton securing the second position, and Shane Origan of Tullamore Harriers taking third place.

In the O50 category, Brendan Donagher from Naomh Mhuire AC claimed the first place, with his clubmates Darren Bermingham and Ger Cleary securing the second and third positions, respectively. Sean Reynolds from Tullamore Harriers AC emerged as the winner in the MO60 category.

In the Novice Men's team competition, it was another close finish. Tullamore Harriers took team gold with 22 points with Ferbane AC narrowly beating Naomh Mhuire with a 3-point lead. Naomh Mhuire took the Master O35 Men's team win with 25 points and Tullamore Harriers 2nd with 27 points, another exciting finish. The Masters Men O65 covered the same distance as the ladies with John Bennett taking the gold in the O70 race and Jim Langan taking gold in the O80 category.

Team results

The Novice ladies' team competition at the 2023 Offaly Cross Country Championships was highly competitive. Ferbane AC secured the gold medal with a total of 29 points, narrowly edging out Tullamore Harriers, who finished with 32 points. Birr Novice ladies claimed the third position with 40 points, while the Naomh Mhuire ladies rounded out the competition with 43 points.

Novice Ladies' teams

1st: Ferbane AC - Denise Egan, Ailbhe McDonnell, Edel Waldron and Paula Lowry, 29 points.

2nd: Tullamore Harriers AC - Lynn Mooney, Charlotte Abbott, Emer Guilfoyle and Ruth Galvin, 32 points.

3rd: Birr AC - Carmel Farrelly, Christine O'Meara, Susan Burke and Marie Sweeney, 40 points.

Master O35 teams

1st: Tullamore Harriers - Sarah Flanagan, Pauline Curley, Nita McLoughlin and Maire Triona O'Connor, 16 points.

2nd: Ferbane AC - Bridget O'Sullivan, Mary Blake, Denise Coghill and Ann-Maria Egan, 44 points.

Master O50 team

1st: Tullamore Harriers AC - Rita Daly, Mags Grennan, Mary Galvin and Hilary Duncan.

Novice Men's teams

1st: Tullamore Harriers AC - Cian Law, Daniel Molloy, David Hollywood and Darren Butler, 22 points.

2nd: Ferbane AC - Mark Barrett, Dermot Egan, Joe Carroll and James Dooley, 41 points.

3rd: Naomh Mhuire AC - Kevin Looby, Declan Murphy, Adrian Delaney and Ciaran Todd, 44 points.

Master O35 teams

1st: Naomh Mhuire AC - Brendan Donagher, Darren Bermingham, Ger Cleary and Mattie Flanagan, 25 points.

2nd: Tullamore Harriers AC - Padraig Berry, Shane Origan, Jason McDermott and Sean Reynolds, 27 points.

3rd: Ferbane AC - Francis Connolly, Michael Guinan, Patrick Hill and John Bennett, 56 points.

Master O50 teams

1st: Birr AC - Dervish Bartlett, Andy Masterson and Joe Brophy.