Parents and Coaches held their breath waiting for the final leg runners of the Boys u13 Cross Country Relay to round the last hill of trees into the final stretch. At the last changeover, a blanket had separated the top four teams with Limerick, Moy Valley, MSB and Clongriffin all in touch. The runners would go out of sight as they came up the last hill but as they rounded into sight it was the green and black vest of Clongriffin and Danny Davis that had burst into a five metre lead. There was still work to be done and despite a big finish from Moy Valley and Limerick, Danny brought it home. A brilliant win in the All-Ireland Inter Club Cross Country Relays in Abbotstown.
Despite being sick all week, Hassan Khalid, took his place on the line and put the boys in a great spot and in the hunt as he handed to Max Lyons. Max ran a stormer and closing all the way to his changeover handed to Robin Harris in second place. Considering this was Robin’s debut for the Club, he ran like a seasoned campaigner to stay in touch with the leaders and hand over the Danny. And the rest as they say is history. A first All-Ireland Gold for the Club. Super support in training and preparation in this from Rares Chirila and Oran Doran who were part of the Squad.
Squad Games
While only four step on the line for a relay it really is a Squad Game. None so more than the Boys u15 who unfortunately lost Oscar Kenevey late in the week to injury but Dylan Brennan was ready to step in. A blistering start from Azim Floro Ali put the team in a great spot after the first leg in first place. Dylan, running his first cross-country race, ran superbly and finished like a train to hand over the Seb Ursachi in second place. Running very consistently Seb held his position and handed over the Keane Wosser in the silver medal spot. Keane ran smartly and with Lucan moving ahead up the final hill, Keane tracked him nicely and kicked in the home stretch for a super silver.
The Mixed U14 team came a massive 5th in their race. Ella O’Dwyer ran her heart out to handover to Adam Conway, a late call up as a sub, and he ran a blinder to had over the Liliya Valery Riecka. Debutant, Idriss Floro Ali, then brought the team home for 5th. The squad here included Ava Kavanagh and Arthur Kenevey.
The Mixed U12 had two teams out and both performed excellently. Team 1 finished in 7th in a very fast time of 6:22 while Team 2 finished 20th, out of a total of 33 teams. The full squad here was Orlaith O’Grady, Alex Cotter, Niamh O’Grady, Leon Keogh, Viola De Chellis, Etienne Cotter, Lucy Kavanagh and Ruben Casey with Amelia McCallion and Michael Frazer as reserves.
The youngest Clongriffin crew out today was our Super u11s. And they did themselves proud with the Boys u11 finishing 9th out of 24 teams while the girls came 14th out of 33 teams. Well done to Quinn O’Dwyer, Evan Cryan, Mateo Collins, Issac Eivers and sub Séimí Ó’Raghallaigh on the Boys team while Ellen Ryan, Dayna Cahill, Eva Hennessy (making her club debut) and Sarah O’Halloran on the Girls team.
Super thanks to the Middle Distance coaching leads, Marie and Dan and super support from Morgan. They have been planning the cross-country season since July and working hard so today is a great reward for the coaches as well as the athletes.
Clongriffin AC 