Monday, March 4, 2024

February 2024








The Munster Masters took place on the 5th. Pirette O’Shea took part in her first championships and performed exceptionally well finishing 3rd in both 200 and 400 metres. Sean O’Shea won the Shot Put title and Jerome Foley also took home gold in the 800.

David Kenny started the new year on a winning note on the 18th February. He secured yet another National Title in the National Indoor Championships in the 5 K walk in a very quick time of 19 min 30 sec.

The Munster Indoor Athletics championships were held in Nenagh on the 24th/25th . We had 4 athletes competing.  Conor McCarthy was the only competitor on Saturday running the 1500 metres finishing in 9th place in the U 16 category. On Sunday both Conor and Samuel Scroope lined up in the 200 metres. Both finished 3rd in their respective heats but missed out by less than .2 of a second to make the final. 

Both lined up for the 800 metres shortly afterwards along with Isaac Vickers. Samuel finished in 5th place in his heat and Conor 4th with both setting PB's. Isaac, who missed most of last year due to injury made up for lost time winning in another PB of 2.06. Younger brother Ryan continued from last year's heroics winning the U 15 800 in a very quick 2.09 to win comfortably. He later lined up in the 60m and finished 2nd just .03 seconds behind the winner. 

Well done to all the athletes who had a very successful outing and also to their coach Jerome Foley. 

David Kenny had his first outdoor event in Spain the weekend. Unfortunately he was unable to finish the race, which was unfortunate as he was on course to smash his personal best after 15 K. Hopefully he will manage this in his next race. 

David also received a well deserved award from the Killarney Urban Council for his sporting achievements last year.

Conor McCarthy and Ryan Vickers competed in the Munster Schools Cross Country championships in Waterford on the 27th . Ryan finished 2nd in the Minor Boys and qualifiedfor the All-Irelands in March. Ryan led the St. Brendans Killarney to 3rd place in the team competition. Congratulations also to their coach Arthur Fitzgerald for some excellent results in the team competitions where they medalled in 3 out of 4 competitions.

Conor despite conceding almost 2 years to some of his competitors finished in 32nd of almost 80 runners in the Intermediate category.

 

 

January 2024

 



 

Jan 24

 

The 1st of January saw our athletes compete in the Annual Beaufort 5 and 10K races. Dermot Dineen ran in the 10K while Sam Scroope, Brendan Lynch and Kevin O’Shea ran the 5K

Four of our athletes took part in the National Masters championships in Athlone on the 13th. Michael O 'Connor was first to compete where he took gold in the 3K walk. Shortly after Sean O'Shea finished 2nd in the Shot Put only 10cm behind the winner. Jerome Foley finished 3rd in his category in the 800 metres. The performance of the day came from Dermot Dineen who rand a storming last 200 metres to take 3rd in the O-45 800 metres in a new personal bet of 2 minutes 11 seconds to get his first National Medal.

At the end of the month Tiernan Lynch on won the 5K run in the Annual Kerins-O Rahillys 5K/10K run last Sunday in a time of 10 Minutes. Conor McCarthy finished an excellent 9th in the North Munster Schools championships in Pallaskenry in the Intermediate category. Conor who is underage again next year qualified for the Munster Schools Cross Country Championships at the end of Feburary.

 


Tuesday, January 2, 2024

December 2023

 


The finals of the uneven cross county championships were held in Navan on Sunday 3rd December. The club was privileged to have 2 athletes running in the Boys U-15 both representing Kerry and Munster. A huge field of nearly 150 runners were on the start line. The large crowd meant that both Conor McCarthy and Ryan Vickers had a difficult first 400 metres. After that both picked off the runners ahead of them and moved well up the field. In a strong finish Ryan finished a very impressive 6th in a time of 12 minutes 11 seconds. In a very bunched field Conor finished in 60th just 1 minute behind, both recording very fast times over the hilly 3.5 kilometre course.

Munster comfortably won the provincial award with Kerry finishing a very creditable 6th place. Well done to both athletes who are due a well-deserved break after a long year that started in last February with the Indoor season. Huge thanks to Jerome Foley for all his coaching of these athletes this year in what has been one of the most successful the club has ever had at provincial and National level.

The same day in Killarney Samuel Scroope won the Junior Parkrun in his first run with Tomas Lynch right behind him. Ethan and Amelia O Sullivan along with Liam and Matthew Smyth were in the Tralee run.

On the 17th  December David Kenny had another magnificent performance in the 20K walk in the World Race Walking Tour 2023 which was held in Dublin. This event attracted almost 250 athletes from 27 countries. David finished 4th and was the first Irishman home. David who currently works as an engineer in Middleton trains every morning at 5.30 AM and a time of 1 hr 21 minutes is exceptional in these circumstances. His mentor Michael O Connor also competed in the National Masters 10K walk and finished first in the O70 category with a very fast time of 63 minutes.

The 62nd running of our annual St Stephens day road races took place last Tue. Conditions were near perfect as it was calm and dry. The 2K run for children under 12 and their parents took place first. Over 40 children and parents took part in this which was almost double last years entry

 A very large crowd of 293 runners took to the start line of the 5K event. Oisin Spillane was the clear favourite and he took the lead early.

Climbing up the hill before the 1 K mark he had Tommy Arthur from Kenmare former winner James Ledingham from Kilkenny, Oisin Murray from An Riocht and local athletes David Kenny, Ryan Vickers and Conor McCarthy all in touch.

Hannah Steeds was in the lead in the ladies section closely tracked by last years winner Niamh O’Mahony. As the race reached the half way stage the race was still in the balance on the hill before the railway crossing Oisin Spillane started to assert his authority and slowly pulled away to win by 40 metres to cross the line in 14 minutes 44 seconds. This is an improvement of 40 seconds from last years time.

With this rate of improvement Mark Hanrahan’s record time of 14.38 will be under serious threat next year. Oisin Murray of An Riocht ran brilliantly to finish 8 seconds behind. Local athlete, Olympic Race Walker David Kenny ran a sensational time of 15.09 to finish in 3rd. This was David’s first time running a race in over 7 years so his achievement is all the more remarkable. James Ledingham  from Kilkenny finished 4th  in a time of 15.18 which would have won last years race. Tommy Arthurs came 5th and was the first Junior across the line.

In the ladies race Bridget Dennehy ran a storming second half of the race to take the title in 16.42 ahead of Hannah Steads with last years winner Niamh O’Mahony having to settle for 3rd this time round.

Tomas Kiely from North Cork win the U 17 event in 16.56.

Emma Flynn won the girls U 17 in an exceptionally quick time of 18.32 seconds.

Other category winners were

Ella Murphy ladies U 20

Jan Swiechowicz  O 40

Aislinn NiDhomnnaill O 45

Emer McAuliffe O 50

Caroline Murphy O 55

Ann O’Leary O 60

Carmel Mac Domhhnail 0 65

Joe O Connor O 40

Karl Linehan O 45

Gearoid Pierse O 50

Robert Purcell O 55

Kevin Griffin O 60

Michael Mangan O 65

Michael O Connor O 70

 

 


Monday, December 4, 2023

November 2023


 

The Munster Uneven age Cross-Country championships took place on the 12th November in 2 Mile Borris, in Tipperary. We had 3 athletes that made the long trip. Fionn Hogan was first to run in the boys U-13 and did very well to finish in the top half of the field of nearly 120 runners despite running out of age. He was also part of the Kerry team that finished 4th.

In the under 15 race Ryan Vickers was always running with the leaders but lost ground with about 500 metres left in the race. He managed to use his superior sprinting speed to win by 20 metres. This completes a very rare double of winning both U-14 and U-15 Munster championships. Conor McCarthy finished in 48th and both were part of the Kerry team that won the bronze medal.

Samuel Scroope came 5th in the Killarney Parkrun on the 11th November a few minutes ahead of coach Jerome Foley. Roisin Hogan ran a very fast time in the Tralee Junior Parkrun, while in Killarney Tomas Lynch and Ethan O’Sullivan and his sister Amelia also competed.

On Sunday the 19th Ryan Vickers made the long trip to Gowran in Kilkenny for the All-Ireland even age cross country championships. Ryan was competing in the U-14 3K event. After winning the Munster he was hoping to add to his already substantial collection of championships medals. A field of over 160 runners had qualified from the Provincial championships. Conditions were very difficult and after the initial start Ryan found himself in the leading pack. He settled in around 10th place for the first 2 kilometres before moving through the field. He took the lead with 300 metres to go. It was always going to be difficult for anyone to catch him with his sprinting ability and finished comfortably in first place winning by 15 metres. This is yet another outstanding performance by Ryan as he became the first member of the club to win an All-Ireland juvenile cross country title. He also led the Munster team to the Bronze medal.

On the same day the next generation of athletes were busy in the junior parkruns with Tomas Lynch and Liam and Matthew Smyth running in Killarney and Fionn Hogan running in Tralee

The 26th saw Conor McCarthy add to his growing collection of provincial and All-Ireland medals with a fine 7th place in the U-15 Munster B Cross Country championships. Conor finished less than 30 seconds behind the eventual winner.

Thursday, November 23, 2023

Tuesday, November 14, 2023

October 2023

 



Day 2 of the Kerry Athletics cross country championships took place in Killorglin 1st . Once again our club was well represented across a spread of age groups.

The rain of the last week made for challenging conditions on a fantastic course.

First up, we have the U-9 girls where Roísín Hogan, who was eager to race again after last weeks cross country debut.

In the U-9 boys Jacob Madden have a fantastic account of himself, with a very strong finish in his first ever cross country race.

The U-11 girls were the next to compete over 1500 metres, Joanne Cronin and Sally Scroope got stuck in amongst the action and both finished very well.

The U-11 boys took to the line for their 1500 metres. We had three athletes representing the club in this race, Tadhg Mannix, Jack Lynch and Gavin Coleman. All three competed with guts and determination as the course slowly because a little more beat up from the races.

Our next representatives were Timothy Madden and Fionn Hogan taking on the 2.5k in the boys U-13, two times up the hill on the main loop took its toll on all competitors. Fionn Hogan finished in 5th to collect a Bronze medal, with Timothy Madden finishing crossing the line a few moments later.

The U-15 boys had 3.5k to race, and we had Ryan Vickers, Conor McCarthy and Samuel Scroope toe the line for the club. Ryan Vickers covered the course fastest to claim gold, with Conor McCarthy finishing 5th to take a bronze home, and Samuel Scroope closing it out for the team to win Gold in the U-15 team prize.

Our final competitor of the day was Brendan Lynch in the masters who revelled in the tough conditions to claim bronze in the over 45 categories.

The final day of the county cross country championships were held in an unseasonably warm Killarney on 8th with the club relay championships and Novice taking place. The club was represented by 4 teams. The competition was very high especially in the younger age groups. First to run was the girls u-10 team. They were led off by Sophie O'Brien who ran at a steady pace throughout. She was followed by Roisin Hogan and Ameila O'Sullivan who all gained ground on the runners in front before handing off to Sally Scroope who ran a very fast last lap but finished out of the medals. Our boys U-10 followed, this team consisted of Daithí Fleming, Darren Foley, Jacob Madden, Ethan O’Sullivan. Both teams were in contention throughout but despite dome brilliant performances finished outside the medals especially since the majority of them are U-9 athletes. We were very fortunate to have 2 teams in the U-12 boys. Both teams were running together for most of the race in 4th and 5th position but lost out on the medals also. Well done to Jack Lynch, Fionn Hogan, Tadhg Mannix, Cillian Scannell who were in the Orange team and Gavin Coleman, Thomas Ryan, Timothy Madden, Jake Scannell who ran on the Black team.

Brendan Lynch was our only representative in the Novice championships. He finished well inside the top half of a very large field of runners in a race run in extremely hot conditions.

The club has had a very successful cross-country season winning 4 golds, 1 silver and 2 other podium positions.

 

The Munster Schools combined events were held in Nenagh on the 25th. The club were well represented with Ryan Vickers coming 3rd in the Minor Boys section followed by Kevin O’Shea in 5th In the junior boys section Samuel Scroope finished in 7th place

Tuesday, October 17, 2023

September 2023

 



The start of September was a quieter with the Track and Field season finishing in August. Training for the cross country season had begun in the Mass Rock in Killaclohane wood. Large numbers turned out for training in this lovely and unique setting. The training was put to the test at the 1st day of the country cross-country championships in very wet Killarney on the 26th

The club had fantastic representation across all age groups, from the U-10 to Senior races.

The day kicked off with Amelia O’Sullivan and Roísín Hogan giving a very good account of themselves in the U-10 race. This was followed quickly by the Boys U-10 race, and conditions began to change for the worse, Ethan O’Sullivan and Daithí Fleming got in amongst the action for the 1000 meters and finished very well.

Our next team was the U-12 girls with Mollie O’Connor, Lauren Fleming and Kate O’Donoghue giving their all over the 2k, as the rain began to take its toll on the course.

The U-12 Boys were up next. We had Jake Scannell, Thomas Ryan, Fionn Hogan, Tadhg Mannix, Timothy Madden, Gavin Coleman and Jack Lynch on the start line and ready for action. The race brought our first Medals of the day with Fionn Hogan winning the race and the team taking silver in the team prize.

In the U-14 Boys race , Ryan Vickers was our sole representative and took home yet another Gold medal to add to his ever growing collection.

We were now in real cross country conditions, as the rain beat down on everyone, as Conor McCarthy ran in the U-16 race and took the win. Our final competitor of the day was Brendan Lynch who took part in the senior race, giving a fantastic performance on a hilly course.

As usual we were well represented in the local parkruns with our athletes running in Tralee and Killarney events in both the junior and Senior version of the events

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Wednesday, September 13, 2023

August 2023

 







In August the 2023 Track and Field season was coming to a close. David Kenny was competing in the world championships in Budapest on the 19th. Hopes were high he could improve on his performance from last years’ championships in America. Unfortunately, the race didn’t go his way and he was unable to finish. The race which was run in very testing conditions having been delayed for 2 hours due to thunderstorms.  This shouldn’t take away from what was a marvellous achievement it was to get selected to represent your country at the world championships. At 24 time is definitely on his side.

The following day at the regional community games in Ennis both Roisin Daly and Ryan Vickers won the 100m and 800m respectively to qualify for the Nationals championships the following weekend in Carlow.  

Cross country training started in the new location of the Mass rock in Killaclohane wood at the beginning of the month.

The National Community games were held on the 26th of the month. The club was well represented with 8 of our athletes representing Kerry. Conor McCarthy was part of the Ballymac u 16 relay team. Unfortunately despite running well they did not qualify for the final but Conor still has the consolation of having the medal in the Marathon from earlier in the year.

Fionn Hogan was part of the Tralee team in the 4 x 100 relay but again despite running well they were unable to qualify for the final. Thadg Mannix competed in the U12 ball throw and despite throwing very well just failed to make the final. Kevin O’Shea was in the U 14 Javelin. He was unlucky not to throw well under his best in the windy conditions but he still came home in 2nd position losing by a few centimetres.

Ryan Vickers was in the U 14 800 metres. He took the lead from the gun and maintained his lead to the finish line. This was a great achievement as he is underage again next year. Niamh O’Shea was in her final year in the community games competing in the U 16 Discus. In a close competition she saved her best for last winning in the final throw. Roisin Daly had a double success winning the girls u 16 100 metres and anchoring the Keel/Kiltallagh relay team to finish 2nd. Also on the team was Rachel Boyle. 3 golds and 2 silvers was a great return from the weekend.

Over the month we were well represented at the local parkrun

Fionn Hogan, Ethan and Amelia O’Sullivan also ran along with Sophie O’Brien in Tralee Junior Parkrun. Tomas Lynch and Liam and Matthew Smyth were regular competitors at the Killarney event

 

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Thursday, August 31, 2023

July 2023

 




July saw the All-Ireland juvenile championships take place in Tullamore. The first athlete into action was Fionn Hogan on the 1st who was competing in the National championships for the first time. Fionn finished a very respectable 12th out of a very large field with very little between most of the competitors. The following wednesday night saw the running of the Tribal Track meeting in An Riocht track in Castleisland. This event allowed athletes to get valuable race time before going to the National Championships without having to travel too far. Dermot Dineen and Ryan Vickers ran the 800 metres. Roisin Daly ran the 100 along with Natasha Myers who also ran the 200. Both ran very fast times in the torrential rain. Hopefully we will see more of these types of events being held in the future.

On Saturday 8th Tiernan Lynch was first across the line in the Inch Parkrun. In Killarney Laura Bradley came home in 1st place in her category. In Tralee all 3 of the Hogan family ran with Roisin and Fionn setting PB’s

The junior parkrun in Tralee on the following day, Ethan and Amelia O’Sullivan ran along with Sophie O Brien who set yet another PB. The Star of the Laune Sports were on Sunday. Ethan and Amelia made the trip to Killorglin and competed in many events and got to meet special Olympic medal winner Ryan Griffin. In the All-Ireland juvenile championships (U 14-U19) were on in Tullamore. Kevin O’Shea came 3rd in the Discus. He also finished 6th in the Javelin which was held in very windy conditions. Ryan Vickers ran storming last 150 metres race in the boys U14 800 where he closed down a 10 metre lead to win smashing the existing record by 3 seconds.

Day 2 and 3 of the All-Ireland juvenile championships were held in a very wet Tullamore on the week of the 22nd  Competition in these events is exceptionally high and getting to compete here is an achievement in its own right. We had 3 athletes competing and all did exceptionally well. On Saturday Roisin Daly lined up in the 2nd heat of the u-16 100 metres. Despite a slow start she recovered well and closed the gap to the leaders all the way to the line finishing 5th. Qualifying for the final was going to be difficult with only the first 2 in each heat going through. She was exceptionally unlucky missing the final by a mere 3 1/000ths of a second which is really only the width of her singlet. Had she been in any of the other heat she would have qualified for the final. She still had the consolation of knocking over 3/10ths of a second off her personal best. Here time of 12.82 in her heat would have gotten her 4th place in the final.

Ryan Vickers competing in the 80 metres won his heat comfortably. In the final a problem with his starting blocks caused him to start poorly. In a frantic finish he came 4th missing out on bronze by 3/1000ths of 1 second. He can take some satisfaction in knocking ¼ second off his time in the Munster Championships.

On Sunday 23rd Niamh O Shea was competing in the U 17 Discus in the pouring rain. The standard exceptionally high and she did very well to finish 5th improving on her throw in the Munster championship by 2 metres.

Ryan Vickers had a chance for redemption in the 200 metres on Sunday. In a tremendous battle with Sean O Riordan of Fanahan McSweeney AC in Cork he came second in 24.72 seconds losing by 5/100ths of a second. These 2 very talented athletes finished well clear of the field. Had this been run in better conditions the record of 24.11 would have been under serious threat. Well done to sprints coach Jerome Foley for all his work with Roisin and Ryan over the last few months.

Back in Kerry Ethan and Amelia O Sullivan ran in the Tralee junior parkrun along with Sophie O Brien who set yet another PB.

In the 5K run Jerome Foley ran in Killarney and Fionn Hogan smashed his PB in Tralee with an very impressive time of 22.24.