Rathfarnham WSAF AC was strongly represented in the Leinster Schools Cross Country Championship held at the DCU sports ground. It was held in dreadful weather over an extremely muddy and in parts a very difficult course. Michael Treacy (High School) fought very hard to claw back some ground lost early in the race and finished 4th in the Intermediate boys race. In the same race Ian Rankin (Gonzaga) came 43rd, Stephen Gaffney (Terenure College) 53rd, David Scanlon (Terenure College) 54th, Sean Hayes (Terenure College) 63rd, Paddy O'Donohoe (Gonzaga) 79th and Mark Young (Gonzaga) 83rd. In the Senior race both Jack McLaughlin (Terenure College) & Bill O'Cleirigh (High School) ran very strongly. Jack came 22nd & Bill 24th. In the same race Colm Moran (High School) fought very hard & finished 54th. Colm Finlay (High School) was drafted into the senior team at the last minute (still only 16) & dug in all the way through 6k of mud & rain. Well done to all athletes on a fine performance. Michael Teacy qualified for the National Schools Cross Country Championship to be held in Cork in mid March. All other athletes will now focus on the Schools T&F to be held in April.
Philip Halpin, Junior Coach
Jack Mc Loughlin ran an outstanding race to finish 3rd in the Dublin Indoor U19 800m Championship held in Tallaght on Sunday 28th of February. He won bronze in a time of 2mins 7 seconds. The race was run at a blistering pace with a fast first lap of 60 seconds. In the same race Colm Moran finished 6th in 2 mins 24 seconds. In the under 18 800m race Mark Young ran a strong race to finish 5th in 2mins 28 seconds. In the U17 800m David Scanlon (recovering from flu) finished 4th in 2 mins 25 seconds and Paddy O'Donohoe ran a very brave race to finish 5th in 2mins 27 seconds. Jack, Colm, Mark, David & Paddy all qualified for the National Indoor 800m Championship to be held in Nenagh. Michael Connolly was very unlucky to be edged into 7th place on the line in the U15 800m. But he ran a fine time of 2mins 43 seconds. All our athletes will be competing in the Dublin Indoor 1500m championship to be held in Tallaght on Friday night (March 5th). Ian Rankin will hopefully have recovered from flu & Sean Hayes & Stephen Gaffney will be back from their Transition Year trip to France with Terenure College.
Other Juveniles who ran well in the Indoors in Santry with Tom McGrath, pictured, getting silver in the 600m.
Philip Halpin Junior Coach
All Club athletes produced very strong performances in the East & West Leinster schools cross country championship.
In the East Leinsters at Avondale House in Rathdrum, Co Wicklow on a very mucky course Bill O'Cleirigh ran an outstanding race to finish 4th in the Senior race. He was followed home by Colm Moran in 17th place. Both Bill & Colm helped High School to second team place and silver medals. Michael Treacy won the Intermediate race in fine style with a winning margin of over 100 meters. In the same race Ian Rankin finished a fine 6th (despite missing the school bus!), Mark Young 14th, Paddy O'Donohoe 34th and helped Gonzaga to 3rd place and bronze medals.
Club athletes also competed in the West Leinsters, enjoyed fine weather & good firm ground in the Pheonix Park . Jack Mc Laughlin ran a great race & finished a very strong 5th in the senior race and helped his school Terenure College achieve 3rd place and bronze medals. In the intermediate race David Scanlon 10th, Stephen Gaffney 13th & Sean Hayes 21st all ran superb races and helped Terenure College achieve 3rd place in the Intermediate category and all got bronze medals.Michael Connelly finished 22nd in the Junior race and ran very strongly having just some back from injury and the flu.Overall, we have a fine haul of medals by our athletes & we are now preparing for the Leinster Schools on February 24th & the Dublin Indoor T&F at end February & early March.
Philip Halpin, Junior Coach
Well done to Michael Treacy, running for the High School, Rathgar, who came third in the Under 16 boys 1 mile race in the Irish Schools T&F Championships on Saturday 30th May in Tullamore. He ran 4.41.75 in 25 Degrees heat with a last lap of 66 seconds to secure the bronze medal. This was an outstanding performance by Michael. Philip Halpin, his coach was delighted with the result. Full results on AAI website Link
