Results - Kildare Cross Country Day 1 - 25 Sep, 2011 Crookstown

There was a great turnout by Le Cheile at Day 1 of the Kildare Cross Country Championships held at Crookstown on 25^th September, 2011. The conditions were poor but the rain did not deter almost 30 Le Cheile athletes from making the trip. The course was also a difficult test as it was quite hilly and this may have been a bit of a shock to the system for some of our younger athletes.

For many of our younger athletes it was their first Cross Country Race and despite the conditions all performed really well. Of particular note were Oran Hayes and Caoimhe Cronin who both achieved top 10 finishes in the boys and girls under 10 races.

There were top 15 finishes for Eaibhin Grimes and Carragh Hayes in the Girls Under 12, Emma Browne also ran well finishing in mid division.

In the boys Under 12 Alex Byrne and Conor Murnaghan ran very well again finishing mid division. Ciaran Connolly a strong contender in the boys Under 12 turned up at Crookstown but unfortunately could not run due to illness.

In the girls Under 14 Fina Hayes was the sole Le Cheile representative and did very well in what was a very strong field. Fina continues to improve, although she did not feature in the medals on this occasion.

In the boys Under 14, Conall Hayes, Thomas Connolly and Liam Murphy lined up in what was also a very strong field. Conall while leading the race and looking very strong was forced to withdraw due to injury. Liam went on to finish in a creditable 5^th place with Thomas not far behind.

In the boys Under 16 Sean Flanagan ran an incredible race to finish 2^nd. During the race Sean had fallen back to 4^th place but dug deep and found enough to improve two places in the last third of the race. Darragh Nolan also ran a great race in tough conditions to finish a very creditable 5^th.

Conor Murphy claimed the Gold medal in the Boys Under 18. Conor ran a smart race staying with his main rival for most of the race but keeping enough in the tank to sprint clear in the final 400. Well done Conor.

The Masters men proved to be the most exciting race of the day. Le Cheile athletes John O’Regan, Tony Brennan, Des Walsh, Ulf Pilarp and Pat Hayes made up a very strong Le Cheile team in a very large field. Le Cheile claimed gold with John O’ Regan finishing in 3^rd Tony Brennan a close fourth followed by Ulf, Des and Pat.