Coolquill Athletic Club
17th/ 18th April 2004
Last weekend, was a busy time for our athletes with the master and senior indoor championships on last Saturday evening. Tadgh Vaughan took part in the senior 3000m and 800m and ran well in both. Joe Keaney in the O/40 section, had big wins in the 1500m and 60m and came second in the long jump.
On Sunday, it was the turn of the juveniles, at the indoor championships in Nenagh, and they did very well. In the u/9’s Orla Butler and James Lannigan took part in the 60m and 200m and both enjoyed themselves without figuring in the medals. In the u/11 girls, we came away with our first medallist, with Lorraine O’ Shea winning bronze in the 60m with a great run.
With a big entry in this event it was great to see Ellen Lannigan getting to the final, and Jenny Logue and Avril Collins reaching the semi final stage. Twins, Caroline and Aisling Cashin ran in the girls u/11 200m in what was their first taste of indoor racing and though outside the first three, lets hope it won’t be the last time.
Then it was time for the relays, and our u/11 girls team of Lorraine O’ Shea, Avril Collins, Jenny Logue, and Ellen Lannigan, ran brilliantly to win silver medals, to end the day on a high note.
Road relay success for Coolquill
The final Tipperary AAI road championships of the season, the road relay, took place in Dundrum on Saturday night last.
The ladies event saw three teams in action - Ballynonty and Coolquill, who supplied two teams.
From the start it was the Coolquill team of Aoife O’Dwyer, Phyllis Bennett, Pamela Alexander and Hilary Collins who set the pace, and though Ballynonty made a great effort to stay in touch the Coolquill ladies were never threatened.
The Ballynonty team consisted of Barbara Ryan, A. O’Donnell, Sheila Tierney and Dolores Costigan. They had a somewhat similar margin between themselves and the Coolquill second team which consisted of Nicola Rice, Kay White, Yvonne Rice and Edie Smyth.
The mens event saw eight teams competing.
Dundrum, Coolquill and Ballynonty had two teams apiece, with Clonmel and St. Catherines fielding one each. As with the ladies event it was Coolquill who set the early pace while Ballynonty, Clonmel, St. Catherines and Dundrum were all within striking distance of one another.
It was only on the third leg, the 3,OOOmts. that the event began to unfold as Coolquill, with Leslie Smyth, were still heading the field but. St. Catherines were going very strongly, while Dundrum and Clonmel were all the while closing the gap. On the final leg matters were to change with St. Catherines, who had Michael Hassett as their final athlete, forcing their way to the front. Pat Ryan of Dundrum tried his best to stay with the leader, succeeding in doing so over the first of the three laps, but the strength of Michael Hassett over the final 3,OOOmts. paid off, and it saw St. Catherines come home the winners in a time of 33.06. The other three athletes who paved the way for this victory were Martin Hassett, Denis Kenny and Bernard Feery. Dundrum and Pat Ryan held on well for second in a time of 33.25, and with Pat on the team were Martin Keane, Michael Moore and Colm Bradshaw.
A great battle took place for third place, with Clonmel’s Mark Ryan and Coolquill’s Tadhg Vaughan having a great race. But it was only in the final 2,OOOmts. that Coolquill edged ahead and despite a great effort over the last few metres by the Clonmel athlete Coolquill held on to take third in a time of 34.25. Joining Tadhg on the team were Michael Murphy, Ross Alexander and Leslie Smyth. Clonmel finished fourth in 34.28 and on this team were Mark Ryan, Tom Walsh, Jim McHugh and Ned O’Brien.
Fifth place went to Ballynonty in 35.21 and the quartet on this team were Noel O’Dwyer, Sean Hanley, Pat McCormack and Danny Smith. Sixth place and the winners of the B section were Dundrum with Stephen McHugh, Alan Shanahan, . Jim Bourke and Liam Butler completing the course in 35.50.
Seventh place went to Ballynonty in a time of 37.12 with Kevin Shelly, Sean Cooke, Owen Fanning and Neilie Hall their representatives, and they also collected the silver medals in the B section. In eighth place in 39.15 and the winners of the bronze medals in the B section were Coolquill with Willie Bennett, J.P. Harrington, Matt Alexander and John Ryan the successful quartet.
Our thanks to Dundrum for hosting the event and for the refreshments provided afterwards.
Cahill Memorial Cup
The Michael Cahill Memorial Cup goes to the most consistent club over the road season. All road championships results are taken into account when deciding the destination of the cup.
Following a long season, which went right through the summer, it was Clonmel who came out on top with a score of 552pts. Giving them a great run for their money was Coolquill, who finished second on 535pts. with Ballynonty third on
462pts.
Dundrum finished fourth on 359pts. while St. Catherines finished fifth on 323pts. Nenagh Olympic were sixth on t53pts, with Thurles Crokes seventh on l2Spts. Eighth place went to Fethard on 33pts, with Clodiagh Harriers ninth on l2pts. Our thanks to all the clubs for their support of the road championships.
John Joe Barry 5K Road Race
The next race on our busy Summer schedule of races is the John Joe Barry 5K which is being staged on our own doorsteps in The Commons on Friday 18th of May at 8pm. This is the 2nd running of this race held in honour of one of Ireland's greatest middle distance athletes probably more familiarly known to us as 'The Ballincurry Hare'. The race starts from his monument at the cross in The Commons heads out the Ballingarry road for 2.5Km were the competitors turn and face back for The Commons again to the finish at the monument. The course is demanding but fair with a couple of short hills on the way back but the first half is fast. Last years winner was Richard O' Brien from Clonmel. This year the prizes are as follows: 1st 3 men, 1st Vet o/40, o/45, o/50, o/55, o/60. The first 3 ladies and 1st 2 ladies o/35. The Entry fee for the race is £4. This is also the first race of the Elvery Summer Series.
Mountain Running
Also this weekend, on Sunday 20th, sees the long awaited return to the mountain running scene after about 2 months without any access to them due to foot and mouth restrictions. This race is being held in Nagles, close to Mallow, Co. Cork. The race will also be the first of the Munster Championship. This is an 8km race with a climb of 335m, run on forest roads. The race starts at the bottom of the mountain, follows this trail to the top were we swing round and face the same route down to the finish again. The decent is fairly quick in parts and the underfoot conditions are reasonable. The starting time for this race is 2.30pm.
The club hopes to have several athletes competing in both events and if this good weather that we are having lately continues it will be a big bonus.
March 2001
Many changes occurred for our club in the last 12 months. The various athletic bodies in the country were united in one body, the Athletic Association of Ireland (A.A.I.). This coming together developed from talks in Sept/Oct. 1999 with an agreement signed in November of that year. The new organisation began to hold competitions on the track in January 2000 and the first A.A.I. cross country fixture was held in Sligo in February. Leslie Smyth, Ken Morley and Tadgh Vaughan represented Coolquill.
Our a.g.m. was held in the clubhouse in September. Officers elected for the year were as follows:
President – Dan O’Connell.
Vice President – Christy Walsh
Chairman – Leslie Smyth
Vice Chairman – Philip O’Dwyer
Senior Secretary – Tadgh Vaughan
Juvenile Secretary – Marie Corbett
Senior Treasure – Edie Smyth
Juvenile Treasure – Mary Murphy
The committee is made up of the officers as well as the following: Paddy Gorey, Danny Gleeson, Jim Corbett and Matt Alexander.
 County Senior Mens Cross Country Champions.
L to R: John Cahill, Ken Morley, Tom Cahill, Tadhg Vaughan.
Success was achieved in many competitions. In the county indoor championships in Nenagh in March many athletes won medals including Mary Gleeson, 1st. U/10 3000m; Shane Gorey, 3rd. U/10 300m; Ann Sugrue,1st. U/12 long jump; Jason Hayes, 2nd. U/12 60m; Sarah Gleeson, 3rd U/14 800m; Nicola Rice, 1st U/16 800m and 2nd. Shot putt; Marie Corbett 3rd U/16 8000m; Yvonne Rice 3rd U/19 shot putt. In the relay events the girls U/16 team came first and in the girls U/19 event we came third.
County Senior Womens Cross Country Champions.
L to R: Kay White, Edie Smyth, Phyllis Bennett.
In the Munster indoor championships (A.A.I.) Marie Corbett was 2nd in the U/15 1500m walk. At the last N.A.C.A.I. Munster indoor championships on 3rd January, success was achieved by many athletes – Marie Corbett 2nd U/15 walk; Michelle Ivors, 3rd U/15 60m Hurdles; Yvonne Rice 1st u/17 shot putt and 3rd in the long jump; Nicola Rice 2nd U/17 shot putt; Jason Hayes 2nd U/11 60m. On the senior front on the same day Joe Keaney was 2nd in the 800m and 3rd in the 60m; Philip O’Dwyer was 3rd in the long jump and 5th in the 3000m with Paddy Ivors 4th in the long jump and 4th in the 60m.
In cross-country events the senior ladies and men won the county senior club events. The ladies team consisted of Kay White (2nd), Edie Smyth (4th) and Phyllis Bennett (5th) and it was the first time in the club’s history to win this event. They went on to claim the silver medal in the Munster championship. Ross Alexander won this last junior title and took 2nd place in the individual event at Munster level. A notable achievement was that of Shane Gorey who finished 2nd in the u/9 national event.
The J.J. Barry memorial race was held in The Commons on the evening of Friday 19th May. Many thanks to the ladies committee in The Commons for their help. The mens race was won by Richard O’Brien, Mullinahone running with Clonmel A.C. and the ladies race was won by Carmel Delaney, Clonmel. The race started and finished at the John Joe Barry monument.
The Michael Cahill memorial 5K was run on 20th August. Ninety-seven runners participated and all received a T-shirt. Over £400 profit was generated from the event with the help of very generous sponsorship. This was donated to Scoil Aonghusa, Cashel and was used to buy a ‘ride-on-kart’ for the children attending the school.
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