𝐌𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐉𝐮𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐁 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭

 

Text by David Butler. Photos by David Butler & Mags McKenna

Cork Athletics Cross Country grounds in Slieveroe Riverstick is a drone free zone due to being on the flight path to Cork Airport but it was far from a medal free zone for St Brendan’s juvenile athletes today.

Hollie McKenna started off Super Sunday with a great run in the U9 girls 750m where she placed 22nd overall and was the second Kerry athlete across the line. Combining her results with her county mates from Kenmare and Tralee Harriers the girls won a bronze county medal. An excellent achievement for these girls to win a Munster medal in their first year of athletics.

James Sheehy who started off fast in the U11 boys 1000m race to get into a great position in the lead group. With 128 boys running in this race and James stepping up from his U10 age group this was not going to be an easy run but James kept pushing the whole way through the race and crossed the line in 5th place to win a bronze medal. James was the first Kerry athlete across the line with the county team placing 4th.

After watching his clubmates races Cody McKenna toed the line in the U13 boys 1500m race. Cody used his trademark speed right from the off to get to the front of the race over the first 100m. He kept his position throughout and delivered an outstanding run to lead the pack of 77 boys around the undulating leg sapping course. Pushing all the way up the same final climb as Hollie and James before him Cody finished strong and in his case to win the gold medal for 1st place. Cody was followed soon after by a large contingent of Kerry athletes and combined together with the scores from the boys from Iveragh and Star of the Laune the boys won a silver medal for the county.

Congratulations to our trio on their excellent performances and to all Kerry athletes on the day. Thanks to the parents for bringing them to represent the club and thanks to our coaching team for preparing the athletes and supporting them on the day.

Munster Juvenile Uneven Ages Cross Country Championships 2025 Report

 

Text by David Butler. Photos by David Butler, Mags McKenna, Gary Scanlon

Zach Walshe won a bronze medal for his 10th place finish in the U19 boys 5000m race. Zach made his debut for his club 10 years ago and has gone from strength to strength every year. Winning that elusive Munster A cross country medal in his last year as a juvenile athlete before moving to the senior races was a great reward for him.

Brandon Scanlon raced in the U11 boys 1500m and won a bronze medal as part of the Kerry county team as they placed 3rd in the race. In the individual race he placed 34 out of a huge field of 155 runners. This was Brandon’s first time racing at Munster Cross Country and he has qualified to Nationals with the Kerry county team, scheduled for Sunday Dec 7th in Abbotstown, Dublin.

Our youngest athletes on the day were Grace Winter, Hollie McKenna & Lauren Scanlon also making their Munster Cross Country debuts in U9 girls 750m race. Big numbers in this race with 121 finishers but the girls did fantastic and gained great experience from it all. Grace (48th) was the first of our trio across the line with Hollie (77th) and then Lauren (93rd). Grace and Hollie both scored on the Kerry county team that placed 5th.

Cody McKenna and Jack Sheehy had strong performances in the U13 boys 2500m race with both boys scoring on the Kerry county team that placed 4th. The boys gained many places throughout the races and finished well up the individual placings with Cody in 19th and Jack 26th out of 121 finishers.

Munster Juveniles "B" Championships 2017 - Results

The Munster Juveniles "B" Cross Country Championships took place in Beaufort on Sunday, 3rd December 2017.

It was a great hunting ground for St Brendan's AC. In the U11 race, 2 of our athletes got individual medals: Aaron Horgan was 7th and Zach Walshe came 8th with brilliant runs in a huge field of athletes. 
In the team race, Aaron and Zach led home St.Brendan's AC team to the bronze medals, with Eoin O'Flaherty, Darragh O'Flaherty and Matthew O'Sullivan running well in support. 
There was another medal in store for Aaron and Zach as they were on the Kerry team which won gold in the inter-county race (first 6 from county scores).
The U9 race also brought medals for St Brendan's AC as Kevin Horgan, Ruairi Walshe and Max Fitzgerald were scoring members of the Kerry team which got bronze medals in the inter-county race.
Tom O'Flaherty was the club's representative in the U13 race and finished well up in another huge field of athletes.
Well done to all!

Thanks to parents and club members for support on the day.
Results HERE.

Munster Juvenile Uneven Age & Senior Cross Country Championships 2017

The Munster Juvenile Uneven Age & Senior Cross Country Championships were held in Galbally, Co Tipperary on Sunday, 12 November 2017 in glorious sunshine, perfect running conditions although parts of the course were very muddy!


From St. Brendan's A.C. were:

U9 (750m) - Kevin Horgan, Stephen Shanahan and Max Fitzgerald
(first Munster Competition for all). All ran well and Kevin and Stephen were among top 6 runners from Kerry to made county team finishing in 5th place in Munster. There was 111 athletes in this age category.


U11 (1500m) - Aaron Horgan
In this race there was 155 children ran and Aaron came 16th overall and top finisher from Kerry.

Full results HERE.
Next up: Munster Juvenile "B", Junior & Intermediate County Championships on Sunday, 3rd December in Beaufort, Co Kerry.  Please contact the secretary at 087-7985557 if interested in competing.

Munster Uneven Juveniles and Senior Cross Country Championships 2016

 A big number of juveniles athletes took part in Munster Uneven Cross Country Championships in Limerick. Course was set inside Limerick Racecourse and as with any good cross country traditions it had up hills and down hills, grass and gravel, water and plenty of mud...., mud..., mud....

St.Brendan's AC had 2 girls in U11 and U13 and one competitor in Senior race.
First of our athletes was Lilly Nowak in Girls U11 contesting 1500m distance in one of the biggest races by numbers competing of the day. Lilly did very well in this race with only small amount of cross country training.

In Girls U13 representing St.Brendan's AC was Daisy Nowak, tackling 2500m ( most of it in one shoe as the other got stuck in the mud), moving up the field as the race progressed and a longer distance is where her strength is.

Last race of the day was the Senior 10000m race and our club was represented by Artur Nowak. For all these athletes it was a new experience in cross country running at this level.

Juveniles results HERE.

Senior results HERE.

Munster Juvenile Even Age Cross Country 2016

Another weekend of cross country competition took place in Co.Cork on Sunday, 23 October 2016. This was the first Munster competition of the season and the glorious weather conditions brought a hugh number of athletes in Juveniles and Novice/U23 categories.
St.Brendan's AC had 5 juveniles in Boys U10 category competing as individual and as a team for club and Kerry: Aaron Horgan, Zach Walshe, Eoghan O'Flaherty, Matthew O'Sullivan and Darragh O'Flaherty.

Following on from gold medal performance in Kerry U10 competition, our group of runners put in some great effort when battling with well over 150 other boys in this age category (1000m distance). 

With the huge numbers on the starting line it was a sprint from the start and trying to settle into a rhythm and not trip over. Our boys finished in positions: 31, 32, 93, 111 and 142.
Well done to all 5 boys, especially Matthew and Darragh who stepped up from U9 category to made a St.Brendan's AC team for the Munster competition, finishing in 8th place.
Aaron and Zach also placed for Kerry team in 5th place.
Thanks to all the parents who travelled and supported our athletes on the day and for commitments to help them to fulfil their full potential.
Results HERE and video HERE.

Munster Juvenile Uneven Ages Championships 2015

Munster Juvenile Uneven Ages Championships took place in Beaufort on Sunday, 8 November 2015.
St.Brendan's AC had 2 young athletes in Boys U9 category and both boys place in top half of the field with Aaron Horgan finishing in 21st place (2nd Kerry runner) and Zach Walshe in 39th place (7th Kerry runner).

Well done to both competitors on great performance in they first Munster Cross Country competition in very challenging conditions. 

Full results HERE.

Munster Cross Country 2014

It was a long trip to Tipperary for Eimear O'Sullivan as the club's only representative in the
Munster Even Age group Cross Country championships. Eimear has been making steady progress this season in cross country events in Kerry and this was her first shot at provincial level of this competition.
In a huge field of over 120 runners in U12 category, Eimear gave a solid performance and finished 6th out of all KERRY runners making County Kerry Team placed 5th overall in Munster.

Results HERE.