By Ursula Barrett, Adult Head Coach, St Brendan’s AC
The much-anticipated Senior and Masters County Championships had a new and important focus this year. We knew for months that we would be trying to bring the Patrick O’Riordan Cup to St Brendan’s in its inaugural year, but we didn’t know that we would be doing so without having Patrick to present it to us.
Patrick’s passing brought new meaning to the cup and intensified the efforts of the club. This sense of purpose contributed massively to the large numbers representing the club and taking part in record numbers of events across numerous age categories in both the masters men and women’s events. We were all proud to wear the club colours and to do our best in honour of our President, Patrick.
Walking On
The day started with St Brendan’s dominating the 3,000m walk. Six athletes all in blue (David, Denis, Marian, Tina. Marie-Louise and Áine) battled against the clock to claim the first points of the day for the club as they secured five gold medals and one silver. Marie Louise was the first walker home in an impressive time of 18:46. Well done to coach David Kissane for getting everyone to the starting line, especially our new member Áine McKenna who learnt the technique in the week before the competition.
While the walks race was underway, the discus competition was also taking place. Brian McKenna and James Cullagh in the M45 category put their Walnut Grove practice to the test and walked away with a silver and bronze medal for throws of almost 15 and 16 metres. Eddie O’Flaherty showed impressive form in the M55 category earning another silver medal and vital points for the club and David Kissane added to the tally in the M70 category with a gold medal.
Next up on the track was the 100m sprints. The masters women showed off their speed with three gold medals and one bronze from our sprinters, Linda, Ursula, Aoife and Karen and some great times too ranging from 14 to 18 seconds. We had no men taking part in this event so will have to recruit for next year!
The long jump competition saw Linda and Ursula both walk away with first place positions in the masters competition. Darren took part in the senior long jump competition coming in 6th place overall against some serious competition.
In the 200m sprint distance we had several contenders taking to their starting lines on the bend. John Lane and Johnny Jeffers came in 5th and 6th in the M50 category while Tom McCarthy came home in second place in the M55 category. Our masters women both took part in the F45 race claiming the gold and silver between them.
While this track action was taking place the men’s javelin was proceeding in the centre field. Again, the blue t-shirts were visible to all as we showed up in numbers to compete. Gold medals from David Butler, Brian McKenna, Artur Nowak and Martin Butler as well as silver from Eddie and bronze from John Lane produced more welcome points for the club. The women followed suit a little later with another 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze to add the medal count.
High Gold
Our sole high jumper of the day was Artur Nowak. He collected his gold medal for a jump of 1.55m. Next up on the track was the most contested race of the day, the 3000 metres. Seven and a half laps of the track passes slowly when the sun comes out and the pack is competitive. Ten women took part in the first race and the St. Brendan’s runners were cheered each time they passed. Digging deep and running hard, Margaret Carlin was the first blue t-shirt over the line in a time of 14:22, followed by Aoife O’Driscoll and Jill Kenny. Seventeen men took to the track for the masters race and walked away with two more gold and two silver. The race yielded a great time of 12:18 for Tom McCarthy and thanks to Roland Rogers who volunteered to guide Ivan in this race, Ivan clocked 12:31. Well done also to Jim O’Meara and Willie O’Riordan for their strong performance and gold medal performances also. Darren was our only competitor in a fast paced senior race where he came in 12:45 and managed to smile and wave to his fan club on the home straight each time he passed them.
Senior Bronze
The 400m saw Rian claim a bronze in the senior race and golds for Jim, Margaret and Jill. Meanwhile in the shot-put Karen and Sheena (W50) bagged another silver and bronze while David, James and Brian got gold, silver and bronze in the O35-O45 category. More titles came for Artur (first place) and John Lane (third) in the M50 along with another gold and silver for David Kissane and Martin Butler in the M70 grouping. The final field event of the day was the weight for distance and another medal haul with triple gold for the Butler family of Martin, David and Irene, Gold also for Marie Louise, Silver for James and Karen and Bronze for Eddie.
Highlight of the Day
The highlight of the day was the final track event which saw 5 masters teams carrying the baton around the track. There is nothing like the teamwork and fun of a relay. Norma joined one team and two teams were ready to go. Then Helen arrived and we were able to add a third team once Sheena swallowed her mouthful of baguette. With lots of cheering St Brendan’s took on the Star of the Laune team and came home in first, third and fourth positions. The men were up next and under pressure to follow the women’s example. They did so by claiming gold in the M35 competition and second to Gneeveguilla in the M55 category. As Tom hadn’t made it back in time for the start the club had to call upon Willie O’Riordan to take his place and there was no hesitation.
It was very fitting then that when the numbers were crunched and it was obvious that we had secured the cup that Patrick’s daughter Katie would present the cup to Patrick’s brother, Willie, a long term member of the club and relay team runner. The magnitude of our victory was only clear after when the results were released. St Brendan's earned 144 Points ahead of second place Gneeveguilla AC on 55 points. A comprehensive win and a challenge posed to the other clubs in Kerry to try to claim the cup in future years.
Full results HERE.
For now, the cup is with the O’Riordan and St Brendan’s families.
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