Last Sunday saw Tipperary athletes travel up to Derry to participate in the National Juvenile Even Age Cross Country Championships. There were large crowds in attendance with each race hotly contested. 

The first Tipperary interest came in the Boys U12 race. Darragh Joyce Moyne AC started the day off with a terrific performance to finish 8th and claim a National individual medal. This was a just reward for the high levels of consistency he has shown all year. Darragh also featured as the third scorer on the Munster team who claimed the Inter-provincial team title. Tipperary also had a county team competing in this race and they combined extremely well to finish in 8th place overall. Scoring members were Darragh Joyce, Philip Croke Dundrum AC 27th, Kieran Girard Nenagh Olympic AC 43rd, Billy Heaney Clonmel AC 75th, Cian Long Thurles Crokes AC 88th and Cormac Hanrahan Nenagh Olympic AC 112th. Orlaith Frisby Carrick on Suir AC was Tipperary’s sole competitor in the Girls U14 race where she put in a brilliant performance to finish in 68th position. Nenagh Olympic AC are no strangers to competing at the National Cross Country Championships and they were excellently represented by Michael Hynes in the Boys U14 race as he ran very well to finish in 48th position. Tipperary had two representatives in the Girls U16 race through Caoimhe Slevin Moyne AC and Neasa Moloney Mooreabbey Milers AC who finished 67th and 101st respectively. The two girls will return to the National Championships in a few weeks time looking to improve their positions at the Uneven races. Jennifer O’Leary Nenagh Olympic AC was the best of the Tipperary athletes in the U20/18 race as she finished in 35th place overall. Clonmel AC had club teams in the combined U18 and U20 races where they finished in 10th and 14th respectively. Team members were Eadaoin Duffy, Alice Meegan, Hannah Murray and Lily Casey. In the Boys U20/18 race Diarmuid Moloney led home a strong Nenagh Olympic contingent with a brilliant 14th place finish overall. He was closely followed by club mate Kevin Finn in 16th overall but due due to the age group combination,Kevin also finished a brilliant 4th in the U18 race. Ben Walshe was next home for Nenagh in 59th place, Daire O’Donnell was next in 82nd and finally Ruairi Walshe was 204th. Together they finished just outside the medals in the team competition in 5th place. 

Well done to everyone who competed