By Dara Kennedy

The second day of the National Juvenile Cross Country Championships took place last weekend at the National Sports Campus in Abbottstown. There were large numbers in all the races with Tipperary athletes competing across all the age groups. 

In the Girls U11 race, Poppy Shanahan of Moyne AC was the first Tipperary athlete home in a very impressive 21st position. Poppy was part of the Munster team that claimed a bronze medal in the inter-provincial competition. She was closely followed by county teammate and Nenagh Olympic AC athlete Emily Quinn in 24th place. The county team finished in 7th place overall. The scorers were Poppy Shanahan, Emily Quinn, Quinn Corbett Moyne AC 24th, Laoise Prior 64th Dualla Ballytarsna Boherlahan AC , Freya Schwanke Newport AC 70th and Clara O’Donnell Clonmel AC 101st. Moyne AC also had a club team competing and they finished in 9th place. Members were Poppy Shanahan, Quinn Corbett, Aoibheann Doyle 105th and Kate O’Dwyer 112th. In the Girls U13 race, Grace Butler Dundrum AC was Tipperary’s sole representative finishing in 64th place. Michael Hynes Nenagh Olympic AC put in a brilliant performance to finish in 16th place overall. This earned him a spot on the Munster team who claimed the silver medal in the inter-provincial competition. Michael also led the Tipperary team home to an 8th place finish. Scoring members were Michael Hynes, Philip Croke Dundrum AC 44th, Matthew Esmonde Moyne AC 68th, Eoghan Slevin Templemore AC 72nd, Luke Kavanagh Templemore AC 73rd and Liam Egan Fethard AC 79th. Caoimhe Slevin of Moyne AC flew the Tipperary flag in the Girls U15 race as she finished in 69th position. Following a 10th place finish at the Munster Championships, Luke Duggan Templemore AC put in a stellar performance to finish in 23rd overall in the Boys U15 race. Alana Spillane Moyne ran a brilliant race to cross the line in 19th position in the Girls U19 race. This earned her a spot on the Munster team that claimed bronze in the inter-club competition. Tipperary had great success in the final race of the day through Nenagh Olympic AC. Diarmuid Moloney navigated his way around a difficult course to finish in 3rd place overall while Kevin Finn also made the top 12 as he finished in 7th place. Both boys came away with National individual medals for their efforts. 

The last juvenile race of the season takes place next weekend with the Juvenile Cross Country Relays.