Maher and Mulhare take top honours at Laois Senior Cross Country Championships

The Cass family farm at Blackhills Abbeyleix provided an ideal setting for the final Downeys Suzuki Laois Athletics Cross Country Championship of 2021, where Mary Mulhare and Colin Maher took top honours.

On an excellent course hosted by Ballyroan Abbeyleix and District AC, with solid underfoot conditions, Colin and Mary were impressive winners of their respective titles over 10k and 5k. It was a gun-to-tape victory for Mary Mulhare (Portlaoise AC) as she won her ninth Senior Cross Country, with the ladies from Ballyroan Abbeyleix and District successfully defending their team title.

Mary hit the front from the start, and gave a class fluent front-running performance to come home in the gold medal position. There was a very competitive contest for the silver and bronze medals, between Kate McDonald and Lucy Deegan. Kate finished the stronger in the closing stages of the race, with Lucy claiming the bronze medal.

Four McDonald sisters took the team gold for Ballyroan Abbeyleix and District AC, led by Kate in 2nd, Breda in 5th, Niamh in 6th and Aine in 10th - for a total of 23 points. Portlaoise AC finished 2nd on 35 points - Mary 1st, Anna Duggan 8th, Eimear O'Connor 12th and Maria Cuddy 14th.

St Michaels finished 3rd on 44 points - Olivia Sheeran 7th, Pippa Hackett 9th, Valerie McAuliffe 13th and Aileen Doyle 15th.

In the mens event, Colin Maher (Ballyfin AC) and Cian Kelly (St Abbans AC) were the early leaders, with the main pack chasing. Colin went clear before the half-way point, to come home for another Laois Cross Country Title. Cian was a clear second, and there was a great contest for the bronze medal between Andrew O'Comhraidhe (St Michaels AC) and Tom Lupton (Portlaoise AC).

With 2 laps to go, Andrew looked secure to win the bronze, and even with a lap to go, he was still well clear. However on that last lap Tom Lupton pulled off a most amazing recovery to haul in Andrew with about 600m to go. Colin Coyne (St Abbans AC) finished 5th, and Michael Kelly (St Abbans AC) finished 6th.

The St Abbans runners packed very well for a very solid team performance, to retain the Kirwan Cup. There was a great contest for the silver and bronze team medals, with Portlaoise AC, St Michaels AC and Ballyroan Abbeyleix and District AC all finishing on 106 points each.

The sixth scorer on each team then dictates the finishing order, with Portlaoise just pipping St Michaels with the host club Ballyroan Abbeyleix and District AC in 4th place.

St Abbans: 43 points - Cian Kelly 2nd, Colin Coyne 5th, Michael Kelly 6th, John Fenlon 9th, Stephen Hunter 10th and David McEvoy 14th.

Portlaoise: 106 points - Tom Lupton 3rd, Christy Nevin 13th, Patrick Marshall 18th , Trevor Percy 19th, Tony Keenan 26th and Paul McDonagh 27th.

St Michaels: 106 points - Andrew O'Comhraidhe 4th, Owen Connolly 12th, Derek Bracken 16th, Charlie Hackett 20th, Mark Hackett 25th and Padraig Maree 29th.

Ballyroan Abbeyleix and District 4th - Conall Whelan, Cian McDonald, Eoin Whelan, John Kirwan, Tom Dunne and Tom Ryan.

Ballyfin 5th - Colin Maher, Tony Cox, Liam Buggy, Tommy Looney, Shane Delaney and Cormac Fitzpatrick.

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In the Juvenile and Christmas Cracker races, there was great excitement too.

In a change from the traditional format of juvenile 4 x 500m relays, where the filling of teams of four athletes can be challenging on a Sunday morning just one week from Christmas, it was decided this year to have more of a fun-run format, with two age-groups; U9 to U12, and U13 to U18.

Eliza McLoughlin (Oughaval AC) was a clear winner in the Girls U9-U12, with Olivia O'Flanagan (Portlaoise AC) and Sophie Sweeney (Ballyfin AC) in 3rd.

The Boys U9-U12 was a most exciting finish with Eoin O'Connell (Emo Rath AC) just holding off Noah Carter (Ballyroan Abbeyleix and District), with Tommy Clarke (Emo Rath AC) just inches behind them.

The Girls U13-U18 saw gold and silver for the McLoughlin sisters (Oughaval AC), with Della just ahead of younger sister Katie. Grace Meade (Portlaoise AC) finished really strongly to claim the bronze medal.

The Boys U13-U18 was a magnificent finish too, with Richard McLoughlin (Oughaval AC) just holding off Cillian Moran (Portlaoise AC) in a fierce battle over the last 300m. Daniel McLoughlin (Oughaval AC) finished in an excellent 3rd place.