The Wexford road race reason finally started this weekend with the Mr. Oil Wexford Novice Road Races. The event was hosted by Slaney Olympic and took place on a tried and trusted loop in Enniscorthy, centred on the old Dublin Road.
Emma Owens of St Paul’s AC was a surprise winner of the women’s 4km race, breaking away in the latter stages for a convincing win. Emma is better known as a hammer and discus thrower and has, indeed, medalled at national level in the former. Just behind her was Kate Murphy of United Striders, while SBR’s Emma Morris took the bronze. With Emma followed home by clubmates Sian Law (4th) and Louise Cosgrave (5th), SBR took the team title with relative ease, Ciara Kelly being their 4th scorer in 16th place. United Striders was 2nd team (43) and Slaney Olympic was just 3 points behind them in 3rd.
The men’s 6km race went the way of the host club’s Sean Crotty but he was chased all the way to the line by a determined Liam Collins (DMP), just 4 seconds behind. Scott James in 3rd place was a further 6 seconds back, the first of a succession of four fast-finishing United Striders’ athletes. This was more than enough to give Striders the team title, with Slaney Olympic impressively taking both silver and bronze.
Ladies individual 1st Emma Owens, St. Paul’s; 2nd Kate Murphy, United Striders; 3rd Emma Morris, S.B.R.
Men’s Individual 1st Seán Crotty, Slaney Olympic AC; 2nd Liam Collins, D.M.P.; 3rd Scott James, U.S.
Ladies Teams 1st Team S.B.R. 28 points (3. Emma Morris; 4. Sian Law; 5. Louise Cosgrave; 16. Ciara Kelly); 2nd Team United Striders 43 points (2. Kate Murphy; 11. Sinead Croke; 12. Sinead Cullen; 18. Liz Conway); 3rd Team Slaney Olympic AC 46 Points (8. Margaret Cahill; 10. Sabina Sweeney; 13. Marie Kinsella; 15. Tracey Kavanagh)
Mens Teams 1st Teams United Striders 18 points (3. Scott James; 4. Colin Kearney; 5. John Byrne; 6. Thomas Harrington); 2nd Team Slaney Olympic AC 30 points (1 Sean Crotty; 8. Bryan Crouch; 10. Jessie o’ Connor; 11. Conor Hyland); 3rd Team Slaney Olympic AC [B] 58 points (12 MJ Furlong; 13. Padraig Coone; 14. Alan Carton; 19. Colin Garry).
Full Results Womens 1 Emma Owens St. Paul’s 16.41, 2 Kate Murphy US 17.23, 3 Emma Morris SBR 17.26, 4 Sian Law SBR 17.43, 5 Louise Cosgrave SBR 17.47, 6 Sinéad Morris Menapians 17.51, 7 Niamh O’Donnabhanin Croghan AC 17.59, 8 Margaret Cahill Slaney Olympic 18.05, 9 Paula Gondard Menapians 18.27, 10 Sabina Sweeney Slaney Olympic 18.31, 11 Sinéad Croke US 18.35, 12 Sinéad Cullen US 18.36, 13 Marie Kinsella Slaney Olympic 18.53, 14 Mary Gaynor Menapians 18.57, 15 Tracey Kavanagh Slaney Olympic 19.06, 16 Ciara Kelly SBR 19.09, 17 Sinéad Fortune Kilmore 19.11, 18 Liz Conway US 19.22, 19 Fiona Reville Taghmon AC 19.32, 20 Helena Browne Slaney Olympic 19.38, 21 Clodagh Connolly Slaney Olympic 19.43, 22 Lisa Pendergast SBR 19.49, 23 Mairéad O’Neill SBR 19.53, 24 Marion O’Donoghue Croghan AC 19.54, 25 Ciara Kearney Slaney Olympic 20.10, 26 Caroline Cooke Croghan AC 20.19, 27 Kate Doyle Slaney Olympic 20.29, 28 Antoinette McGough Croghan AC 20.39, 29 Áine Cullen US 20.41, 30 Elaine McMahon Menapians 20.46, 31 Angela Butler Taghmon AC 20.58, 32 Claire Hancock Kilmore 21.19, 33 Louise Henderson Menapians 21.32, 34 Sharron Dier Menapians 26.23
Full Results Mens 1 Seán Crotty Slaney Olympic 20.29, 2 Liam Collins DMP 20.33, 3 Scott James US 20.39, 4 Colin Kearney US 20.50, 5 John Byrne US 20.58, 6 Thomas Harrington US 21.03, 7 Kevin Morris Croghan AC 21.14, 8 Bryan Crouch Slaney Olympic 21.22, 9 Derek Malone Croghan AC 21.24, 10 Jessie O’Connor Slaney Olympic 21.27, 11 Conor Hyland Slaney Olympic 21.28, 12 MJ Furlong Slaney Olympic 21.36, 13 Padraig Coone Slaney Olympic 21.42, 14 Alan Carton Slaney Olympic 21.47, 15 Jamie Cullen US 21.48, 16 Pat Murray US 21.52, 17 Adrian Doyle SBR 21.56, 18 Tom Moran US 21.59, 19 Colin Garry Slaney Olympic 22.22, 20 Paul Browne Slaney Olympic 22.25, 21 Kenny Rothwell SBR 22.27, 22 James Porter Croghan AC 22.36, 23 Gordon Quinn Kilmore 22.45, 24 Fabian Flood US 22.50, 25 John Hickey US 22.52, 26 Nicky Foley Kilmore 22.54, 27 Brian Besanson SBR 22.58, 28 Liam Traynor US 23.02, 29 Stephen Ainsworth WMC 23.21, 30 Michael Quigley Slaney Olympic 23.29, 31 Tim O’Neill SBR 23.33, 32 Eddie Murphy US 23.41, 33 Patrick Kehoe SBR 23.49, 34 Seán Doyle Kilmore 24.04, 35 Rory Cassidy Kilmore 24.15, 36 Donal Grant Menapians 24.19, 37 John Byrne Croghan AC 24.22, 38 Emmett Malone US 24.22, 39 Paddy Reville Taghmon AC 24.32, 40 Gavin Hayes Menapians 24.52, 41 James Herterich Croghan AC 25.27, 42 Paul Donovan Menapians 25.36, 43 Brian Kelly Croghan AC 26.14, 44 Joe Whelan Slaney Olympic 26.35, 45 Eric Derr Slaney Olympic 26.39, 46 Francis Power Menapians 26.42, 47 Micheál Kinsella Menapians 27.20, 48 James Mason WMC 27.57, 49 Shea O’Neill SBR 28.32, 50 Darren O’Grady Menapians 30.07, 51 John Dier Menapians 30.07, 52 Oliver Stack Menapians 32.41, 53 Enda Waters Slaney Olympic 34.16