National Novice & Juvenile Uneven Cross Country Kilkenny Bound
The Irish Life Health National Novice and Juvenile Uneven Cross-Country Championships promise to deliver an exciting day of athletics this weekend.
The Irish cross-country season heads to Gowran Park, Co. Kilkenny on Sunday December 5th, for the last national cross country event in advance of the much-anticipated European Cross Country Championships set for the Sport Ireland Campus on December 12th.
The 12-race schedule begins with the Girls U11 1500m at 11:30am. The Novice Women 4000m race will take to the gun at 14:40pm followed by the Novice Men 6000m at 15:10pm.
For the full entry list please see here and for the timetable here.
Competitive Women’s Novice
Dublin City Harriers will look to defend the 2019 title in the women's race at 14.40pm. DCH pair of Lauren Tinkler & Jodie McCann are among the entries but will not be on the start line with both athletes already confirmed for the Irish U23 team set to compete in Dublin on December 12th.
Celine Gavin (DCH) is sure to be to the fore for DCH and will look to back up her string of impressive performances which included a second-place finish (Junior) at the Autumn Open International.
Clonmel AC will also be looking for a strong showing, with the ultra-consistent Ciara O’Neill and Courtney Maguire sure to be buoyed by their inclusion on the list of reserves for Fingal-Dublin 2021.
The same can be said for Niamh O’Mahoney (An Riocht) who will be right with the pace from the off.
Men en Masse
Leevale once again look to have a strong hand in the men’s event and will bid to back up the 2019 title winning performance in Dunboyne. Calling the podium places in the men’s novice race looks a tough task, but one certainty is that there will be no shortage of local support for the Gowran AC team taking to the start line.
Local support will also be out in force for Cathal O’Reilly (Kilkenny City Harriers) who will go in the U19 race. Harry Colbert (Waterford AC) will be another to watch out for and will be right in contention for U17 honours.
It promises to be another action pack day of cross country racing at the Kilkenny venue.