A couple of great results from the younger ranks in the last few weeks - Conor Murnane earned the unplaced Junior prize in Clonard two weeks ago, followed by Ciarán Keogh's fantastic 4ths in two rounds of the U16 MTB Blitz. Yesterday both Andrew Ryan and Sean Murnane featured in their respective races in the Des Hanlon!

We'll start with Conor Murnane, who got up in both Monasterevin and Summerhill previously, and then made it three weekends from three in the prizes. Bryan Geary was racing in the Rás Naomh Finian alongside Murnane, and gave us his account:

  "The two of us hammered across to a front group of two with about 6 kms to go. A few of us had been driving it all the way in from the Kilbeggan turn and had split the bunch a few times as we made in-roads into the front 5. So we were all on the limit regardless.

  "Approaching Kinnegad with 6kms to go, two clipped off the front of the bunch. I drove it chasing them with Conor on my wheel. When we looked behind we had split it and caught the two guys ahead. I immediately went into the red and blew up from the effort and that left three including Conor in front dangling about 300 metres ahead. The gap wasn't closing because of the wind so they were going strongly but approaching 1km to go they were swallowed up as the bunch prepared the sprint. I saw Conor coming back in so I've no idea how he recovered well enough to land the Junior prize as it was fast in the final kilometre. That was very impressive!"

As Geary described it, Clonard was "a brutal race to be in", and Murnane's continuing show of form is inspiring for the rest of the members.

One to watch for the future, Ciarán Keogh was competing in the Dublin Biking Blitz. A full day out mountain biking at Ticknock, Keogh won a fantastic 4th in the U16 category. That's a great result, and we were hoping to see him do well in the next round, and Keogh did not disappoint, eking out another fabulous 4th yesterday!

While Keogh was battling the competition on the trails, the youngest contingent of Orwells in Carlow were fighting it out on the road. The Des Hanlon saw a full set of youth races, with the top result being Andrew Ryan winning a super 2nd in the U12 category. Sean Murnane emulated his older brother, with a first class 4th place in the U16 race. In the U14, Uisneach Sheridan finished in a fast and tough event.

Congrats to all our youth placers and finishers - their dedication and talent are brilliant to behold!

 

Rás Naomh Finian, Clonard (14/3/2015)

A3 Race
Unplaced Junior
Conor Murnane

 

Biking Blitz Youth - R4, Ticknock, Dublin (15/3/2015)

PlaceNumberCatM/FNameLap 1Lap 2Lap 3Race Time
1 462 U16 M Jamie Grifferty 0:06:53 0:07:44 0:07:41 0:22:18
2 458 U16 M Cian May 0:07:24 0:08:03 0:07:46 0:23:13
3 467 U16 M Evin Flynn 0:08:06 0:09:24 0:09:14 0:26:44
4 464 U16 M Ciaran Keogh 0:08:29 0:09:39 0:09:43 0:27:51

 

Biking Blitz Youth - R5, Ballinastoe, Wicklow (22/3/2015)

Results not available at time of print.

 

Des Hanlon Memorial, Carlow (22/3/2015)

U16 race
1 Liam Curley (SERC)
2 Luke Smith (Moynalty)
3 JB Murphy (Kilcullen)
4 Sean Murnane (Orwell Wheelers)
5 PJ Doogue (Errigal)
6 Cian Keogh (SERC)

U14 race
1 Aaron Heaney (Derrymore)
2 Dave O'Sullivan (Moynalty)
3 Mark Smyth (Moynalty)
4 Tom O'Connor (Kanturk)
5 Fionn Desmond (Roches Cycles)
6 Tom Moriarty (Kanturk)

U12 race
1 Odhran Doogan (Errigal)
2 Andrew Ryan (Orwell Wheelers)
3 Eva Brennan (Deenside)
4 Conal Duffy (Emyvale)