Hurlers go for gold

Head Hurling Coach, Mr. Carmody is delighted to see his under 14 boys march through the group stages of this year hurling championship.They saw off the challenges from St. David’s, Artane, and Coolmine College.The team has a wonderful spine in Aaron Jesson, Seán Ryan, Eoin O’ Donnell and Seán Gray.The boys will be hoping to progress to this year’s final.This would be justified as the boys have put in a massive effort along with their coach, Mr. Carmody. Good luck to all involved.

Promising start for First Year Footballers

Mr. McCafferty and Mr. Lowry have been very impressed by the calibre of footballers in first year this year.The team seems to have a good work ethic, instilled by their coaches and they are very enthusiastic about achieving success in this year championship. Josh O’ Hanlon, Aaron O’ Neill and Colm Dunne have shown great promise amongst the team and we wish them the very best in their quest for glory.

STUDENT COUNCIL BATTLE OF THE BANDS

This Thursday at 7pm! Refrain from the usual boring Thursday nights and start the weekend early. Enjoy all genres from Rock to Dance and Rap to Jazz. Experience future great bands and an amazing atmosphere with hundreds of other music lovers from a variety of schools.This is expected to be the best Battle of the Bands yet with unbelievable prizes.A recession busting €5 entrance fee as well! A Student Council event - "Your voice is our Vision"

ATHLETICS END OF YEAR REPORT

One of the most gruelling cross-country seasons in years has just finished. The ‘Leinsters’ was a day to greet our American exchange athletes from Burbank, California, who enjoyed great hospitality and got a taste of Irish culture for their 10 day stay here.We will be travelling for the return leg in October. It was also a day for the St. Aidan’s men of steal to defend their title. In this wind and harsh terrain only the toughest and most prepared schools could even dare to dream about winning this race. St. Aidan’s strode out as victors, but this could not have been done without the powerhouse of Graham Mahon pounding from the back and cutting up the turf finishing a respectable 37th and Jordan Logue after a poor start finished the race fully clothed this time (after losing his socks, spikes and singlet in previous races).Of course this Leinster gold could not have been achieved without the brilliant Colm Murray, Eoin McDonnell and Larry Brady who destroyed the field from the start to finish.

Next up was the highly anticipated All-Ireland Championships held in the University of Ulster were the 32 counties of Ireland competed for top spot on the island. First off was the Junior Boys where Conor Turner grabbed the race by the scruff of the neck straight from the gun while his team mates sat on his shoulders. A race which he glided through like a knife through hot butter, and was crowned the undisputed champion with his team consisting of Aaron Dequina, Andy O Flaherty, Jake Barber,Tommy Ivers, Conor King, Eric Thomas, Lee Elliot and Niall Hanlon finishing a phenomenal third. Next up were the seniors who got down to business right from the whistle.We had tough opposition from the likes of St.Eunan’s, Malachy’s, St. Fintan’s and of course North Monastery, but we battled on through fields and hills only to lose our title at the last minute as St. Eunan’s scrapped a victory with their 4 men in the top 14.We came a respectable 2nd. Finally, last week we managed to win the Irish Schools Mountain Running Championships on one of the toughest courses in Ireland with a four man team consisting of Jordan Logue ,Dave Murphy, Rónán ó Bergáin and Brian McGuire. After 8 months of gruelling training that included over 200 training sessions, over 3,000 kms and 3 meditation sessions, the troops got their dessert.

A huge round of applause must go to our 6th year runners Lar, Colm and Eoin who have been the brains and the backbone to the success St.Aidans athletics in recent years. But how could we forget the man himself Prof. Alán Ó Neíll who has gelled this team together like grapes and cheese,and treated every situation professionally, always in the best interest of his athletes. (a special word of thanks also to Mr McCafferty, Mr.McDermott, Dr.Gill, Joe, Brian, Mick, Mark, Gerald Deegan, Mr.Reynolds and Mr.Ward who helped put this cake together)

Dave Murphy, Senior Captain 2009-2010