 St Aidan's CBS, Whitehall, Dublin, Ireland |
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| St Aidan's CBS, Whitehall, Dublin, Ireland |
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Location: Dungarvan, Co. Waterford
Date: Saturday, 5th March 2005
The date was March 5th and 11 Clonliffe Harriers await the sound of the starting gun. One of them, Alistair Cragg, strode to gold in the European Indoor Championships, in Madrid, the other 10 strolled to victory in the All-Ireland Colleges Cross-Country Championships at Dungarvan, Co. Waterford.
Six months hard training under coach Alan O'Neill and the Aidan's boys were ready for the challenge. Led by captain, Eoin McDonnell, and vice-captain, Colm Murray, Aidan's beat the much fancied St. Eunan's College, Letterkenny to win the coveted championship. It was quite simply a sparkling performance. To add to their success, St. Aidan's won the Br. Clarke Memorial Trophy for the highest score of the championships. This was poignant reminder of the legendary Br. Clarke, who developed the athletics tradition at St. Aidan's during the early 70's.
Just when we thought the day could not get any better, Eoin McDonnell and Mark McDonald were selected for the Colleges team to represent Ireland at an international event in Wales this April. This may have been the end of the season, but it's just the start of some incredibly promising running careers. This talent is nurtured in St. Aidan's, and coach Alan O'Neill has maintained the high standards set by predecessors Br. Clarke and Peter McDermott. This victory restores St. Aidan's to its position as Ireland's foremost running school. St. Aidan's and Clonliffe Harriers can look back to March 5th with pride. Well done!
Team: Eoin McDonnell, Colm Murray, Mark McDonald, Tony Kavanagh, Larry Brady, Gavin Redmond, Paul Sherrin, David Lyons, Anthony Rooney and David Murphy.