School joy for Joeys
ATHLETICS ROUND-UP
Wednesday March 03 2010
ST JOSEPH'S CBS bridged a 21-year gap to take the Leinster Schools senior crosscountry title on a rain-sodden course in DCU last Wednesday.
Carl Dunne and his cohorts made light of the conditions to claim the Lonergan Cup from the 12 schools that had qualified to contest the most prestigious trophy in the province.
On the opening lap of the 6,000m race Dunne, Jake McDonnell, Norbert Feeney and Tadhg Berkery all had placings in the top 20.
The Joeys' quartet pushed on and maintained their advantage going into the final lap, with Sean McKeever, Fergal Baines, Cathal Khan and Conor Young also making it difficult for opposing teams to pick up scores.
Carl Dunne led his team home in fourth place, with Feeney and McDonnell in 17th and 18th places. Berkery's 29th place gave St Joseph's a winning 72-point total, 17 clear of Knockbeg, with St Aidan's claiming third spot. The Drogheda school thereby qualified for the Irish Schools Finals, which take place at Cork IT on March 13th.
Earlier, Conor Dunne (20th) just failed to gain an individual spot in the Boys Junior final, while Mark Rogers (8th) had a very creditable run in the Minor (Under-14) race.
