Wicklow athletics competitors, coaches and supporters gathered together last Friday evening for the annual Athletics Wicklow Star Awards.

Hosted by Kilcoole Athletics Club, the event was a great success with a healthy representation from clubs all over the county. It was great to see everyone supporting and celebrating the individual performances and team successes over the past year.

Athletics Wicklow chairman Bill Porter formally opened the evening. He began by thanking Kilcoole A.C for hosting the event, sponsors Joma for their continued support and to all the coaches and volunteers for their contribution during the year. He outlined some of the highlights and then handed the floor to Cyril Smyth – compère for the evening.

Maya Birch of Kilcoole AC was the first award winner of the evening, receiving the U13-U16 girls award. The young athlete whose forte lies in sprinting won a haul of medal at provincial and national level this year.

She began her season with a double silver in 60m and 200m Leinster finals and continued her fine form to outdoors where she won bronze in the 200m national outdoor T&F championships.

Greystones & District AC athlete Ethan Bramhill was chosen as the U13-U16 boys star award recipient. The athlete, whose strength lies in the endurance events, emerged as a revelation to all during the 2021 cross country season.

His most notable success was the Leinster Championships in Ballyhale, Co. Kilkenny where Ethan romped home in the U13 boys race to take the winner’s laurels and gold medal.

The U16-U19 girls star award was presented to Eleanor Foot. The Bray Runners athlete who specialises in the steeplechase event had an outstanding year. Eleanor gained two international caps for Ireland in 2022.

She was selected for the Francoville International meeting in Paris in June where she competed in the 2000m steeplechase.

She was selected again for the SIAB schools internationals in Belfast in July having won the 1500m steeplechase at the Interprovincial Tailteann games.

Daniel Quirk of Greystones & District AC won the U16-U19 boys star award. Daniel is a versatile multi-event athlete with a very impressive 2022 medal tally. Some of his achievements over the last year included his triple gold haul at the Leinster indoors in the triple jump and long jump and 60m hurdle events at the beginning of the year.

Niamh Murray of Bray Runners AC was the winner of the Junior women star award. Niamh had a remarkable track season in 2022 both indoors and outdoors.

An occasion that sums Niamh’s year was her winning performance in U18 400m at the Leinster Junior Championships at SETU Carlow. In winning, Niamh recorded a time of 55.46secs and championship best performance which had stood to Joanne Cuddihy for 20 years.

This performance earned Niamh selection for the U18 EFCVO international event outside Paris and her first Irish vest.

Jonas Stafford of Ashford AC was recipient of the Junior men star award. Jonas has always stood out as a middle-distance athlete with a very bright future in athletics but none of us quite envisaged what would unfold for him in 2022.

To say Jonas enjoyed an excellent cross-country season is an understatement. Jonas started his XC season back in November at the National Seniors in Rossapenna.

There he celebrated gold in the U18 boys’ race and selection for the European Cross-Country Championships in Turin the following month.

At the Eurocross, Jonas joined a talented Irish U20’s men’s squad which produced team silver success and so, wrote himself in Athletics Wicklow history books as one of the county’s top athletes to win a European medal.

Sile O’Byrne was the recipient of the Senior women’s star award. Sile blossomed during 2021 and her continued her form in 2022.

In July, she was the first woman home in the county’s road race championships. However, her most notable success was taking the silver medal at the Leinster intermediate cross country championship in Cow Park, Dunboyne.

Fellow Sli Cualann AC athlete Derek Crammond was chosen as the Senior men’s star award winner. Derek is a multi-talented athlete who has succeeded at everything he has undertaken from cross country, trail running, road races, hill running and the marathon.

Most notably, the Sli Cualann athlete had a great summer taking wins and breaking course records in mountain running events. As a result of these performances, the Avoca man was selected by IMRA to represent Ireland at the 65th Trofeo Ezio Vanoni mountain running relay in Morbego, Italy.

Catherine O’Connor was a popular winner of the Master women’s star award. Catherine has had a truly remarkable year, one in which she represented and won individual and team silver for Ireland in the half marathon at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Tampere, Finland.

Later that week, Catherine competed in the 8km cross country where she won a bronze medal in her category and team gold.

No one was surprised to see Brian Geraghty of Sli Cualann AC win the Master men’s star award. Brian has had an impressive year, dominating his M45 age category across multiple terrains. A highlight of Brian’s year was undoubtedly his phenomenal 1.12:37 effort in the national half marathon in Ratoath where he finished 12th position overall and second M45 master athlete.

In addition to the above, special recognition awards were presented to several athletes to mark their particular achievements during 2022. These athletes included Anna Watson of Bray Runners AC, Ailbhe Gordon of Greystones AC, Jessica O’Connor of Roundwood & District AC and William Belton of Sli Cualann AC. Sli Cualann AC senior men’s and master women’s won the team of the year award. This included Tim Grummell, Joe Dowd, Robin Mooney and Donal Flannery on the men’s and Debbie Griffin, Hannah Noland and Sharon Wheeler on the women’s team.

Ten Wicklow athletes who were selected and represented their country in 2022 were presented with an Athletic Wicklow International recognition award.

Anyone familiar with the sport knows that Irish vests are hard earned, for ten Wicklow athletes to have done so in 2022 is a great achievement. These athletes included Catherine O’Connor, Debbie Griffin, William Belton, Ashling Smith, Fionnuala McCormack, Eleanor Foot, Daniel Quirk, Derek Crammond, Jonas Stafford and Niamh Murray.

For the very first time, Athletics Wicklow presented volunteer awards to recognise individuals that make a special contribution to growing, supporting and promoting athletics in the county. Anne Marah of Roundwood & District AC, Tom Cavanagh of Bray Runners and Anne Marie Kelly of Inbhear Dee AC received these awards given their outstanding service to Athletics.

Several perpetual cups and trophies (list below) were presented on the evening. Following the awards and photographs, very welcome food was devoured by all. All in all, the night was very enjoyable and succeeded in bringing everyone together.

It can be marked as one of the social highlights on the county’s athletics calendar. It stands as a fantastic opportunity for athletes, coaches, family, and supporters to celebrate the special achievements our athletes have accomplished, and the outstanding contributions volunteers have made during the past year.

A series of Perpetual Cups/Trophies were awarded to the following clubs:

Junior Women Sli Cualann Cup: Bray Runners AC

Novice Women Brehon Cup: Kilcoole AC

Novice Men Cyril Smyth Cup: Parnell AC

Intermediate Women Sean Murphy Memorial Cup: Parnell AC

Intermediate Men Remax Cup: Parnell AC

Master Women Sean Byrne Memorial Cup: Parnell AC

Masters Men Sean Clifford Cup: Parnell AC

Senior Women Ellie Bray Cup: Parnell AC

Senior Men Joe Jacob Cup: Parnell AC

Master Women Cyril Smyth Cup: Parnell AC

Masters Men Pat MCcourt & Barry Keane Cup: Parnell AC

Senior Women St Benedicts Cup: Parnell AC

David Pegman & Peter Gibney Cup: Parnell AC