An Cosantóir

32 | sport DF CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS 2011 The DF X-Country Championships 2011 was hosted by DFTC in the Curragh on 23 & 30 Nov. The competition was organised by Comdt Tom O'Keeffe, Cpl Pat Byrne and the staff of the DFPES on the same course as the 1998 CISM World X-Country Championships. Cpl Pat Byrne (DFTC), emerged from a strong field to win his 11th DF title. 4 W Bde won the DF Snr Championships for the 9th time in the last 12 years. 2 E Bde had something of a resurgence by winning the Jnr Men's team race, lead home by Lt Mark Conway who won the individual title. 1 S Bde broke a long period of 4 W Bde dominance by a good win in the Masters Race lead home by Sgmn Colin Merritt, who subsequently finished 2nd in the Senior Men's race. Capt Maeve O'Grady (2 E Bde) won the Ladies title, leading home 2 E Bde to their 2nd team win of the competition. Senior Men 10km 1st 2nd 3rd Cpl Pat Byrne Sgmn Colin Merritt Cpl Eddie O'Neill DFPES HQ 1 S Bde B Coy 3 Inf Bn 33.48 33.57 34.28 Team Winners 4 W Bde Pte Noel Kelly, Pte Paul Buckley, Cpl Stephan McKeigue, Pte Ian Ward, Pte Anthony Devaney, Pte Gavin Crawford Junior Men 1st 2nd 3rd Lt Mark Conway Pte Ian Ward Pte P Mitchell DFHQ 6 Inf Bn 6 Inf Bn Team Winners 2 E Bde Lt Mark Conway, Pte Conlan, Pte Hannigan, Pte Dunne, Pte Finlay, Capt Noel Conway Masters 6k O/40 1st 2nd 3rd Sgmn Colin Merritt Sgt Eamon Casey Pte Tom Thompson HQ 1 S Bde HQ 1 S Bde 28 Inf Bn 20.02 22.14 22.31 20.40 21.30 21.37 O/45 1st 2nd O/50 1st 2nd 3rd O/55 1st 2nd Sgt Noel O'Regan Sgt Coffey Sgt Bishop Tpr Hayes Pte McCormack 31 Res LSB DFTC DFSM TISK 6 Inf Bn Coy Sgt Willy O'Riordan HQ 1 S Bde Sgt Terry Grogan USAC Team Winners 1 S Bde Sgmn Merritt, Sgt Casey, Sgt O'Regan, Tpr Hayes Ladies 5 km 1st 2nd 3rd Capt Maeve O'Grady Cpl Mary Molloy Tpr Siobhan Tierney DFHQ 1 MPC 2 Cav Sqn 20.43 20.51 21.03 Team Winners 2 E Bde Capt O'Grady, Tpr Tierney, Cpl Jones-McGuinness, Capt Fitzpatrick DEFENCE FORCES HANDBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS BY CPL ERIC O'BRIEN (USAC) The first DF Handball Championships to take place in over 15yrs was held in the Handball Centre, Pearse Stadium, Galway on 01 Dec 2011. Taking part were 16 competitors across a range of ages and categories representing all services and corps of the DF. It was an open tournament, due to the absence of champi- Pte Colm Jordan (1 Fd Eng Coy) returning a ball to win a match. Picture by: SS John Geelan (1 Cn Cois) An Cosantóir February 2012 onships or leagues in recent times, there was no mechanism available to properly and accurately seed competitors. As a consequence this led to some interesting ties, with first timers showing the 'old sweats' a thing or two, and even beating the more experienced handballers in some instances to advance in the tournament. It was a knockout event with games lasting either ten minutes or first to score 21 being declared the winner. The timed format concept was aimed at giving novice handballers a chance to play against more experienced handballers and to enjoy the higher tempo of play. Competitors who lost their first round match then went into a Junior competition, which had the same knockout format. The main focus of the event was to reignite an interest/ participation in the sport. The response was positive with most looking forward to the next tournament regardless of their results on the day. The DF plan to further develop hand- ball throughout 2012 by introducing Bde Championships and open days at local level, as well as introducing the 'One-Wall' discipline of the sport. 'One-Wall' has become the most popular form of handball and is of particular interest to personnel who are new to the sport or indeed returning to it. The event finished with Pte Colm Jordan (1 Fd Eng Coy) win- ning the Senior title and Cpl Eddie Clifford (3 Inf Bn) winning the Junior title. Pte Jordan is no stranger in the handball world and was the firm favourite from the outset. With that said there were one or two competitors who didn't get to com- pete against him on the road to the final who are relishing the opportunity to test their mettle against him in 2012. DF Pers interested in getting involved should contact their BPEO. 23.04 23.36 22.27 23.31 24.01 26.25 28.36

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