The Orwell annual prize giving in Larry Murphy’s on Baggot Street last Saturday night was a roaring success to the extent that there are still a few members ‘actively recovering’. Suffice it to say the lack of activity on the website in recent days can be directly linked to the level of enjoyment extracted from the evening...
As well as the prizes for the various club championship and league events there were several other awards decided by a secret ballot of the committee which was overseen by KPMG and the UN.
The prize winners and nominees were:
Young rider of the Year
Rachael Kaye-Mellor’s superb season of track and road racing earned her the top prize followed very closely by Darragh Long, with honourable mentions for Craig Arrigan, Naoise Sheridan, Fionn Sheridan and Cian Donnelly.
Newcomer of the Year
It is a testament to the rude health of the club that this was a particularly hard won category with Pat Conlon getting the gong thanks to his league success in his debut season. He was followed in the voting by Tom Blennerhassett and also nominated were Diarmuid Collins, John Lanigan, Peter Gerrard and Charlotte McDonald, Donal Bailey and Mike Hanley.
Most Consistent Rider
John Twomey’s enthusiastic support for all club events as well as his dedication to national touring and sportive events, including participation in Race Around Ireland secured the winning votes followed by John Hannin, Aurora Perez and Eoghan Barry.
Cowperson of the Year
Anne Dalton was a runaway winner of this highly coveted award thanks to the quantity as well as the quality of the anecdotes supporting her nomination. Her complaint to the rider she was drafting during her debut 25 mile time trial championships that he wasn’t calling the pot holes was just one example.
Shay Fitzgerald’s experience in getting his ‘collar felt’ by a hedge cutting tractor earned an honourable mention while Naoise Sheridan also attracted votes for her ‘umbrella in the spokes’ emergency stop routine.
Clubman
Aideen Collard’s unstinting work with the burgeoning women’s section, which included promotion of the hugely popular Orwell Women’s Criterium League, made her a popular winner of the Clubman award edging out fellow World Masters Championship medallist and new world champion Orla Hendron. Also nominated were Julia Philips, Denis Gleeson and Declan Quigley.
A special presentation of the H Williams Perpetual cup was made to Orla Hendron in recognition of her achievement in winning the World Masters Championship Points Race on the understanding that she would fill the cup with something other than fanta, a stipulation she was only too happy to honour.
