Róisin Kennedy once again topped the TT results for the StickyBottle.com Women’s Crit League, but when the dust settled, it was Sandra Fitzgerald who took the overall, while Eimear O’Reilly claimed the B title.
The riders returned to the Batterstown 10TT course that they had previously tackled in R1, giving them a chance to improve on their course times. While the roads were dry, a headwind on the way out meant many legs were tired when they hit the roundabout, though the tailwind home offered some relief. Many made significant inroads on their times, with one of the biggest improvements going to the eventual B category winner, Eimear O’Reilly of Towers CC.
The fight for the top of the B section was between the Towers duo of O’Reilly and Lisa Darley, and Darley was a minute faster than O’Reilly in R1. When she crossed the line this time, she had knocked two minutes off her PB of 29’35”. O’Reilly had a trump card though, improving by nearly four minutes to beat her clubmate by over a minute, and finishing first of the B group for the night and securing the overall.
Less than half a minute behind her was Leinster 10TT Champ, Orwell's own Claire McEntee, taking 2nd for the Bs, while fellow triathlete Anne Claffey was five seconds behind her. Darley was 4th, with the next three placed Bs coming in within seven seconds of each other - Aishling Barry, Kristina Rutkovskai and Emily-Anne Doyle.
Doyle was another woman whose form has come on since the opening round, with over two minutes in the difference. That paled in comparison to Sarah Dennedy, who took the last of the B points along with the most improved award, cutting over five and a half minutes from her R1 time.
The fastest finishers belonged in the A category however, and all eyes were on Adamstown’s Róisin Kennedy to see if she could repeat her R1 victory. Fresh DID recruit Hanna Ormesher pushed her hardest, but came up an agonising three seconds short.
Kennedy has only recently returned from representing Leinster in the Bedford 3 Day, and the race stood to her well - not only did she clock up the fastest time on the night with 25’20”, she also broke the course record! That was set by organiser Orla Hendron in May of last year, when she completed a 10TT in 25’32”.
3rd behind Ormesher was her teammate Anne Dalton, and there was another three second gap to Garda CC’s Catherine McAteer. Another Bedford rider, Aideen Keenan, took 5th, with overall winner Sandra Fitzgerald putting in a decent showing to finish 6th.
Clonard’s Marie Boland slipped ten seconds, but held on well for a fine 7th place, with Niamh Stephens jumping nearly two minutes to take the final placing - 8th in the As, and 9th on the night.
With everyone’s worst round discounted from the final tally, the points were revealed at the Black Bull prize-giving. The top six from each category were rewarded, with the podium finishers receiving medals for their placings.
In the B category, as it was in three of the six rounds, Towers CC took the top two placings, with Eimear O’Reilly’s two first places giving her the edge over Lisa Darley’s one. Another Corkagh Park winner, DID PRO Caroline Martinez took home bronze - holding on for a prize despite puncturing in last night's TT.
3D Tri’s Anne Claffey’s steady improvement over the six weeks was rewarded with 4th. 2013 Rás na mBan competitor Sarah Dennedy was 5th overall, while Naas CC’s Emily-Anne Doyle was pleased to have earned the final envelope with the aid of her new skinsuit.
For the faster A group, another double winner was first in the rankings, strong woman Sandra Fitzgerald of Garda CC. 2nd and 3rd went to two superb testers, Róisín Kennedy and Catherine McAteer. Both bookended their league performances with decisive TT showings, with Kennedy earning two wins.
Junior Rachael Kaye-Mellor was a fine 4th, while Anne Dalton managed 5th despite being absent for two races - she placed every time she signed on. Last was Orwell’s rising star Aideen Keenan, who gets her training towing a trailer with two toddlers.
Congrats to everyone who placed throughout the league, but especially our overall leaders. With nearly 60 riders competing across the series, it was a hard fought contest throughout. Any débutantes who have now successfully completed a race or two should also be proud, and we hope to see you back in whatever form the league takes next year!
The hard work of organisers Orla Hendron and Mags Donnelly should be recognised and applauded, and they thanked all marshals and those in the background, with special mention going to Dave McLoughlin for timekeeping duties at the TTs, and Jen Sheridan for constantly providing support and delicious homemade post-race refreshments.
Thanks also to generous title sponsors StickyBottle.com, which allowed the league to keep entry fees low, and give out 12 prizes for overall placings, including three medals in each category. It's great to see an Irish site supporting women's cycling in such a fashion!
Final tip of the helmet to Brendan Culleton - his usual set of shots can be found on Facebook, with Orwell hosting prizegiving photos.
Darley, who had been leading the B section this week
Kennedy on her way to setting a new course record
O'Reilly receiving the StickyBottle.com B Winner's jersey
Overall winner Sandra Fitzgerald with organiser Orla Hendron
The roundabout marshals, including organisers Hendron and Donnelly
(they were almost certain everyone was finished at that point!)
Orwell Wheelers StickyBottle.com
Women's Crit League 2014
Final Overall Results
A Category
1 Sandra Fitzgerald (Garda/Richies CC)
2 Róisín Kennedy (Adamstown RT)
3 Catherine McAteer (Garda/Richies CC)
4 Rachael Kaye-Mellor (Orwell Wheelers)
5 Anne Dalton (DID Electrical)
6 Aideen Keenan (Orwell Wheelers)
B Category
1 Eimear O’Reilly (Towers CC)
2 Lisa Darley (Towers CC)
3 Caroline Martinez (DID Electrical)
4 Anne Claffey (3D Tri)
5 Sarah Dennedy (DID Dunboyne)
6 Emily Anne-Doyle (Naas CC)
R6: 10TT Times
A | B |
Rank |
Name |
Club |
R6 |
R1 |
Improvement |
|
1 |
1st |
Róisín Kennedy |
Adamstown |
Senior |
25:20 |
25:45 |
00:25 |
|
2 |
2nd |
Hannah Ormesher |
DID |
Senior |
25:23 |
|||
3 |
3rd |
Anne Dalton |
DID |
Senior |
25:37 |
26:07 |
00:30 |
|
4 |
4th |
Catherine McAteer |
Garda |
Senior |
25:40 |
25:57 |
00:17 |
|
5 |
5th |
Aideen Keenan |
Orwell |
Senior |
25:58 |
26:43 |
00:45 |
|
6 |
6th |
Sandra Fitzgerald |
Garda |
Senior |
26:00 |
|||
7 |
7th |
Marie Boland |
Clonard |
Senior |
26:31 |
26:21 |
||
1 |
8th |
Eimear O'Reilly |
Towers CC |
Senior |
26:31 |
30:27 |
03:56 |
|
8 |
9th |
Niamh Stephens |
UCD |
Senior |
26:48 |
28:37 |
01:49 |
|
10th |
Rachael Kaye-Mellor |
Orwell |
Junior |
27:02 |
27:01 |
|||
2 |
11th |
Claire McEntee |
Orwell |
Senior |
27:04 |
|||
3 |
12th |
Anne Claffey |
3DTri |
Senior |
27:09 |
27:52 |
00:43 |
|
13th |
Charlotte MacDonald |
Orwell |
Senior |
27:10 |
||||
14th |
Fiona Guihen |
DID |
Senior |
27:34 |
||||
4 |
15th |
Lisa Darley |
Towers CC |
Senior |
27:36 |
29:35 |
01:59 |
|
16th |
Ann Horan |
Orwell |
Senior |
27:42 |
28:09 |
00:27 |
||
5 |
17th |
Aishling Barry |
Lucan |
Senior |
27:43 |
27:41 |
||
6 |
18th |
Kristina Rutkovskai |
Lucan |
Senior |
27:48 |
|||
7 |
19th |
Emily-Anne Doyle |
Naas |
Senior |
27:50 |
30:01 |
02:11 |
|
8 |
20th |
Sarah Dennedy |
Dunboyne |
Senior |
28:27 |
34:03 |
05:36 |
|
21st |
Agnieszka Kurzydlo |
Naas |
Senior |
28:52 |
||||
22nd |
Emma Convey |
Orwell |
Senior |
29:00 |
28:34 |
|||
23rd |
Naoise Sheridan |
Orwell |
Junior |
29:05 |
||||
24th |
Helen Horan |
Orwell |
Senior |
29:21 |
||||
25th |
Finola Lawlor |
Adamstown |
Senior |
30:11 |
||||
26th |
Breda Horan |
Orwell |
Senior |
30:37 |
30:57 |
00:20 |
||
27th |
Caroline Martinez |
DID |
Senior |
30:08 |