TWENTY members of the Carlow Branch of the Irish Pony Club took part in last weekend’s national minimus championships in Co Kildare. All returned home as winners as their Branch camp was adjudged best at Punchestown but their Rapids team were also crowned Holmestead Saddlery champions on Sunday afternoon.

The winning quartet, who were presented with the John Flood team cup and the Sisk mixed team cup, comprised Sarah Kehoe and Ruth Fogarty (who were first and third on the national individual girls’ leaderboard) plus David Farrell and Ava Murphy.

Their three best scores gave the team a total of 10,466 points. The Kildare Minstrels finished second on 10,364 with third place being filled by the Longford Looney Tunes who amassed 10,144 points on their return to the championships.

Ivan Hatton, who is joint District Commissioner of the Carlow Branch with David Burgess, was extremely proud of the winners and, indeed, the whole squad.

“The children and their parents put a lot of work into getting to the championships and all showed great commitment,” he commented. “They have a wonderful coach in Kirsty Dobie who had them swimming nearly every day and coming together once a week at least for run training.

“Saturday’s cross-country course (designed and built by Michelle Nelson and John Dillon) was challenging but fair. There were 30 clear rounds of which four were for Carlow. There was an excellent lay-out in the middle of the track for the run phase on Sunday and the results were out very quickly which was a great achievement.

“Our members had a fantastic time during the championships and the Kildares put on a great show.”

The efficiency of the scorers was remarked upon by many over the weekend, so much credit is due to Patrick Green and his team.

John Flood, chairman of the IPC’s tetrathlon committee, was impressed by the rising standards at the championships and commented in particular on the ride phase. “The cross-country track was well up to strength – it was a real championship course and I’d like to thank Michelle and John for providing the riders with a real challenge.

“Okay, it was great to see so many go clear but, what was even better as far as I am concerned, was the fact that so many riders scored over 1,000 points – in minimus, as in tetrathlon, every point counts.

“I would like to thank Holmestead Saddlery for their continued sponsorship of the championships and all those volunteers who worked at Punchestown and at the pool in Athy.

“I would also like to thank my fellow tetrathlon committee members, Sara Egan and Sean Sargent, who are on the Kildare Branch committee, for all their hard work in the weeks and months leading up to the championships.

“There are many more people to thank as an event like this requires months of planning and hard work to get off the ground.”

SISK CUP

There were many cups and trophies to be presented on Sunday evening with the Kildare Jelly Beans winning the Sisk cup for best boys’ team, while the Sisk cup for the best girls’ team was awarded to the equal 10th-placed Meath Cyclones.

The Sisk cup for the best individual girl was won by Carlow’s Sarah Kehoe (3,692) whose dual with fellow Rapids team member Ruth Fogarty (3,676), who finished third on the girls’ leaderboard, really added some spice to the competition.

In the end, the pair were split by Alaoise Regan (3,684) whose branch, Longford, hadn’t taken part in the minimus championships for some years.

Andrew Henson of the South Westmeath Branch was presented with the Sisk cup as best individual boy. His total of 3,622 points allowed him claim the honours narrowly ahead of Galway Mid County’s Michael Hussey (3,618). Shillelagh’s Jasper Kelly finished third on 2,452 points.

Cups were also on offer for winning displays in the pool with the Warington cup for best boy going to Hussey (1,352), while the Breheny trophy for best girl was awarded to Longford’s Regan (1,272).

On dry land, and on foot, the Port of Cork trophy for the best boys’ run was presented to the Ward Union’s Jed Collins (1,162) with Carlow’s Fogarty bagging an individual award, the Keira Eva Mooney trophy, when recording the best girls’ run score of 1,192 points.

The turn-out award went to the Wicklow Branch.