Hazelwood College

First Year Girls’ Basketball

Hazelwood College First Year Girls’ Basketball team who recently defeated in the First Year Girls’ Co Limerick Basketball League on a score of 32-16 in order to reach the semi-final of the competition. Pictured are (back row, left to right) Fiona Wright, Aisling Shanahan, Ciara McCarthy, Chloe Farrell, Rachel Doody, Aisling Magner, Ellen Reidy and Sinead Wright. Front row (left to right) Niamh Mullens, Áine O’Sullivan, Emma Healy, Evelyn Mancassola Lauren O’Brien, Melissa Duggan, Elaine Kennedy and Sarah Enright.

Cork Junior County Boxing Championship

Hazelwood College third year student, Adam Ryan (centre) pictured being congratulated by his class teacher Mr Justin O’Connor (right) and Deputy Principal Elizabeth Dolan (left) after winning a silver medal in the Cork Junior County Boxing Championship.

Senior Ladies’ Basketball

Hazelwood College Senior Ladies’ Basketball team. Pictured are back row (left to right) Edel O’Sullivan, Niamh McCarthy, Ciara Purcell, Sarah Lynch and Ellie Stone. Pictured front row (left to right) Katie Cunningham, Ellen Condon and Aoife Murray. Hazelwood College defeated Salesians, Fernbank on a scoreline of 52-24 to secure their Semi Final place against Laurel Hill Secondary School in the Limerick Girls’ Basketball League.

U16 1/2 Munster College’s Football News

U16 1/2 Munster College’s Football

Hazelwood College’s U16 1/2 Munster College’s Football team recently defeated Clonmel CBS High School on the impressive score line of 10-10 to 5-6, under the management of Mr Brendan Kiely. Pictured are (back row left to right) Jonathan Sheahan, Damien Burke, Even O’Flynn, Connor McCarthy, Jack Roche, Adam Sheahan, Sean Madigan, Michael Ryan, Alex Culhane, Luke Ryan, Evan Coleman and Maurice Fitzgibbons. Front Row (left to right): Padraig Roche, Ronan O’Keeffe, Dean O’Brien, Micheál Begley, Colin O’Brien, Cian Magner Flynn, Brian Buckley, Darragh Lane, Christopher Cotter and Sean Ryan.

Hazelwood Hoops Heroics-Dramatic Last Minute Win

On Wednesday 11th February, Hazelwood first year basketball team ventured to Croom Community Centre to play Colaiste Ciaran Croom’s talented first year team in the County Limerick First Year Basketball Competition. It was a slow start to the match with Ciara McCarthy scoring a lay-up in the last few minutes of the first quarter and great defence was mounted by Aine O’ Sullivan and Emma Healy. Croom’s team dominated in the second quarter even though our girls, such as Melissa Duggan, Lauren O Brien and Rachel Doody made a great effort. This left the score 18-10 in favour of the home side. In the third quarter, Hazelwood’s girls bounced back with Aisling Shanahan scoring a lovely lay-up , Ellen Reidy scoring another lay-up and Evelyne Mancasola scored a free shot. The score by the end of the third quarter was 20-15 to Croom. In the last quarter our girls came back fighting with Evelyne Mancasola scoring another free shot aswell as a lay-up. There was another score by Ellen Reidy and Sarah Enright saved the match by scoring the winning basket. It ended on a score line of 21-20 a dramatic narrow win by Hazelwood. It was an excellent game and Mr.Halpin definitely brought the luck with him!

Munster Colleges Football

Hazelwood College 16 1/2 Munster Colleges Football team who emerged comprehensive winners against on a score line of 5-8 to 1-9. Back row (from left to right): Sean Madigan, Micheál Begley, Evan O’Flynn, Alex Culhane, Damien Burke, Jonathan Sheahan, Brian Buckley and James McDermott. Front Row (left to right): Evan Coleman, Luke Ryan, Cian Magner Flynn, Dean Collins, Connor McCarthy, Colin O’Brien and Darragh Lane.

Hazelwood Ladies Crowned Munster Champions

Hazelwood: 5-08
Meanscoil San Nioclás: 1-04

On 17th January 2015, the Hazelwood Senior Ladies’ Football Team were crowned Munster Champions after a tough battle with Meanscoil San Nioclás from An Rinn, Waterford. The match was played in Glanworth, Co. Cork, and heavy underfoot conditions and bitter cold proved challenging for both sides.

From the whistle, it was clear that both teams had similar intentions, and it took 12 minutes for the first score to be registered on the board, after Laura Stack finished a good passage of play from Hazelwood forwards with a point. It wasn’t long before Meanscoil levelled the score after a pointed free. Hazelwood pulled away in the next 10 minutes with points from Tara Fitzgibbon and Laura Stack, and Cliona O Callaghan found the net to give Hazelwood a five point lead. Meanscoil responded well and scored two points in reply. With 5 minutes left in the opening half, both sides were pushing for scores before half time and Hazelwood were rewarded for their efforts with a point from the left boot of Cliona O Callaghan and a goal from Emily Rose Mulcahy giving them the advantage at half time. The half time score read 2-4 to 0-3 points in favour of Hazelwood.

After being refreshed at half time, both sides took to the field for the second half. Meanscoil had a better start to this half, and began putting pressure on the Hazelwood girls. However, having failed to convert all of their chances they only scored one point in their 10 minute purple patch. Hazelwood found their feet again after points from Katie McCarthy and Tara Fitzgibbon, but Meanscoil quickly responded with a well taken goal after dividing the Hazelwood defence. This left 5 points between the sides, and Meanscoil had the crowd’s support and the momentum entering the final quarter. The Waterford side had several chances to reduce the deficit, but missed frees as well as two top drawer saves from Hazelwood goalkeeper Rebecca McGuinness prevented them from clawing their way back. Hazelwood took advantage of Meanscoil’s inaccuracy, and with 8 minutes left on the clock, Hazelwood hit 3 goals in 3 minutes to finish the game as a contest, one from Katie McCarthy and two from Laura Stack. As the Meanscoil girls’ heads dropped, Hazelwood thoughts turned to celebrations as Laura Stack pointed from play and Chloe O’Brien finished the game with a superb point after an individual run of the length of the field. When the final whistle blew Hazelwood players and supporters rejoiced, with the Munster title heading to Dromcollogher. The final score read 5-08 to 1-04.
Cliona O Callaghan was awarded Player of the Match and Jerome Casey, Munster Treasurer, presented the cup to Hazelwood Captain Ciara McCarthy. On behalf of the team, Ciara thanked referee Shaun Cronin, manager Tom Halpin, coach Moss McCarthy and assistant coach Siobhán McCarthy. This was a well-deserved win for the girls, as they trained very hard, even twice over the Christmas holidays! Hopefully more silverware will come their way throughout the year.

Scorers: Laura Stack (2-03), Cliona O’ Callaghan (1-01), Katie McCarthy (1-01), Emily Rose Mulcahy (1-00), Tara Fitzgibbon (0-02), Chloe O Brien (0-01).

Team: Rebecca McGuinness, Claire Sweeney, Ciara McCarthy, Meadbh McCarthy, Cathy Foley, Chloe O Brien, Norma O Sullivan, Bríd Flanagan, Megan Fitzgibbon, Sarah Shanahan, Tara Fitzgibbon, Cliona O Callaghan, Katie McCarthy, Laura Stack, Emily Rose Mulcahy.
Subs Used: Áine Cunningham, Ellanna Mulcahy, Briana O’ Connor, Aoife McMahon, Marie Danaher.
Subs: Donna Mulcahy, Sharon Carmody, Emma Sheehan, Sarah Sheehan, Róisín Cunningham, Ava Mullane, Laura Enright.

Picture 1: Back Row (left to right): Mr Tom Halpin, Roisin Cunningham, Sarah Sheahan, Laura Stack, Bríd Flanagan, Cathy Foley, Emma Sheehan, Sharon Carmady, Rebecca McGuinness, Claire Sweeney, Katie McCarthy, Medhb McCarthy, Cliona O’Callaghan, Norma O’Sullivan, Laura Enright, Donna Mulcahy, Moss McCarthy, holding Muiris McCarthy aloft. Front Row (left to right): Briana O’Connor, Marie Danneher, Ava Mullane, Tara Fitzgibbon, Emily Rose Mulcahy, Ellana Mulcahy, Áine Cunningham, Chloe O’Brien, Ciara McCarthy, Sarah Shanhan, Megan Fitzgibbon and Aoife McMahon

Picture 2: Pictured from left to right Ciara McCarthy, Mr Tom Halpin coach of the Hazelwood College Senior Ladies’ Football team and Sarah Shanahan.

Picture 3: Hazelwood College’s Cliona O Callaghan being presented with her Player of the Match trophy by Paul Murphy

Picture 4: Hazelwood College Senior Ladies’ Football captain Ciara McCarthy (left) being presented with the cup by Jerome Donovan

Picture 5: Pictured from left to right Hannah dePaor, captain of Mean Scoil, referee Mr Sean Cronin and Ciara McCarthy, captain of the Senior Ladies’ Football team

Athletics News Roundup

Hazelwood College Athletic First Term Round Up

The first term was a very busy and what turned out to be a very successful one for the Hazelwood athletes. The season kicked off with the Munster Schools Indoor Combined Events. This event requires the athletes to compete over five events, after which their points would be tallied. Hazelwood had four athletes compete at the competition, Kevin O Leary, Laoise Bennis, Gerard O’Donnell and Alison Healy, all four athletes competed very well, all four had personal best performances; Alison got a personal best in the Hurdles in a time of 11.55 and the shot, where she threw 7.06m. This was Gerard O Donnell’s first time doing this competition, but he performed admirable, achieving personal best in the 60m hurdles (12.14 seconds) , the 800m (2:41.5) and the 200m (28.30 seconds). Kevin O’Leary was competing his first year U17 so had a stiff competition to qualify. He ran close to his personal best in the hurdles (9.25 seconds) and ran a new personal best in the 200m (27.20 seconds), the hurdles bagging him close to a massive 700points. Laoise Bennis was on form on the day and despite suffering with shin splints she got 4 personal bests out of the five events: Hurdles (10.09 seconds), shot (7.15m), high jump (1.55m) and the 800m (2:43.7 min). This fantastic performance was enough to secure her first place as Munster Champion and secured her qualification for the Irish School Combined Events Finals in Athlone IT. Despite their fantastic performances Kevin, Alison and Gerard all narrowly missed out on qualification.

Laoise went on to compete in the Irish School Combined Events Finals in Atlone IT International Arena on Saturday the 15th of November. With a place on the national team for the top four places at stake, Laoise opened the completion well, reducing her personal best over the hurdles to 9.93 seconds. Next up was the shot putt where she had a solid throw of 7m. However, issues with her run-up on the long jump meant she only got 4.39m with 2 foul jumps close to 5m. A consistent jump in the high jump of 1.54m meant that she was going into the 800m in fifth place and a real chance of getting onto the national team. But some fantastic runs from her competitors meant that she finished in eighth place. Despite her narrow miss, it was a fantastic achievement.

Among the most impressive results of the first term were those of Noelle Lenihan, who competed in the Cork and Waterford para game. Noelle competed in the shot putt, discus and javelin, winning gold in all events. The most impressive aspect about her in that the games are open to all ages and, as 15 year old, she had to compete against adults to secure her medals. Noelle is now waiting for classification to be able to compete in further para games, with the possibility of making the national team and representing Ireland in international competition.

On the 21st of October, a group of 38 Hazelwood athletes travelled to Fota Wildlife Park to compete in the Munster Schools Orienteering League. This was the first time that Hazelwood had competed at the competition, so much was learned by many of those competing. Hazelwood’s best finishers, on what turned out to be an extremely wet and windy day, were Amy O Sullivan and Rosin Normoyle who did fantastically to finish in seventh and eighth places respectively in the First Year Girls’ Competition. Cory Knipe and Douglas Woolam came in fourteenth and fifteenth place in the Second Year Boys’ Competition. Hazelwood’s athletes faced crowded fields, manned by more experienced athletes, so this was an excellent result for compete beginners and bodes well for future orienteering events.

With an action packed first term packed with some fantastic performances, the second term look promising. This term we have the cross country, outdoor schools and more orienteering action.

Watch this space.

Picture 1: Laoise Bennis with the gold medal for first place in the Munster Schools’ Indoor Combined Events.

Picture 2: The Hazelwood College team who participated in the Munster Schools’ Indoor Combined Events. Pictured are (left to right) Alison Healy, Laoise Bennis, Kevin O’Leary and Gerard O’Donnell.

Picture 3: Hazelwood College’s Noelle Lenihan with the three gold medals she won in the Paralympic Games Cork Regional Final and the three medals she won in the Paralympic Munster Finals, which she won for Discus, Shot Putt and Javelin.

Picture 4: Hazelwood College’s Athletics team which travelled to Fota Wildlife Park to compete in the Munster Schools’ Orienteering League. Hazelwood College students Amy O’Sullivan and Rosin Normoyle came seventh and eighth respectively in the First Year Girls’ Competition while Corey Knipe and Douglas Woolam came fourteenth and fifteenth respectively in the Second Year Boys’ Competition

Hazelwood College Basketball Success

Recently, Desmond College and Hazelwood College played an exciting first year basketball match in the County Limerick First Year Girls’ Basketball Competition. Desmond began with a flying start, with Breda Magner scoring twice for Desmond. However, in the second quarter, the home side took off with 2 points each by Sarah Enright and Ellen Reidy, 4 points by Chloe Farrell and 6 points by Evelyne Mancassolla which included perhaps the best baskets of the day.

In the third quarter Hazelwood continued to keep the pace with 4 points each by Rachel Doody and Ciara McCarthy. This was teamed with excellent defence by the rest of the girls. But Desmond kept Hazelwood within reach, thanks to a superb defence and Latina Massey scoring 2 points for the visitors. The final quarter was concluded with three wonderful baskets by Hazelwood’s Chloe Farrell, Sinead Wright and Melissa Duggan. Unfortunately for Desmond, they were outplayed on the day, with a final score of 29-06 to Hazelwood College.

Referee on the day was Ellen Condon. Hazelwood College’s coaches were Ali Purcell and Ms Noreen Daly. Desmond College’s coaches were Catherine Creed and Sarah O’Grady. Score and Time keepers on the day were Grainne Ahern and Dwayne Sheehan.

By: Grainne Ahern and Dwayne Sheehan TY.

The Hazelwood College First Year Girls’ Basketball team who recently defeated Desmond College. Pictured are (left to right) Back Row: Ellen Reidy, Elaine Kennedy, Sinead Wright, Chloe Farrell, Lauren O’Brien and Aisling Shanahan. Front Row: Sarah Enright, Rachel Doody, Ciara McCarthy, Niamh Mullins, Emma Healy, Evelyne Mancassolla, Áine O’Sullivan and Melissa Duggan.

Hazelwood advance after epic battle.

On Thursday last Hazelwood’s Junior Ladies’ Football team maintained their unbeaten record for the year and also advanced to the Munster Junior Ladies’ Football Colleges’ Competition semi-final thanks to a 5-4 to 2-5 win over Kilrush Community School of Clare.

However the score line doesn’t reflect how much Hazelwood had to work for this victory. The game took place in Old Christians’ GAA grounds in Limerick City. Conditions underfoot were very heavy and wet, and combined with a very strong breeze overhead, circumstances were not ideal for a game of football. With these conditions a physical battle was in store. Hazelwood’s captain Norma O’ Sullivan decided to play against this wind in the first half and this decision proved pivotal as they could work harder early in the game and keep the Kilrush forwards at bay. Kilrush got off to a better start with an early goal against the run of play. Due to the wind in their faces, the Hazelwood forwards had to seize upon every half chance they got. Hazelwood’s style of play was exemplified by a brilliant goal from the individual brilliance of Laura Stack and a well worked point from Katie McCarthy. Kilrush finished the first half with only 1-3 thanks to fantastic defensive performances from all the backs especially Meabh McCarthy, Ide Cunningham and Ava Mullane. The half time score read Hazelwood 2-2 to Kilrush’s 1-3.

After some inspiring words from Hazelwood’s manager, Ms.O’Connor, and with the wind firmly behind them, the girls found another gear and scored another two goals from Laura Stack and Sarah Sheehan. However Kilrush did not go down without a fight and threw everything at Hazelwood in the second half and forced some fine saves from Rebecca McGuiness. In the final ten minutes Hazelwood’s desire for possession showed and with Cathy Foley and Brid Flanagan sweeping up in midfield victory was assured. Hazelwood now progress to the Munster Semi Final after a well-deserved Christmas Break.

Pictured are Back Row (from left to right) Shauna Cunningham, Niamh O’Brien, Nigel O’Callaghan, Sarah Sheahan, Katie McCarthy, Cathy Foley, Meadbh McCarthy, Ava Mullane, Mary Kate Fehin, Shannon Buckley, Aoife McMahon, Jessica Roche and Brian Murphy.
Front Row (from left to right) Bríd Flanagan, Aisling Cunningham, Tara Reidy, Rebecca Mc Guiness, Laura Stack, Norma O’Sullivan and Emily-Rose Mulcahy