THE popular and exciting Junior tetrathlon championships run by The Pony Club GB were held in very hot weather last weekend at Moreton Morrell College in Warwickshire, where the usual large squad of Irish Pony Club members competed, led by the IPC’s head of tetrathlon and minimus, John Flood.

The shoot phase took place in the marquee on site on Saturday morning, after which competitors, chefs d’equipe, coaches, parents and supporters loaded up and headed to the Newbold Comyn Leisure Centre in Leamington Spa for the swim. Then it was back to the marquee for the night’s film dance competition, which Area 17 of The Pony Club (Northern Ireland), who only had five athletes competing at the weekend, won with their rendition of Grease.

The ride and run phases took place in the College grounds on Sunday. The cross-country track, which Flood described as “not overbig but very technical”, proved challenging with just a double handful of competitors going clear inside the time in both the boys’ and girls’ classes, thus holding on to their full 1,400 points for that phase.

Home international

There were just three teams in the home international championship, which Ireland won on a total of 17,446 points. England finished second on 17,406 with Wales placing third on 17,305. The IPC team comprised Kilkenny’s Anna Rose Hughes, Galway Mid County’s Hannah Hussey plus the Co Limerick Branch trio of John Kirby, Alex Barry and Henry Buckley.

In the boys’ regional team competition, the scores of Kirby (4,326) and Barry (4,394) plus those of Carlow’s Jack Hargaden (4,384) and Wexford’s Blake Kavanagh (4,450) saw Ireland Bealach top the final leaderboard on 17,554 points. Buckley supplied the discard score (4,193).

Wales and Borders Dragons finished second on 17,408, ahead of the Southern Stallions (17,259) and, on 16,944, Ireland Aonach (Breandán Purcell (Golden Vale), Cillian Considine (Co Clare), Archie McCartan (Co Limerick), Oisin O’Driscoll (United) and Dave Hennessy (Tipperary)). Only five teams started.

Blake Kavanagh fared best of the boys individually, finishing fourth behind The Wynnstay Branch’s Archie Evans, whose 4,573 points contributed to the Wales and Borders’ second-place team finish, as did the 4,529 of the individual runner-up, Rueben Kennah, a member of the Monmouthshire Branch.

Representing the Southern region, the New Forest Hunts’ Edward King finished third on 4,500.

While Kavanagh lost 26 of his ride points, Archie McCartan, who is still a minimus competitor and is no doubt looking forward to next weekend’s national championships in Clonshire, recorded a clear round within the time to finish eighth, a place ahead of Alex Barry who, too, was clear in the ride phase.

Also competing for the IPC, but not mentioned earlier, were The Kingdom’s Aodhán Donegan, Co Clare’s Archie McCalum and Co Limerick’s Cathal Foster. Although injured and unable to compete, The Kingdom’s Aaron O’Sullivan travelled over to Moreton Morrell as a supportive spectator.

The sole competitor from Area 17 in this individual competition was the Iveaghs’ Ted Geary who, last month, was one of the Northern Ireland trio who won the Junior regional tetrathlon at the Royal Windsor Horse Show.