Irish Times/VHI Sportswoman of the Year:From riding winners at Cheltenham, to being up there with the very finest at the World Athletics Championships in Osaka, to winning camogie and Gaelic Football All-Ireland titles at Croke Park and retaining European Championship gold in Vejle, it's been an eventful and fruitful year for our 2007 monthly award winners.
This, then, is the list of contenders to succeed jockey Cathy Gannon (2004), camogie and Gaelic Football's Briege Corkery (2005) and athlete Derval O'Rourke (2006) as the Irish Times/VHI Sportswoman of the Year.
JANUARY:Marie Breen (Basketball): The 22-year-old from Mallow captained Glanmire to victory in the SuperLeague National Cup final, beating reigning champions University of Limerick who were going for their fourth title in five years. The Irish international produced an outstanding individual display scoring 12 crucial points in the final quarter, bringing her tally to 29.
FEBRUARY:Chloe Magee (Badminton): The Donegal teenager had an encouraging year, among the highlights helping Ireland to promotion to the A division of the European Championships, winning the singles and doubles titles at the National Championships and, with her doubles partner Huan Bing, winning her first international tournament in New Zealand in July, also triumphing in the Welsh Open and Irish International Championships, enough to lift the pair to 14 in the European rankings.
MARCH:Nina Carberry (Horse Racing): In 2005, Carberry became the first woman jockey since 1987 to win a professional race at the Cheltenham Festival - and only the fourth ever. In March last year she was back in the winner's enclosure at Cheltenham after she won the Sporting Index Handicap Chase on the Enda Bolger-trained Heads Onthe Ground.
APRIL:Emma Byrne (Soccer): Arsenal's women's team won every competition they entered in 2006-07, their quadruple made up of the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Uefa Cup. The Uefa Cup success was the highlight of the season, Arsenal becoming the first English club to win the competition, beating the favourites Umea of Sweden. Star of the two legs was Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Emma Byrne who kept a clean sheet in both games.
MAY:Lisa and Leona Maguire (Golf): It proved impossible to separate the golfing twins from Cavan, Lisa and Leona Maguire. At just 12 years of age they performed superbly in two tournaments featuring Ireland's leading "grown-up" golfers, Lisa reaching the semi-finals of the Irish Close at Lahinch and Leona becoming the youngest ever winner of the Hermitage Scratch Cup.
JUNE:Jessica Kürten (Equestrian): Kürten once again proved herself to be one of the finest in her sport, finishing the year ranked fourth in the world after a string of victories and top five finishes lifted her up the world list again after a dip earlier in the season.
JULY:Eileen O'Keeffe (Athletics): Kilkenny woman Eileen O'Keeffe's achievements were acknowledged by Athletics Ireland when she was named Athlete of the Year in their inaugural awards. In July she won her seventh successive hammer-throwing title at the National Championships, breaking the 70-metre mark for the first time, before establishing herself as one of the world's leading hammer throwers at the World Championships in Osaka where she finished sixth.
AUGUST:Joanne Cuddihy (Athletics): Joanne Cuddihy, also from Kilkenny, underlined her potential with her performances in Osaka. Cuddihy, who did the 200 and 400 metres doubles at the National Championships in July, became the first Irish woman to run under 51 seconds in the 400 metres semi-finals in Osaka, beating Karen Shinkins' eight-year-old Irish record.
SEPTEMBER:Mary Leacy (Camogie) and Valerie Mulcahy (Gaelic Football): There really was no option but to make a joint award in September, Leacy, inspirational in defence for her county, led Wexford to their first camogie All-Ireland title in 32 years when they beat favourites Cork, while later in the month the ever-prolific Mulcahy was, once again, outstanding when the Cork footballers completed a three-in-a-row.
OCTOBER:Katie Taylor (Boxing): It was yet another triumphant year in the career of 21-year-old Bray fighter Katie Taylor who is now ranked as the number one "pound-for-pound" boxer in the world. In October she won her third successive European Championship title in Denmark, another entry in a CV that already includes gold from the World Championship in 2006.
NOVEMBER: Cora Staunton (Gaelic Football): Cora Staunton collected the fifth All-Star of her career and won the Championship's Golden Boot award for her 4-46 in six games en route to the All-Ireland final. We chose Staunton, though, as sportswoman of the month for her club exploits, after her 1-11 in the All-Ireland Club Championship final against Cork champions Inch Rovers helped Carnacon to their first title in five years.
DECEMBER:Madeline Perry (Squash): The Banbridge player won her eighth Irish title in 10 years in December when she beat international team-mate Aisling Blake in the final in Dublin. What was remarkable about her success was that it came just two months after she suffered serious head injuries in an incident in Milan when she was left unconscious, the temporal bone in her skull broken. She to returned to action in Dublin, though, a testament to her determination to get back to winning ways.
