Arthur’s day as home favourite denied victory

STAR of the Sea AC held their 28th Annual Cross Country Meeting on Sunday on the lands of Brendan and Mary Meade at Greenanstown, Stamullen.

The course was in perfect condition despite the deluge that occurred on Saturday - the hills of east Meath are nothing if not dry – and as usual provided a great test of cross-country running.

The day got under way with the U-9 Girls race in bright sunny conditions and the weather held up until the Men’s 6k race had completed their first lap and then the heavens opened for a few minutes. However, as the leaders came to the finish line the sun had returned and they were able to enjoy the post-race refreshments with the sun on their backs.

The first Star of the Sea runner to get among the frontrunners was Leah Leonard who finished seventh in the Under-14 Girls 2,000m - a great result considering that this was her first cross-country race.

Cille’s AC’s Ciaran Smith finished second to Jack McCullough of Dunleer AC in the battle for the Sean Higgins Memorial Cup for Under-17 boys, while Nicola Bull was a popular winner of the Ladies 3,000m. Just back in Ireland after five years in Australia, Bull was a member of Star of the Sea before she left these shores and she showed great strength over the hills to come home in 11:11, five seconds ahead of Sile Carroll (Liffey Valley).

The Men’s race over 6k saw the return to these hills of Andrew Coscoran (pictured below) for the host club after an absence of a couplel off years. HHe was up againsti t a good field, including Peter Arthur (Liffey Valley AC) who was bidding to retain the title he won last year, as well as Drogheda native Simon Ryan (Raheny Shamrocks AC) and Brian McCluskey (North East Runners).

After the first lap the race had developed into a tussle between Coscoran and Arthur for the title, with Ryan and McCluskey battling it out behind them for third and fourth places.

The Liffey Valley man pushed the pace on in the second lap and still could not break the younger Coscoran, but as they went out on their third lap Arthur looked to have eked out a lead, but as they came towards the finish are withw just over 2k to race Coscoran managed to get to his shoulder again.

As the two athletes took the bell going out on their last lap Arthur had managed to get a 10m lead and he now pressed home his advantage over the final lap to win byb 20 seconds over Coscoran in what was a great race. Ryan, in third,th had a second to spare over McCluskey at the finish. •Star of the Sea The club would likelik to thank all the helpers and clubc members who set up the course and on the day worked so hard to make the event a success.

Thanks is due to all at the tea tent who made 580 mugs of tea along with countless sandwiches, buns and scones. Thanks is also due to the scorekeepers, recorders and officials who helped make the programme run so smoothly - and of course all the travelling athletes and their families.