Strong team effort pays off for Boyne
BOYNE AC athletes scooped a superb total of seven individual race wins as well as a number of podiums and team successes on the final day of the Louth Intermediate and Juvenile Cross Country Championships at Bush on Sunday.
Getting the day off to a great start, Catherine Tiernan Bell flew the flag for Boyne as she tested herself over a difficult 4,000m distance in the Ladies Intermediate race, finishing in a fine eighth place overall.
The juvenile programme then got under way, with the Under-9 Girls the first to take to the grass, and a super run from the talented Shola Lawrence over the 600m distance saw her ease across the line in first place, with Kate Culhane sprinting her way to fifth and Eabha Nic Ghabhann also running well.
In the boys race, Lorcan Forde Dunne proved that hard work pays off as he stormed across the finish line to take second place, while teammate Alex Robertson had a great run to finish fourth, with Rhys Clarke in eighth place.
It was a tough 1500m distance for the Under-11 Girls, but this did not deter young Eimear Cooney who finished in sixth place overall, followed closely by sisters Isabella and Allie Garcia.
In the Boys Under-11 race there was yet another comfortable win for speedy Paddy Price who, along with Aaron Fennell (8th), Amitesh Bala (9th) and Daragh Peters (14th) took the silver team medal, with Sean Cummins in 15th place.
The Under-13 Girls took on a distance of 2,500m and the dynamic group of young ladies representing Boyne certainly made their mark.
Pelumi Fanifosi ran a very tactical race to finish strongly in first place, while Eimear Doyle just missed out on a top-three finish as she finished in a fantastic fourth place. Clubmate Anna Faulkner (5th) continued her recent fine running form and with Lily Cummins in sixth the girls took the gold team medal. Strong runs from Saran Meite (9th), Siofra Devine (10th), Sophie Gartland (11th) and Meadhbh Nolan (12th) saw that quartet take home a well-deseved silver team medal.
In the boys event, and running out of age, the super talented Neil Culhane was taking no prisoners as he picked off his opponents in the early stages to establish a clear lead en route to a comfortable win, while Danny Nugent also had a great race, finishing seventh. Along with Cathal Monaghan (9th) and Max Kingston (14th) they took home the silver team medal, while Sam Cleary also ran well.
Cliodhna Nolan was the sole Boyne athlete in the Girls Under-15 race and gave a fantastic performance over the 3,500m distance, finishing just outside the medals in fourth place. In the boys equivalent Tom Cummins ran well to take the bronze medal, with Killian McLoughlin not far behind in sixth.
Young Eva Cummins proved she is making a great return to competition as she strode to victory with a super run in the Under-17 4,000m Girls race.
The final event of the day saw the Boys Under-17 and Under-19 races held together, with the young men battling it out over a tough 5,000m, and as a result brothers Oisin and Ruarcan O’Gibne were given a rare opportunity to race against each other.
The two worked together over the first part of the race, taking an easy lead from the outset, but age proved to be the deciding factor as Oisin pulled away in the closing stages to win in a time of 17:11 and take gold in the Under-19 age category. For Ruarcan, who crossed the line second overall, there was the consolation of finishing as the first Under-17 athlete in an excellent time of 17:47, with clubmate Tadgh Everitt Thompson also running well in sixth position overall.