Dunleer celebrate the ‘double double’
IT was a very proud Louth County chairman Micheál Mulligan who presented the medals to the Louth Senior Cross-Country champions, both individual and team, as his club Dunleer swept the board at Newtownstalaban on Sunday.
The course was immaculate and the organisation by host club Drogheda & District impeccable, and Dunleer AC - who had suffered a team title drought in the last five years - revelled in the conditions to claim all of the major honours.
Nineteen-year-old Aoife Fay romped to a convincing win in the Senior Ladies 6k in 23:16, with last year’s winner and teammate Karen McDonnell Costello in silver medal position in 23:48.
Mary Leech from the host club was a fine third in 24:11, with Dunleer’s Nicola Welsh fourth in 24:51. Nicola McDonnell Courtney, Karen’s sister, was the fourth scoring lady on the Dunleer team in 28:55 and together they brought home the coveted team title to mid Louth, with a two-point lead over second-placed Drogheda & District, with North East Runners third.
The Senior Men’s 10k showed that Dunleer AC’s youngsters are in good shape, with 20-year-old Garry Campbell securing a terrific win in 33:25. Campbell was followed home by his very talented and experienced teammate Darragh Greene in second place (34:10), with Diarmuid Mc Keown in sixth place in 34:54. The Dunleer AC team packed well in 15th, 17th and 18th with Paul Butler, Patrick Fitzpatrick and Anthony Connolly respectively and won the team title by 10 points over North East Runners and Drogheda & District.
Club chairman David Carrie said that he was pleased with each and every Dunleer AC member who toed the line, showing huge team spirit and clubmanship. Claiming the two individual senior titles and the two senior team titles was a fantastic achievement for the club, he said, and a true testament to the commitment and cohesiveness of Dunleer AC.
Louth County chairman Micheál Mulligan added his praise and stated that Larry Mc Guill (RIP) would have been truly proud of his club.
In the Senior Men’s race the scoring Dunleer AC members had tremendous support from David Carrie (38:22), Paddy O Mahoney (39:33), Ray Hughes (40:08), Graham Townsend (40:12), Aonghus Rooney (40:26), Mark Carroll (40:38), Pat Dunne (40:57), Patrick Connolly (41:42), Barry Mc Ginn (43:43), Robert O’Rourke (44:04) and Ollie Mc Hugh (44:04), with 17 senior men in total competing.
In the Senior Ladies 6k the scoring members had the backing of Jacqueline Matthews (29:09), Sandra Doheny (29:18), Sandra O’Rourke (31:18), Helen Cheshire (32:10) and Denise Gallagher (32:50).
There were juvenile relays also and Dunleer’s athletes ran superbly, with the Under-10 girls fifth, U-12 girls first, U-10 boys second, U-12 boys fifth and U-14 boys second.