Clean sweep for Drogheda
DROGHEDA & District’s ladies achieved a superb clean sweep of the podium places at Sunday’s Louth Intermediate Cross-Country Championships at DkIT.
The weather gods were kind as the day dawned dry and bright and conditions were near perfect for some hard running over an excellent course.
First up was that Women’s 4K race, run over three laps, and what a race it turned out to be.
With less than half a mile to go, the leading group of Orla O’Connor, Ciara O’Reilly and Laura Campbell were away and clear and once they cleared the last tricky left turn it was all down to a sprint finish which National 800m finalist O’Connor was always going to win.
Close behind, O’Reilly just got the better of Campbell to take the silver medal, with the Novice Championship winner having to be content with the bronze. Karen Delaney helped secure the team win with a strong run to get the all-important fourth spot on the team.
D&D’s second women’s team, which were led by the strong-running pair of Mary McGreehan and Yvonne McMahon, backed up by Sinead Weldon and Michelle Egan, packed well to take third place in the team category.
Next up was a very well-contested Men’s 8k race which was run over six laps at a frantic pace right from the gun.
D&D’s Shane Larkin was right in the mix and always in the top four as this group edged ahead of the rest of the field, but try as he might he just couldn’t close the gap on young Oisin O Gibne. Nevertheless, his fourth-place finish paved the way for his club team to take the team prize thanks to some fine running from Kieran McGrath, Johnny Breen and Dara Campbell. Also running well were Francis Murray, Gillian Dyas and Paddy Murphy.
The Louth uneven age group championships also took place and there were some great performances in the U-17 Girls race, with Abi Tegart finishing fourth and Kate O’Reilly, Saoirse Smith and Chloe Doherty all running well to win the team prize.
In the Boys U-17 race, which was run with the U-19 Boys, Tadhg Donnelly led the field a merry dance as he controlled the race right from the gun and came home an easy winner.
Backed up by young Liam Milligan and Sean Toner, these three combined well to take the team prize.
Cormac Canning delivered a solid run in the Boys U-19 event and his second-place finish shows that things are going well for him in training.
First up after the Intermediate races was the Girls U-9, where Drogheda and District were represented by Aoife O’Connor who showed great pace to pick off several runners in the sprint for the line to finish well up the field.
In the Girls U-11 race D&D were represented by Caoillin Smith, Aine Carroll and Ciara O’Connor. Ciara took the pace out from the gun, leading the first lap before dropping back. Aine and Caoillin went with the opposite tactic, starting conservatively and finishing strongly.
In the Boys U-11 race it was the turn of Jame O’Reilly and Christian Kelly, Jamie ran his best race to date in the red vest, showing that persistent training is starting to pay dividends. Christian, who was running his first race for the club, ran strongly from gun to tape and is one to watch for the future too.
There was a sizeable D&D contingent in the Girls U-13 race where Sophie Kinsella ran her best cross-country race to date. She is really starting to show her promise over the longer distances, having already showed her class in the shorter track races during the summer. Also running well were Sinead Leech, Niamh Carroll, Aoibhe Smith, Meabh McCabe and Ciara Wall.
The Boys U-13 team of Tadgh Gogarty, Jack McGinn, Cormac Russell and Jack Doherty showed great determination in picking up a bronze team medal in a race where Ben Doherty, Charlie Eccles and Darragh Callaghan also ran well and contributed to the overall team placing.
This was also the first race for the club for twins Ben and Jack Doherty.