Brilliant cross-country gig for Sligo primary schools
Ray Flynn reviews a well-organised event for athletes at Rathcormac that produced excellent displays
AT ABOUT 11.30am last Saturday morning at Rathcormac National School, parking places were at a premium and the fields adjoining the school were filling up fast with parents children and some teachers.
The occasion was the County Sligo Primary Schools Cross Country Championships.
The excitement was palpable and really, with not a muzzle in sight, it was the first time in 18 months that I got the feeling that at long last were out of this pandemic and sporting life was returning to normal.
The occasion was greatly enhanced by the sunshine that was beginning to break trough after nearly three days of rain. The rain did not make a huge impact on the fields and the going could be described in horse racing parlance as being ‘soft’, but not heavy. It certainly did not effect the winner of the first race as Laura Hunter of Rosses Point strode to an emphatic win in the Junior Girls race. Glen Carty of Strandhill National School soon followed to win the Junior Boys category.
The Senior Girls race was an exceptionally high standard, with Lucy Carroll of Rathcormac a good winner. Rathcormac also produced the Senior Boys winner, Ross Campbell, who looked like one for the future with a powerful display of front running to lead his school home to team victory. Rathcormac also claimed gold in the Junior Girls team race, with Strandhill winning the Junior Boys team section. The Our Lady of Mercy Senior Girls looked well coached as they won the Senior Girls team event. It will all happen again on Saturday week in the same venue as County Sligo Athletics Board host the Connacht Primary Schools Cross Country Championships.
Great credit is due to the aforementioned County Sligo Athletics Board for a truly well-organised race on a well-appointed coarse designed by local organiser Brian McBride. The event had a record entry, meticulously handled by busy secretary Anne McHugh.
The local, national and international road racing scene has come alive over the last few weeks with Sligo athletes active on all fronts. The popular Grange 10k was held with a local winner in the person of Feidhlim McGowan of North Sligo AC and Eavan McLoughlin took the women’s title back to Sligo AC.
We also had the Athletics Ireland National Marathon Championships in Belfast with a sprinkling of Sligo athletes in attendance. The best of the Sligo finishers in the men’s category was Darren Aldridge of Corran AC, who posted a time of 2:55:03.
One of the big city marathons held was in Berlin where Sligo AC’s Seamus Somers was 80th overall and an impressive sixth in his age category, Male 45, running a superb 2:32:01 minutes to lead home a small Sligo contingent.
The Sligo-based Jake O’Regan has
DELIGHTED: The Scoil Asicus Naofa Strandhill team that won the Junior Boys team event at last Saturday’s County Sligo Primary Schools Cross Country Championships at Rathcormac. Dara Mulhern, Glen Carty (who won the Junior Boys individual race), Harry Sproule, Moss Deasy, Fionn Prunty and Joey Cox.
also been busy clocking up victories in Cork and Galway over the half-marathon distance.
We also had the Athletics Ireland National Road Relay Championships in Dublin but, rather disappointingly, we had no Sligo club taking part.
The cross-country season is well and truly with us and next weekend our local Juveniles are again in action on Sunday in Ballymote for the county
championships. The action there starts at 12 noon.
Meanwhile, at Abbottstown in Dublin, the build-up begins to the 27th SPAR European Cross Country Championships which will be held in Dublin on December 12.
The Sunday’s Autumn Open Cross Country meet will be well populated with athletes hoping to pull on the Irish vest in December. Among
them will be leading runners Aoife Kilgallon, John Travers and Jake O’Regan.
With top-class cross-country running off the menu for the last couple of years it will be interesting to see who emerges on Sunday or who is keeping their powder dry until the Athletics Ireland Cross Country Championships next month which is also the trial for places on the European team.
RESULTS UPDATE FROM RATHCORMAC CROSS-COUNTRY
EVENT: