Wexford trip pays off with Boyne girl’s win
CHLOE Cooney of Boyne AC made the long journey to Wexford worthwhile as she came home first in her event at the Leinster Uneven Age Cross-Country Championships.
Provincial events are always well attended and this year was no exception, with more than a hundred athletes in every race on what was a bright but chilly day.
The action began with a non-championship race for the Under-9s, giving them the opportunity to try out such a big event before they compete proper in 2018, and Chloe Cooney certainly made light work of the girls race as she sailed home to victory with the ever-present smile on her face. Shuti Prasad ran well also in that event. In the Under-9 Boys race Cormac McEvoy ran well to finish in ninth place, with Tadgh Forde Dunne 11th.
The championship races then got under way, with the Girls U-11s first to the grass. In that event a fantastic run from Eimear Cooney saw her finish sixth overall from a field of 152, securing her place in next month’s National final, and joining her will be Kate Culhane, who continues to go from strength to strength, finishing in 10th position.
The two girls were also part of the third-placed Louth county team, while Shola Lawrence also ran well to finish 59th.
The Boys U-11s had a hugely successful day, with an individual medal for Shea O’Donnell who finished fifth overall, and with clubmates Lorcan Forde Dunne 22nd, Emmet McEvoy 26th and Alex Robertson 38th the boys took second team and third county place, securing their spot in the National event.
The Girls U-13s had a field of 165 athletes to contend with, and there were superb runs from Eabha Cosgrove (24th), Maedbh Nolan (55th), Saran Meite (82nd) and Ella McLoughlin (108th).
A seventh-place finish for Danny Nugent in the Boys U-13 race sees him also qualify for the All Irelands, as does clubmate Neil Culhane who took the 12th spot, with both boys making up part of the third county team.
Caer NiGhibne finished in a credible 36th place in a tough Girls U-15 race, while in the boys race Christian Quinn finished 24th and Killian McLoughlin 43rd.
Tadgh Everitt Thompson ran a solid race in the Boys U-17 event, finishing 31st overall and as part of the fourth-placed Louth team who now qualify for the National event. Eva Cummins showed her usual grit and determination to finish 10th in a tough U-19 Girls race.
In the Senior Women’s race Sally Clarke ran very well to finish 33rd overall and placed sixth as part of the third-placed Louth team.
Also in action on Sunday last, albeit a little closer to home, Rebecca Carolan finished second lady in the Greenhills 5k race, and there were some fine runs from clubmates Justin Murtagh, Alex and Frances Smyth, Barbara Carr, Christine Kennedy and Anita Sheedy. Eye on prize
MEGAN Campbell has been named among the nominees for International Women’s Player of the Year, announced ahead of this Saturday’s PFA Ireland Awards.
The Drogheda native scored one goal and made the other in the Republic’s recent World Cup qualifier win over Northern Ireland and played a key role in her club Manchester City’s FA Cup triumph.
She also played the full 90 minutes in last week’s 5-0 away win over LSK Kvinner of Norway in the first leg of their last-16 Champions League tie.
Campbell is nominated along with her international teammates Katie McCabe and Denise O’Sullivan.
Big race day
ST JOSEPH’S CBS will host the 30th running of the Drogheda & District Schools Cross-Country Championships this Friday from 11.30am.
There will be six secondary school races - Under-14, Under-15 and Over-15 boys and girls - together with one primary school event for boys and one for girls, and the programme should be completed by 1pm.
All athletics followers are welcome to go along and watch the region’s future stars.
Lotto prizes NUMBERS drawn in last week’s Duleek AFC/SBG FC lotto were 6, 8, 20, 22 and the six €20 winners were M Flaherty, G De Souza, L Coleman, L Beggan, A Finglas and Mark Kelly.
Tickets are available from committee members and the draw takes place every Thursday at 8.30pm in the Duleek AFC clubhouse. This week’s jackpot remains at €8,000.