Happy hunting ground for St Peter’s crew
ST PETER’S AC hosted day one of the Louth Cross-Country Championships at Darver - and the Louth GAA HQ proved a happy hunting ground for the Dromiskin club.
The day commenced with the Novice Ladies race and high jumper Emily Rogers and sprint hurdler Niamh Fussey both completed the race comfortably with 17th and 23rd-place finishes respectively.
The Juvenile programme commenced with a non-championship race for Under-8s and both Killian McKeown and Fionn Killeen ran very well.
The Juvenile competitive action got under with the Girls Under-10 race over an 800m course, with Emily O’Reilly, Hannah O’Reilly, Aoibhinn Boyle and Niamh Allen all running very bravely to win the team silver medals.
The Under-10 Boys, inspired by the female counterparts, also won silver team medals - with the added bonus of an individual silver for championship debutant Donacha Reidy, closely followed by Liam McKeown, Conall Killeen and Cian Smyth.
The Under-12 Girls race, which was run over a 2,000m course, was a very competitive affair and the ever-improving Dearbhla Allen was equal to the task with a very impressive third-place finish.
Unfortunately, the St Peter’s club didn’t have a team in this age group, but nevertheless both Orla McLoughlin and Catherine Carey put in great performances.
The Boys Under-12 race was a battle right to the finish line, with Harry O’Reilly finishing a brilliant second individually.
Ben McKeown also had a very strong run, as did Ruirhi Carpenter and newcomer Jon McKevitt, and the boys were rewarded with team silver medals.
The Girls Under-14 race was over 3,000m and Niamh Brady ran her best distance race for some time with a very respectable fourthplace finish, Ellie Smyth and her sidekick Isabeal Fitzpatrick soon followed and team was completed by the ever-reliable Judith Bell to win the team bronze.
The Boys Under-14 race produced more team medals for St Peter’s and a more pleasing aspect was the excellent performance of Dean Murtagh, winning his first individual cross-country medal - a bronze - and in doing so he helped his teammates Mark Litchfield, Cian Gorham, Sean Allen and Conor Litchfield to win the team silver medals.
The last race of the day for St Peter’s was the Girls Under-16 in which Under-15 athlete Ava Plunkett, making her debut for the club, ran very bravely and would have gained valuable experience for the future.
The cross-country Season continues next Sunday when day two takes place at DkIT.
The St Peter’s club would like to thank all the people who helped in any way with the hosting of last weekend’s event - and in particular the Louth GAA County Board for the use of their fantastic facility.