Impressive results at Drogheda x-country
WHEN it come to cross-country running, the holy grail for most Drogheda & District athletes worth their salt is to make the team for the county senior championships and the medals don’t come easy at this level.
To that end, the last nine weeks have been spent honing the body under the watchful eye of the club coaches and if there’s a hill in Drogheda that wasn’t run up at least 10 times then it’s well hidden.
Thankfully the weather gods were looking down on the athletes for Sunday’s races, with the day dawning bright, and with little or no wind conditions were perfect for some fast running.
First up were the ladies in the 6K race which was run over almost four laps, and right from the gun Karen Costello from Dunleer AC set a cracking pace which she never let up and she led from gun to tape.
Not far behind, Drogheda & District’s own Mary Leech was leading the charge as her club went about trying to win the team race and both Yasmin Canning and Ciara O’Reilly pushed hard to get themselves up to sixth and seventh place with just over a lap remaining.
Sometimes in these events, it’s the strength of the fourth scoring member of the team which decides who’ll take home the medals, and with Orla O’Connor running strongly there were only two points between the teams when the bell sounded.
With all to play for, the last lap saw some terrific battles taking place and none more so than O’Reilly’s frantic dash down the home straight as she overtook Canning and just failed to catch the Dunleer athlete ahead of her.
Alas, on this occasion it wasn’t to be for D&D and they has to be content with the silver medals, having been beaten by just two points by a very well-prepared Dunleer squad.
With the D&D ladies making up more than 20 of the 31 starters, the club’s second team of Rachel McCormack, Maureen Harbison, Michelle Hughes and Laura Roche packed well to take the third team medals. Also running well were Nuala Reilly, Karen Delaney and Niamh Matthews.
In the Men’s 10K race, which was run over six and a half laps, the D&D lads were really up against it as Dunleer AC produced a cracking team who went on to fill the first four places with a quartet who would look good at a national-class event.
Nevertheless, the D&D men were primed and ready for battle and once the gun went Stephen Kelly and Brian Martin - who both ran in the recent Dublin Marathon - made their way into sixth and seventh places, with Mark O’Shea right up there with them.
Knowing that D&D were still in the hunt for the gold medals, Paul Smith and young James Nolan ignored the pain that was etched on their faces and pushed hard to come home in ninth and 11th place respectively.
All eyes were on the finishing straight as Shane Larkin - D&D’s sixth scorer in 14th spot - hurtled towards the line and now the wait was on to see where the Dunleer runners would finish.
With the pace fast and furious, it was now up to Drogheda’s non-scoring runners to push back the fifth and sixth Dunleer runners if they were to win the team event, but with Dunleer’s last man finishing in 20th place the gold medals went to Dunleer for the second year in a row.
There were some fine performances from Kieran McGrath, Pat O’Grady and Ruaidhri Nolan to keep D&D in the hunt for the medals and the improvement of the club’s strength in depth was there for all to see. Also running well were Johnny Breen, Martin Russell and John Reilly.
Christy Duffy ran his 49th consecutive Louth Senior Cross-Country Championship race, perhaps setting a record which is unlikely to be broken for a long time to come.
Also taking place were the Louth 4x500m relays, with many of D&D’s young hopefuls in action.
In the Girls Under-10 event, lining up for D&D were Ruby Berrill, Aoife O’Connor, Aine Carroll and Caoilinn Smith and all four girls ran their hearts out but finished outside the medal places.
For the Boys Under-10 race it was the turn of Patrick Lennon, Finn Coade, Sam Monks and Conor Kelly, all four again giving their all for the team.
Drogheda & District had two Girls Under-12 teams entered, and after a great start by Ciara O’Connor coming around in second place the first team of Ciara, Lili Mai Coade, Sofia Drackoulaki and Aoibha Smith were unlucky to finish just outside the medals in a very competitive race.
The second team was made of up Maebh McCabe, Orla Kelly, Niamh Carroll and Ava Rose Matthews, and again all four give their best and enjoyed the experience.
The Boys Under-12 age group also featured two teams from D&D. The first team of Padraic Ward, Oliver Adamiak and Christian Kelly and the second team comprised Jamie O’Reilly, Jack McGinn, Darragh O’Callghan and Cormac Russell, with boths running well.
The Girls Under-14 team of Anastasia Drackoulaki, Sophie Kinsella, Sarah Gavin and Sinead Leech all gained experience on a day where the competition was very strong.
The Boys Under-14 team of Liam McGrehan O’Grady, twins Ben and Jack Doherty and Cillian Gogarty also had a good run and gained valuable experience in a tough field.