Boyne juveniles revel in the cross-country experience
AS the heavens opened and the unending rain began, a hardy group of Boyne AC athletes made the short journey to Newtownstalaban for day one of the Louth Cross-Country Championships.
Delighted to finally compete following months of cancelled or postponed events, this talented group certainly did not let the rain spoil their performances.
Day one saw the Juvenile even-age and Novice races take place in the impressive home grounds of Drogheda & District AC, and thanks to the rain a true cross-country experience was guaranteed!
First up were the Novice events, with Andrew White contesting the Men’s 6,000m where a strong field of 58 athletes made for an exciting race. Andrew dug deep to finish in a fine 12th place overall.
The Under-10 Girls were the first to the start line in the juvenile races and nine young ladies lined up to compete over the 800m distance.
Running out of age, Ava Hand, more known for her sprinting abilities, finished in a superb third place overall, and along with teammates Isabelle Winters (8th), Freya Everitt (9th) and Ellen Boylan (11th) the girls took home the second-place team medals. Also running superbly were Hila Raji, Robyn Reilly, Ellie Russell, Ruby Cooper and Sarah-Anne Walsh.
In the Boys Under-10 race there was a silver medal for talented runner Leyton Byrne, out of age. He, along with brother Keilan in 10th place and clubmates Eoin McEntee and Spencer Gaynor, finished third team overall, with Ruadhan Fangerau running well also.
The Under-12 juveniles had the longer distance of 2,000m to contend with, and the ground was getting softer and more treacherous by the minute thanks to the driving rain.
Nevertheless, a strong run from Dara Ellie Winters Schipou saw this talented young lady finish in second place overall, running out of age, with training partner Allie Fennell not far behind in sixth, while Paige Gaynor had a great run to finish 12th.
Emmet McShane was the sole entry from Boyne in the Under-12 Boys event, running a great race and smiling all the way!
There was yet another podium finish for Boyne AC in the Boys Under-14 3,000m, with Sean Cummins having a super run to finish strongly in third place overall.
And in the Boys Under-16 race Caomhain McShane gave it his all over the tough 4,000m distance.
Unfortunately, with Level 3 restrictions now in place, the uneven-age event has had to be postponed, but hopefully another large troupe of Boyne athletes will get to showcase their talents very soon.