St Gerard’s girls strike gold

THE course was challenging and the competition fierce at the Leinster even age cross country championships in Navan.

Representing Dundalk St Gerard’s AC were a quartet of young athletes Abaigh Moonan and Tara O’Connor who were in action in the girls U12, Leah Mooney who took part in the girls U16 competition and Conall Quinn in the boys U16 race.

First up were Abaigh and Tara in the U12 girls. Both girls ran brilliantly in a high quality race to finish well up the field and gain good experience at this level.

Tara showed up strongly to finish 13th just one place off an individual medal with Abaigh in 41st place in a field of over 100 athletes.

Their performances were rewarded with a gold medal as part of the winning Louth team in the inter county competition. Leah was next into action, coming into the race having just come back to competing at the Louth championships.

Once again she continued her gradual improvement in form with another good performance to finish in 22nd place in a strong field of athletes.

Last up was Conall in the boys U16 competition. Another solid performance saw him finish in mid division in a highly competitive affair.

All four athletes performed excellently on the day and can use the experience to continue their progression as the move through the season.

Tara O’Connor and Abaigh Moonan of Dundalk St Gerard’s AC and Dearbhla Allen of St Peter’s AC who were part of the gold medal winning Louth team at the Leinster cross country championships in Navan.