NI & Ulster Senior Cross Country

Report by Jim McKeown

The ‘Senior’ returned to a sunny Lurgan Park last Saturday, where there was a little bit of history made when the Club fielded a Senior Men’s Team for the very first time. With undoubtedly the youngest men’s team toeing the line, the lads did not disappoint and ran their hearts out, finishing a magnificent 3rd place against seasoned campaigners and earning themselves many plaudits along the way – the scoring 6 included top finisher Ruairi Hollywood in 12th, Noah Kavanagh 13th, Oisin McGloin 24th, Stephen Lyster 26th, John Jackson (in the middle of marathon training) 37th and Stephen Lunn 52nd  (Peter McHale was 102nd and James Ashley was an unfortunate DNF with a rolled ankle). The optics for the Club are massive as we have finally announced ourselves on the senior men’s stage. It has been a long-held goal to reach this milestone, and I am not ashamed to say that I got quite emotional at the end the race – probably the culmination of 10 years hard work. It was equally satisfying to be able to field a senior women’s team, albeit weakened by a few late withdrawals. The young team acquitted themselves very well and finished in a creditable 6th place, led home by Ulster Novice Champion Marianne Doherty in 16th – the rest of the team scores included Olivia Morgan 24th, Jessica Blaney 32nd, Lily Rimmer 35th, Caelainn McQuaid 54th and Freya Woodhead 68th –  well done ladies this is just the start of your ‘Senior’ journey. Congratulations as well to Willowfield who picked up their first ever senior women’s title – a proud day for Lawson Cochrane as he completes the full set!

Across the support card which included a number of age group races, disappointingly, we only had 1 competitor in Isabel Fallis, who finished as 4th U15 Girl and continues to make steady progress.