With the District School XC Championships held this week there were many familiar faces at the District B event held in Ormeau park in Belfast on Wednesday, albeit running in the unfamiliar colours of their local schools which made cheering the NBH contingent a challenge (for some). And whilst the runners had the added advantage of a day out of school it was somewhat surprising to also see a high number of NBH parents (and coaches) on the course in support – but isn’t WFH supposed to be over ??!!
With a course less muddy than some recent events and with only one steady incline the day started with Form 1 runners leading the way. And straight away Lucas Mooney was in the medals, finishing a superb 2nd for St Malachys College. Indeed, with Dualta McGleenan, Tom McLoughlin and Finley McCloy also all finishing in the top 30 for St Malachys they helped complete an excellent team result for the school. Also in this mix James O’Shaughnessy delivered a hard earnt 24th place for Belfast Royal Academy. And with something obviously in the water at St Malachys, Thomas Weineger finished just outside the top 50 in a field of 80. Well done to all the NBH boys in this race !
Next up came the Form 2 girls, and with the 3 NBH runners getting plenty of encouragement from the WFH brigade they all posted excellent results and they all qualified individually for the Ulster Championship’s. Leila Jones finally listened and got a great start to finish in 2nd for BRA, Cassie Curran came 5th despite being under the weather, and Erin McAuley just missed out on a top 10 with a finish in 11th, so both running very well for Dominican college. Role on the Ulsters !!
The Form 2 boys gave the crowd a very exciting finish, with two of NBH’s finest jostling for medals at the front. In the end, and despite an earlier rugby style tussle with one of the other runners, Cormac Leheny just pipped Thomas Coy to give St Malachys College both the silver and bronze medals. Also running well for St Malachys were Ruarcc Sheridan and Senan McConnell, in 21st and 39th respectively, and adding to another fantastic team performance by St Malachys – so it cant just be the water at St Malachys !!
Eimear O’Regan was the sole NBH runner in the Form 3 girls for Dominican College, and what a great performance she gave on a course now looking pretty cut up and slippery in places. With a 13th place finish Eimear also qualified for the Ulsters – so another early/extended lunch break for her father coming up !! In the Form 3 boys NBH also had a single runner, with Senan McConnell lasting the longer distance well to finish in 28th for St Malachys college. Again.
Moving on up to the older age groups and there was a top ten finish for Niamh McAuley in the Inter Girls and a hard earnt 36th finish for Aoibh Sloan. In the Senior Girls there were top ten finishes for both Emily McRitchie and Orlagh McComb, with Emily taking a home a medal for her fantastic 3rd place. Superb running from all 3 girls and great for the younger ones to look up to.
Onto the boys and a strong field of NBH runners in the Inter boys race, with Eoin McConnell bringing home the gold medal for St Malachys College in an exciting race that also saw Lorcan McCann and Ryan Donaldson finish 6th and 7th respectively, with Saul Thompson in 10th and Dara Cassidy in 18th. That really is a strong group, well done boys, and congratulations again to Eoin on his 1st place.
Finally to the Senior Boys race and yet another NBH medal winner, with Hugo Reilly-Stewart picking up bronze, closely followed by Oscar Purvis in 5th and Declan McGinley pushing for a top in ten finish in 11th. Great running from them all at the end of the day on a well used course !
Finally, in addition to the event held at Ormeau Park four other District events also took part this week, and our very own Frankie Mooney ran at the District A event where he ran in a strong field but pushed through to finish in an excellent 5th place and so will join his NBH team mates at the Ulsters.
All in all some great performances from the junior NBH runners this week, and many now progress to the Ulster Schools Championship being held on the 7th February in Mallusk. Good luck to you all.
However, the commitment of the NBH juniors did not stop at the school races. Over the weekend many yet again dragged their parents out of the house on Saturday and/or Sunday morning for the weekly Park Runs.
5k Park Run
| 25 | Thomas COY | Male | JM11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 21:50 |
| 38 | Milo PURVIS | Male | JM10 | North Belfast Harriers | 23:00 |
| 54 | Eimear O’REGAN | Female | JW11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 23:57 |
| 99 | Nola RAFFERTY | Female | JW10 | North Belfast Harriers | 26:42 |
| 106 | Orán STEELE | Male | JM15-17 | North Belfast Harriers | 27:12 |
| 110 | Luke OSHAUGHNESSY | Male | JM10 | North Belfast Harriers | 27:20 |
| 210 | Matthew PURVIS | Male | JM15-17 | North Belfast Harriers | 32:42 |
2km Park Run
| 1 | Thomas COY | Male | JM11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 06:50 |
| 4 | Lucas MOONEY | Male | JM11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 08:06 |
| 5 | Tom MCLOUGHLIN | Male | JM11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 08:33 |
| 6 | Isaac MOONEY | Male | JM10 | North Belfast Harriers | 08:37 |
| 12 | Eimear COY | Female | JW11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 09:49 |
| 13 | Grace MCKENNA | Female | JW10 | North Belfast Harriers | 10:02 |
| 18 | Erin O’REGAN | Female | JW11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 11:06 |
| 19 | Aoife LEMON | Female | JW10 | North Belfast Harriers | 11:15 |
| 27 | Eva MCLOUGHLIN | Female | JW10 | North Belfast Harriers | 12:57 |
| 41 | Dara MCLAUGHLIN | Male | JM11-14 | North Belfast Harriers | 21:31 |
And once more there were some excellent and committed runs, not least from Luke O’Shaughnessy who completed his first 5k at the Water Works in a very creditable time of 27.20m. Well done Luke !!
Training continues as normal this coming week, weather dependent as usual !!
Upcoming Events
East Coast AC Junior XC Series
The first race of this 3 race series is next Sunday (4th February) at Larne High School. Online entries in advance only – full details can be found at www.eastcoastathleticsclub.co.uk.
NI Civil Service Athletics Club
This NICS XC event at Stormont on Saturday 10th February includes U13 and U15 races. Again, online entries in advance only – entry details can be found at www.sientries.co.uk.
Deep Riverrock Queens 3k Race
This well organised event by QUB takes place on the evening of Wednesday 13th March along the Lagan Embankment. The junior event is 3km and places are limited. Details can be found at www.queenssport5k.com.