It was another busy week for the Juniors with the Cross Country Season kicking off in style for our young athletes. Following on from the huge success of Laganside, you all turned out again in huge numbers, which makes us so happy to see. And it turns out it was for a very good reason, as each of you who donned your spikes (some for the very first time) and ran your hearts out, on what turned out to be a lovely sunny afternoon at the TJ McElmeel Cup in Armagh, contributed to the first big success of the season with the club taking home the Junior Cup – what a magnificent way to start us off! We could not ask for more than that and we are so proud of all those who made the trip to Armagh and helped make the afternoon such a successful one for the Club. We would really encourage as many of you as possible to participate in the forthcoming events throughout the rest of the season and, in particular, if you are new to the club, or you have never tried cross country before, speak to one of the coaching staff, who will talk you through how you too can give it a go! As today shows, it is all about participation and every single one of you help make these competitions count for the greater good of the whole club!!
TJ McElmeel Cup Cross Country Armagh
In addition to taking home the Junior Cup, there were some super impressive individual performances (official results not yet available for these races – keep an eye on the Athletics NI website or the Armagh Athletics Club Facebook page for details) so please bear with us if we have left anyone out! We hope not!!
Under 9 Boys
Getting us off to a great start were Elijah, Luke and Miles, who all put in a valiant effort to get round their 500m course; of particular note was Miles’ performance, who managed a thrilling finish to cross the line in 2nd place. Well done boys, you all made your club very proud today!
Under 9 Girls
We then had Eva Mooney, the only runner for the club in this age category, running a strong solo race – it would be great to see Eva have a few more clubmates alongside her next time, so if any of the under 9 girls would be interested in running in future, please speak to your Coach about how you too can participate!
Under 11 Girls
First finisher for the Club in this category was Sophia Doris who ran an excellent race to come home in 10th position, followed by club mates Georgia O’Shaughnessy, Sophia Kielty and Annabelle Boyd who all managed to put in fine runs around the 2 lap course. Go girls!!
Under 13 Boys
Mason Mercer, Milo Purvis, Kobe McClelland and Oisin Caldwell all ran for the under 13 squad with Mason putting in a very impressive performance to finish with an individual medal so well done to you and to all of your team mates – sorry we didn’t get a picture of you all!
Under 13 Girls
In a very big turnout for the club, with no less than 10 runners in this category, the girls put in a great effort with Eloise McAuley and Nola Rafferty coming in the top 2 places for the team along with Maria, Annie, Ellen, Jessica, Grace, Eva, Lucy and Lily all making a very strong showing for the Club -we love that there is such depth to this squad!
Under 15 Boys
This is an extremely talented group, who could well be in contention for collecting some top prizes this year if they keep up their good work. There were excellent performances from all the boys, but in particular Cormac Leheny who dominated the race from the start, as well as a very impressive third place from Ruarcc Sheridan who has shown massive gains through his dedication to training and sustained hard work. Lucas Mooney finished very well with an impressive last lap and team mates Cillian McLoughlin, Tom McLaughlin, Tanoj Yakkanti, James O’Shaughnessy and Thomas Weineger all put in fine runs in what was the 2nd biggest turn out for the club of the day and in what can be a very intimidating field. So well done to all of you for doing your bit and gaining high rankings and participation points for your club.
Under 15 Girls
In one of the most exciting races of the day, Leila Jones had an absolutely epic last lap, chasing down the 3 front runners who had held pole positions from the start. She put in a particularly gutsy last 400m, and was so very close to taking the top spot in a sprint finish that had us all hollering from the side lines. She was just pipped at the finish line but secured a fabulous 2nd place in what was a thrilling run to watch! And we are so delighted to see Eimear Coy back at it after just recently recovering from injury – we hope to see you go from strength to strength as the season continues Eimear.
Under 18 Boys
No stranger to success, Thomas Coy ran a superb race coming home in a highly impressive 6th place in a time of 17:07 and Leo McAuley finished strong in 23rd position in 18:54. Both boys are very young for this age category so they have a few years yet to move us those rankings and in the meantime they are showing their older competitors that they are well able for the challenge!
Under 18 Girls
Cadence Hamilton ran an excellent race to finish in 7th place in a time of 14:16 and Niamh McMillan came in 23rd position in a time of 16:05. Well done to both girls who are regular competitors for the club and continue to set a wonderful example for the younger ones coming through the ranks behind them.
Griffith Avenue Mile, Dublin
Away from the muddy cross country fields of Armagh, Cassie Curran travelled to Dublin with her dad Conor and ran a superb road race finishing in 1st place in the Under 15 age category with a new PB of 4:59. That’s a very promising run from Cassie and we look forward to seeing her excellent form continue.
Waterworks Parkrun Results
Over to our regular Parkrun events on Saturday morning, we had a handful of Juniors turn out at the Waterworks 5k Parkrun. Sion McAllister was the first Junior Harrier home in 6th place with a smashing PB of 19:10 and Fola O’Kane also achieved a new PB in 29:47. Well done to you both and to all others who ran!
| 6 | Sion MCALLISTER | JM11-14 77.57% age grade | 19:10 New PB! |
| 78 | Georgia OSHAUGHNESSY | JW10 67.63% age grade | 25:57 PB 23:58 |
| 96 | Orán STEELE | JM15-17 50.28% age grade | 26:51 PB 24:15 |
| 148 | Fóla O’KANE | JW11-14 55.54% age grade | 29:57 New PB! |
| 171 | Niamh MCMILLAN | JW15-17 49.35% age grade | 31:00 PB 22:19 |
Ormeau Park Parkrun
Sisters Eimear and Erin had a run out on Saturday morning too over at Ormeau Park with Eimear getting a high ranking on a busy course, and Erin achieving a brand new PB – well done to the 2 speedy sisters!
| 65 | Eimear O’REGAN | JW15-17 67.44% age grade | 22:59 PB 21:33 |
| 333 | Erin O’REGAN | JW11-14 52.90% age grade | 30:11 New PB! |
Waterworks Junior Parkrun
There was, perhaps unsurprisingly, a much quieter turnout than usual at the Waterworks Junior Sunday morning 2k Parkrun event, given so many were at the Cross Country, but a special mention should go to Sophie Weiniger in 6th place and Sophia Kielty for her fab new PB of 9:30 in 7th place, as well as to Olivia McAvoy doing her first official Junior. Well done girls and to all the other participants!
| 6 | Sophie WEINIGER | JW11-14 62.86% age grade | 09:12 PB 08:59 |
| 7 | Sophia KIELTY | JW10 65.02% age grade | 09:30 New PB! |
| 13 | Lucy DICKSON | JW10 54.74% age grade | 11:17 PB 10:22 |
| 14 | Penny DICKSON | JW10 56.94% age grade | 11:56 PB 10:22 |
| 15 | Olivia MCAVOY | JW10 52.94% age grade | 12:00 First Timer! |
| 21 | Harry TEAGUE | JM10 47.66% age grade | 13:04 PB 11:54 |
Future Events and Training News
As you will have seen in the WhatsApp chat, the dates for the Ulster Juvenile Cross Country Championships are now confirmed with the Evens taking place on Sunday 26th October at Billy Neill Country Park in Comber and the Uneven Championships taking place on Sunday 9th November in Finn Valley Donegal – for the latter the club will put on a bus for travelling athletes as well as registering and paying for all those interested in participating in these races – details to follow but please put the dates in your diary now so we can have as good a turn out as we did today in Armagh for the rest of the season!