It was a jam-packed week for our Junior Stags, with some truly standout performances across the club in the Bobby Rea Cross Country races today from the under 10 right the way through to the under 20 age categories, as well as some midweek school competitions and a smattering of Parkruns. Here’s the full roundup!
County Antrim Primary Schools Cross Country – Victoria Park Relay Event and Flahavan’s League Round 1
For some lucky primary school kids, there were 2 events this week (yay – cross country gets you out of school – we knew there was a reason you all did it!!) with the Victoria Park Primary School Relay event which saw a handful of our club runners turning out for their schools on a 2 lap relay race on Wednesday of this week, as well as Round 1 of the Flahavan’s Primary School Cross Country League, an individual competition, featuring a course of over 1km cross-country, held at the Antrim Forum on Friday. The events featured P6–P7 athletes from across the region. Congratulations, in particular, to the Parklodge P7 Girls team who finished in first place featuring club runners Sophia Doris and Jessica Murray, as well as the Parklodge P6 team who came in 2nd place helped by Ruby Mae McLoughlin and Georgia O’Shaughnessy. A big shout out as well to Sophia Kielty and Annie Cullen, who were picked to represent their school, St Therese of Lisieux.
In the Antrim Forum event, we had some of the Juniors donning their trainers for a second time in as many days with Georgia O’Shaughnessy and Ruby Mae McLoughlin getting medals for their school finishing as 1st and 3rd girls in the Mixed Fun Run, as well as Sophia Doris taking 4th place and Jessica Murray 17th place in the P7 Girls event – well done to you all for doing both your schools and the club proud!
NI and Ulster Even Age Group Championships and Bobby Rea Cross Country 2025, Billy Neill, Comber
Hot off the press is news of the massive turnout for the Club at one of the most important events in the cross country calendar – we asked, and you delivered, with the Juniors turning out in huge numbers. There were some very impressive individual as well as team performances throughout a wet and cold day of racing which you didn’t let deter you at all!
Under 10 Girls
Georgia O’Shaughnessy (34th), Ruby Mae McLoughlin (41st), Eva Mooney (50th) and Ellie McCarney (51st) all ran for the club in this first race of the day – thanks to the girls for getting us off to a great start.
Under 10 Boys
Seadhna Lynch O’Hare (54th) was the sole entrant in this age group. Well done for going solo and putting in a fine performance Seadhna!!
We would love to see more of the youngest stags turning out for this age group to get a taste for cross county running, so any youngsters who didn’t try it today, give it a go next time!
Under 12 Girls
There is always an incredible turn out for the girls in this age group, with an impressive 12 girls running for the club in today’s event. The stand out performance came from Sophia Doris finishing in 32nd place in this very strong field. Well done too to Maeve McAllister (43rd) Grace McKenna (62nd) Isla McNutt (74th) Aoife Lemon (76th) Annie Cullen (85th) Sophia Kielty (92nd) Ellen Cullen (95th) Eva McLoughlin (97th) Fola O’Kane (99th) Eimear Campbell (100th) and Lucy Dickson (104th). A very strong showing from the club in this event!
Under 12 Boys
The Under 12 boys, whilst smaller in number than their female counterparts, were no less mighty. Isaac Mooney led the way in 14th followed by Luca McGinley (27th), Milo Purvis (61st) and newer club member Ethan Huddleston (62nd) – well done boys and a warm welcome to the club Ethan!
Under 14 Girls
There was a very impressive individual performance from Eloise McAuley who finished in 17th place, followed by team mates Nola Rafferty (56th), Eimear McCoy (88th), Isla Meehan (99th) and Lucy Jones (118th). Our heartfelt thanks to you all for giving your best for the team!
Under 14 Boys
One of the big wins for the Club today was the team performance by this group of boys, who won the Ulster Team Title, thus qualifying for the All Ireland competition later in the year. Particular individual performances of note were Cormac Carrabine in 7th place and Cillian McLoughlin in 14th but as well as excellent individual performances, this group demonstrate what team work is all about. Well done to each and every one of you for helping gain this title – Mason Mercer (30th) Tanoj Yakkanti (33rd) Kobe McClelland (51st) Thomas Weiniger (64th) Cohen Turley (67th) and Oisin Caldwell (77th).
Under 16 Girls
Again, this was a smaller turn out in terms of numbers for the Under 16 girls, but as usual this group of very strong contenders punch above their weight with brilliant individual performances from all of the team. The girls were led home by Cassie Curran finishing in 5th place, Leila Jones close behind in 8th, Lois Usher in 28th and Eimear O’Regan in 52nd.
Under 16 Boys
These boys have become a team that all other clubs fear and, once more, they managed to secure top spot with 4 runners in the top 20 – a highly impressive statistic! Thomas Coy finished in 1st place in an outstanding individual performance of the day, a feat which he managed to make look easy, despite the strength and depth of this field, followed by very strong runs from Cormac Leheny in 5th, Ruarcc Sheridan in 13th, and Leo McAuley in 19th place. These boys really demonstrate what team spirit looks like and spur each other in their pursuit of excellence – well done for the continued fortitude shown by all the boys including Lucas Mooney (63rd) Tom McLoughlin (67th) James O’Shaughnessy (86th) and Odhran Browne (92nd). This smiley pic on the start line is what club running at this level is all about!
Under 18 Girls
In another individual performance highlight of the day, Cadence Hamilton came home in 13th place as the only club representative in the Under 18 girls race. Well done Cadence – it is great to see this huge smile on your face after a superb run for the club!
Under 18 Boys
In this category, we had Dara Cassidy coming in in 38th place in another super run for the under 18 boys.
Under 20 Girls
In another highlight of the day, Emily McRitchie finished in 2nd place and Holly Collins finished in 4th place with both securing results that mean they, along with all other athletes who finished in the top 12 in their respective categories, will be selected to run for Ulster in the Irish Champs on Sunday 23rd November in Derry. Those selected to compete for Antrim in the Irish Championships will be confirmed later in the week.
Under 20 Boys
And last but by no means least, we have another impressive team turn out led home by Eoin McConnell finishing in 2nd, Hugo Reilly-Stewart in 4th, Oscar Purvis in 7th, Lorcan McCann in 8th and Saul Thompson in 14th in this category of impressive runners. Well done to you all!
What a truly epic turn out for the club – we extend our thanks to each and every one of you for the effort that you put in on the day!
Parkrun Results – Saturday 25 October
In other news, despite all the events of the week, a handful of our Juniors still found the time to partake in the local 5K parkrun events with a couple of highlights being young Finn McConnell completing his very first Waterworks 5km run, with his proud parents, making it a family affair, as well as Erin O’Regan finding her form again over at Ormeau Park, after recent injury difficulties, with an excellent new PB. Well done to all of you who showed up at any of the various Parkrun events over the weekend.
| 52 | Luke OSHAUGHNESSY | 24:33 PB 24:04 | |
| 254 | Finn MCCONNELL | 44:44 First Timer |
Ormeau Park Parkrun PB
| 264 | Erin O’REGAN | 26:54 New PB! |
Waterworks Junior Parkrun Results – Sunday 26 October
And finally, finally Junior parkruns capped off the busy week with energetic 2K efforts from our youngest athletes including fab performances from Miles, Annabelle, Olivia and new club member Hollie. Well done to each and every one of you!
| 5 | Miles MCKINNEY | 09:02 PB 09:01 | |
| 8 | Annabelle BOYD | 10:05 PB 09:28 | |
| 14 | Olivia MCAVOY | 12:04 PB 11:23 | |
| 21 | Hollie BRENNAN | 14:19 PB 13:02 |
So a big congrats to all our junior athletes, coaches, and families on another magnificent week of racing. But a particular word of thanks must go to the coaching staff, who work tirelessly to ensure the Juniors are all so well prepared, and whose hard work results in the smooth running of days like today. Your commitment and enthusiasm continue to inspire all the young athletes. Let’s keep the energy going throughout the season and remember, if you haven’t already done so, to sign up for the Ulster Unevens Cross Country Championships event in Donegal on 9th November – the club are covering the costs and providing transport for anyone who wants to participate and every single runner who completes their event will earn valuable participation points for the club!