Finn Valley AC Top Juvenile Club in Ulster Last weekend was once again a busy weekend for Finn Valley AC with their juveniles and Senior athletes competing in Rostrevor Co. Down. Their Veteran athletics traveled to Falkirk in Scotland to compete for Ireland in the International Cross Country. Expectations were high for Valley's young athletes as they went to Rostrevor as leading Ulster club from the first round of the competition so all was at stake for today's races. The first 15 In U11 - U17 would be selected for Ulster teams to compete in All Ireland Unevenaged Cross Country and the athletes wanted their club to remain the top Ulster Club. The first race of the day was girls and boys U9 race which was a non championship event. In the girls U9 Valley top scorers was Jodie Stewart 4th and Ciara Devenney 9th. Madeline Penrose and Stephine Connolly also ran very well. In the boys U9 Mathew Kelly was 3rd, Owen Grant 4th, Gerry Boyle 5th, Andrew Gallagher 12th, Brendan Tourish 23rd and Aaron McMenamin 32nd. Well done to all our under nine's Breda McGinty of Dooish was once again Valley's led scorer and won her second Ulster medal in two weeks finishing 2nd overall and lead her team home to gold medals. Breda was well support by team mates Natasha Duffy 14th, Shonia Guthrie 18th, Jackie Gibson 19th and Catherine Gallagher 20th. Also part of the team was Clara Dunnion, Grainne Neary, Rachel Downey, Denise Beirne, Siobhan Gallagher, Eilish Patton and Aisling Mc Cabe. The girls won the team award from Letterkenny 2nd and Cranford 3rd. Well done to all. Valley's U11 boys as expected outshone the competition and once again won 1st, 2nd and 3rd individuals and won the team title without any difficulty. Ryan McDaid from Burt was Valley's led runner taking the U11 title with Ian Ward finishing 2nd and Shane Bonner 3rd and John O Donnell 7th making the team. The team was once again well supported with Aidan Connolly 8th, Pauric McLaughlin 14th, Lorcan McMenamin 16th. Also competing was Mark Sweeney, Christopher O Leary, Gavin Carlin, John McLaughlin, Shane McCool, Mathew Morris and Paul Doherty. The boys won the team award from Shercock 2nd and Letterkenny 3rd. In U13 Girls Kylie Quinn finished 9th and Nicola Alcorn 12th both girls securing a spot on the Ulster team for the All Ireland Uneven aged group. Also competing in this age group was Laura Reid, Aisling Rushe, Fiona Bruton and Brona Sweeney. In U14 Boys Maurice Boyle of Loughanure was once again Valley's led runner finishing 4th and unfortunate to miss out on an individual medal. Maurice was well supported by team mates Enda Doherty 19th, Brian Patton 20th, Conor Fullerton 21st and Alan Kavanagh 22nd. The boys packed well and won themselves silver team medals with Shercock winning the team and St Columba's third. In the U15 girls Kate Byrne was Valley's led runner in 17th, Levina Merritt 18th, Gina McGowan 19th, Sarah Byrne 23rd and Nicola Connolly. The girls were third team. Joe McGinley was Valley's only runner in the U15 boys and he preformed well using as preparation for the All Ireland U14 Cross Country to be held in two weeks. Valley's U17 girls took the team title with Charlene Kelly their led runner 7th, Jennifer Simms 9th, Charlene Rushe 10th and Karen Connolly 13th. Barry McGill performed well in the U17 boys finishing 9th overall. At the end of the day Valley scored 72 points giving them the title of Top Juvenile Club in Ulster. Finn Valley now look forward to All Ireland Evenaged Cross Country Championships to be held in Dungarvan Co. Waterford in two weeks time. In the War Memorial Race Simon Ward just getting back into training won his second Ulster race in two weeks. The Valley team finished third with Michael Pemrose 12th, Bernard McCabe 13th and Drew Doherty 16th. Greg Deegan and Shaun McDevitt also competed. The Valley team was missing Pat Hegarty and Dominic Bonner due to International commitment and Mark Connolly due to injury. Finn Valley wish to thank all team coaches and managers who traveled to Rostrover. Neil Martin, Bernie and Richard Alcorn, Peadar McGranaghan, Elibhlin Crampsie, Christine Feely, Bobby Fullerton, Brendan Patton and Bridget Boyle. Also thanks to all the parents who traveled to see their children compete. Finn Valley wish to congratulate everyone involved in making this success happen. Valley's Veteran's compete in International Cross Country Race. On Saturday a number of Finn Valley's veterans traveled to Falkirk in Scotland to compete in an International Cross Country race. Valley's Noeleen Merritt had a brilliant race finishing 2nd O35 and was the second scorer on the Irish team which took the team title. The race was won by Anne Kieran Buckley. In the mens' O 40 Dominick Bonner was 10th and Pat Hegarty 11th. Ireland was third team with Dominick and Pat 3rd and 4th scorers for Ireland. Anthony Murray was 5th scorer on the O 45 team and unfortuate just missed out on a team medal. Pat McElroy finished 2nd overall in O 40 open race. Jim Hynes also competed in O60 open race also finished 2nd. Next weekend Finn Valley will be hosting the Donegal Senior, Veteran and Junior Cross Country Championships. 0 Juvenile Squad sessions will be held at the club next Sunday morning for all track and field athletes and Cross Country athletes. Training commences at 10.30am sharp Finn Valley are now in the process of setting up their own Web Site. This will be of great benefit to the club as it moves forward in the development of the club. The club have set up a committee to deal with the web site development. The committee members are Jonathon Campbell who is head of the Computer Dept in Letterkenny Institute of Technology Jonathon's expertise in computing is very welcome and appreciated. Patsy McGonagle chairman of the Finn Valley AC and head of the Sport Dept in Letterkenny Institute of Technology, Conor McGonagle, Richard Simms, Richard Alcorn, Paddy McGowan and Anne McGill. Paddy McGowan's photography work is a great asset to the club and his dedication is appreciated by the committee and all involved with the club. 0 Finn Valley are 35 years established this year and to mark the occasion a dinner dance has been organized for December 1st. Tickets are on sale now for A310. A presentation will be made to all present club members who have been with the club since its foundation. A large turn out is expected. The club wish to sympathize with the death of Kim McDonald. Finn Valley's Richard Simms has been working closely with Kim McDonald and as he stated in his interview with Highland Radio he will be greatly missed by all in the world of athletics. R.I.P.