Cross Country Season Underway at Finn Valley

Donegal Uneven Ages and Novice Championships

The Cross Country season got under way last weekend with the Donegal Uneven age group and Novice Championships being held at the Finn Valley Centre.

In the U9 boys Darragh Bonnar 2nd and Ian Brennan were well to the fore. Rebecca Ward had a huge lead winning the U 11 race easily with Shauna Finn 7th, Caoimhe McMenamin 8th, Shannon McLaughlin 10th, Blathnaid Patton 12th, Kathleen McGinty 14th, Amanda McCafferty 19th, Melanie Penrose 20th and Megan Dunnion 23rd. Finn Valley won the silver medals in the team race here.

In the U11 boys Paul Smith had a great run to finish 4th well supported by Jonathon Carlin in 6th, Peter Brown 11th, Mark Dorrian 22nd and Alex McCafferty 26th. Finn Valley took the silver medals in the team race here also.

Rachael Tourish was our lead runner in the U13 girls race in 11th place with Tori Lafferty 15th, Louise McCafferty 17th and Caroline Moss 20th. Finn Valley won the bronze medals in the team race.

Mark Bonnar had an excellent race in the U13 boys finishing 3rd leading his team of Owen Bonner 4th, Dean Bonnar 6th, Justin Brown 9th, Gary O’Donnell 15th and Kevin Smith 21st to victory.

Finn Valley also won the U15 girls team event with Karen Ferguson leading the way in 2nd place, Amy Slevin 3rd, Clara Dunnion 4th, Ailish Patton 6th, Emily Murphy 7th, Aoife Whelan 8th and Andrea McCafferty 15th. Missing from this race was Niamh Doherty who was sick and Jodie Stewart injured so this is indeed a very strong team.

We had two competitors in the U15 boys, Dermott Brennan running very well to finish 5th and Michael Penrose 12th.

The U17 boys were also victorious with a terrific performance from Ian Ward pulling away from Dan King in the last lap to take the individual title. Great team back up here from Shane Bonner 5th, Aidan Connolly 6th and Darren McGlinchey 7th.

Breda McGinty was missing from the U17 girls line-up due to injury but hopefully will be back in action in a few weeks. Shauna Guthrie 4th, however, put in a great run leading the team to silver medals with Maeve Culhane 5th, Bronagh Sweeney 6th, Finnoula Bruton 9th and Ciara Hegarty 11th.

Annual Awards Night

The Annual Awards night party for our juvenile athletes was held on Sunday last and it was very well attended by athletes and parents alike. Awards were presented to 43 athletes who had won National Championship medals over the last 12 months. Last year was one of the most successful years in Finn Valley A.C.’s history at juvenile level, particularly in the Track and Field season where the U14 to U19 athletes won 18 individual medals in Tullamore.

Training

Training continues at 7.30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and 10.30 a.m. on Sunday mornings as the Cross Country season gets into full swing with the even age County Championships on next weekend. Newsletters by Bernie Alcorn, Club P.R.O.