Finn Valley's Charlene Rushe wins Donegal Novice

Novice and uneven age group County Cross Country Championships

There were two races for the under-nine boys and girls before the Championships got underway and the club's youngsters produced great performances with Aishling Gallagher finishing in 3rd place, Caoimhe McMenamin 6th, Geraldine Gallagher 7th with Megan Stewart, Amanda McCafferty, Melanie Penrose and Chloe Porter in hot pursuit. The under-nine boys also made their presence felt with an outstanding run by Ryan Bonner way ahead in first place with Paul Smith taking 3rd and Carl Hughes and Shaun Friel close behind.

The under-11 girls lead runners for the club were Rochelle Tourish 11th, Catherine McNulty 14th, Madeline Penrose 17th . Great back up from Carla McDaid, Tory Lafferty, Justine Duffy, Josephine O'Neill, Ciara McGarvey and Niamh Gallen.

The team finished in 4th place.

The under-11 boys put in a great team effort finishing a close second with Colm McLaughlin in 3rd, Ryan McNulty in 4th, Mark Bonner in 5th and Dean Bonner making the scoring team. Good performances from Ciaran Brennan, Justin Brown, Andrew Gallagher, Ryan Porter, Kevin Smith, Paul Kelly, Ryan Kelly, Kyle Tourish and Mark Gillespie.

The under-13 girls also finished a very close 2nd with great performances from Fionnuala Lindsey in 2nd, Gemma Vance in 3rd, Amy Slevin 8th, Aoife Whelan 10th making up the team. Karen Ferguson 12th, Mairead McGill 15th, Clara Dunnion 16th, Christine O'Neill 18th, Emily Murphy 19th, Jodie Stewart 20th, Andrea McCafferty 24th, Ciara Devenney 29th, Donna McBride 30th and Grace Ward 31st.

The under-13 boys produced the race of the day with a shoulder to shoulder battle between two very good young athletes, namely, our own Pauric McLaughlin and Letterkenny's Darren McBrearty right to the line. They literally could not be separated on the line and were awarded a dead heat. Pauric led his team to victory with great team backup from Philip Brown 5th, Lorcan McMenamin 7th, Gerry Boyle 8th, Diarmuid Brennan 9th, Karl Bradley 13th, Patrick Geary 14th, Christopher O'Leary 17th, Niall Doherty 19th and Michael Penrose 22nd.

The under 15 girls race produced one of the most convincing winners of the day with Breda McGinty back after injury way out in front. Team-mate Jackie Gibson also had a great run in 2nd place with great back up from Maeve Culhane 5th and Bronagh O'Doherty 8th, to win the team event. Great runs also by Shauna Guthrie in 9th, Tara Hegarty in 13th, Fionnuala Bruton 14th, Natasha Duffy, 15th, Bronagh Sweeney 18th, Laura Friel and Ciara Gallen 21st .

The under 15 boys race was full of talent with Finn Valley's reigning All-Ireland Champions showing that they mean business again this year with Ian Ward a clear winner, fast finishing Ryan McDaid in 4th, Kevin Mossey 6th and Diarmuid Fullerton 7th making up the team for the clearest team victory of the day 18 points to Letterkenny's 44 points. The strength in depth of this team is remarkable with Shane Bonner 8th, Conor McNulty 10th, Kevin Gallagher 11th, Pat Northern 12th, Aiden Connolly 13th and Kevin O'Donnell 16th .

The under 17 girls team finished in 3rd place with strong runs from Emma O'Neill 5th, Nikki Alcorn 7th, Paula Gallagher 9th and Grainne Nangle 10th.

The under 17 boys won the team event with a great run from Alan Cavanagh in 2nd position, Conor McConnell 3rd, Enda Doherty 7th, Stefan Connolly 8th, Ross Wherity 9th and Maurice Boyle 10th. All these boys are still under 16 and will be looking to better their silver medal placing at All-Ireland level last year later in the season.

We had two competitors in the under 19 girls race both running very well with Levina Merritt taking 2nd place and Mary Connolly 3rd place.

Second round of the Donegal Championships

Ulster Uneven Age Groups Championships

Juvenile Teams to Compete in England

AAA 10k Championships

Jerome Brooks finished in an excellent 6th position in the British AAA 10k Championships recently in a time of 30 minutes 03 secs. Also Jerome and John Creane were on the scoring London/Irish team that did very well in the Southern Counties 6 Stage Road Relay recently.

Seniors and Masters for Gerry Farnan Race

The senior and veteran athletes will be travelling this weekend to compete in the Gerry Farnan race in the Phoenix Park. They will be defending the team trophy which they have won for the past two years. These are also trials for selection on the Irish Masters team for the Cross Country international. Good luck to all.

News of Joe Byrne

Some news via Ricky Simms...

Saluki Invitational Carbondale, IL, USA; Saturday, October 11. MEN (8000m)

Teams: 1. Southern Illinois 38; 2. Arkansas - Little Rock 45; 3. Indiana State 67.

1. Joe Byrne Southern Illinois 25:17.46 2. Dmitry Shokur Arkansas-LR 25:30.98 3. Adam Didyk Memphis 25:34.33 4. Doron Giat Southern Illinois 25:40.41

Committee Meeting