All-Ireland Gold for Valley in Killybegs

Finn Valley juveniles were looking forward to this championship with defending champions in the under 14 boys in good shape and they certainly did the business winning the Gold medals easily. A total of 27 medals were won by Finn Valley athletes on the day in the under 12 to under 18 Championships.

Under 10 Boys and Girls at Finn Valley Centre

On Saturday the U10s raced in the Finn Valley Centre with a great run from Rebecca Ward winning the individual Bronze medal with Aisling Gallagher 12th, Tori Laverty 16th, Mean Stewart 17th, Geraldine Gallagher 21st, Ciara McGarvey 22nd, Louise McCafferty 23rd, Amanda McCafferty 25th, Shannon Driscolle 26th, Ciara Bogle 27th, Josephine O'Neill 28th, Niamh Gallen 29th, Shannon O'Kane 30th and Erin McGranaghan 31st. The club team finished 4th with Rebecca Ward scoring on the Donegal Team who won the gold medals in the inter-county category and Aisling Gallagher and Tori Laverty winning bronze medals on the Donegal 'B' team.

Mark Bonner continued his brilliant season with a silver individual medal in the under 10 boys race with Ryan Bonner 6th, Dean Bonner 7th and Oisin Merritt 9th winning the silver medals in the club team event. Justin Brown 10th, Paul Smith 17th, Conor Doherty 22nd, Ryan Kelly 23rd, Ryan Porter 30th, Carl Hughes 32nd, Mark Gillespie 36th and Conor Gallinagh 37th all running well. Donegal won the inter-county category with Mark and Dean on the scoring team ahead of Monaghan with Donegal 'B' 3rd; Oisin and Justin were on that scoring team.

Under 12 Girls

The first race of the day in Killybegs was the under 12 girls where Niamh Doherty, putting in a very good performance was Finn Valley's leading runner in 17th place, Karen Ferguson 43rd, Emily Murphy 64th, Ciara Devenney 100th and Grace Ward 126th. The club team, badly hampered by the absence of Amy Slevin, finished 9th and will be very disappointed to be out of the medals.

Under 12 Boys

The under 12 boys were next on the start line and were determined to get on the medal rostrum. Ryan McNulty, individual silver medallist in Mullingar, running a year out of his age group this time, was our lead runner in 22nd position well backed up by Christopher McBride in 35th, Gerry Boyle 39th, Patrick Geary 59th, Andrew Gallagher 61st and Emmet Patterson 71st. The club team won the bronze medals on 155 points just 3 points off the silver medals. Christopher McBride and Gerry Boyle were on the scoring team for Ulster who won the Bronze medals in the inter-provincial Championships and Christopher, Gerry and Patrick were on the Donegal team who also won Bronze medals.

Under 14 Girls

Breda McGinty, unfortunately badly spiked in the knee at the start of the race, finished in 16th place and led her team of Jackie Gibson - an excellent run in 24th position, Tara Hegarty 71st, Gemma Vance 77th, Fionnuala Lindsey 87th and Natasha Duffy 123rd to 4th position. Breda and Jackie won Bronze medals as part of the scoring Ulster team.

Under 14 Boys

Next to take on the challenge were the defending champions Finn Valley's under 14 team who needed to put in a better performance than in Mullingar where they were very disappointed to finish 2nd in the under 15 Championships. Kevin Mossey had a brilliant run winning the individual silver medal just losing out on the gold in a sprint finish with David Joyce of Castlebar A.C. with Dan King of Milford A.C. in bronze medal position. Ryan McDaid who is having a very good cross-country season also got into the individual medals in 10th place with Ian Ward in 14th and Aiden Connolly having his best run of the season in 25th, Pauric McLaughlin 32nd and Shane Bonner 42nd. Finn Valley easily won the Gold medals on 51 points from St. Malachy's, Belfast 147 points and North Laois A.C. on 152 points. To add to the celebrations Donegal won the Inter-county Championships on 86 points ahead of Dublin on 211 points and Cork on 225 points. Kevin, Ryan, Ian, Aiden and Pauric were all scoring members of this victorious team along with Dan King from Milford. Ulster won the inter-provincial title with Kevin, Ryan and Ian all on the scoring team.

Under 16 girls

Maeve Culhane and Nikki Alcorn were our only representatives in the under 16 girls race competing on Ulster and Donegal teams but unfortunately did not get into the medals with Ulster finishing 5th and Donegal 4th.

Under 16 boys

The under 16 boys saw circumstances go against them with Alan Cavanagh their lead runner all season having not one but two falls in the race. Mark McGowan was first to finish for the team with a good run in 34th place, Maurice Boyle 53rd, Alan Cavanagh 54th, Stefan Connolly 62nd, Conor McConnell 66th and Diarmuid Fullerton 98th. The club team finished 5th.

Under 18 boys

Mark McGlinchey was our only finisher in the under 18 boys race with a very good run in 54th position. Mark was running on the Donegal team but unfortunately they were unable to finish a complete team with the absence of flu victims James King and Martin Kelly.

National Novice

The National Novice was also held in Killybegs after the juvenile Championships. Michael McGlinchey followed up his victory in the War Memorial with a great run in 8th position. Nancy McNamee competed in the Ladies Novice and was a scoring member of the Donegal team who finished 3rd.

European Championships

Congratulations to Irish team Manager Patsy McGonagle who is delighted with Ireland Women's Silver medal performance in the European Cross-Country Championships in Edinburgh also held last Sunday.

Juvenile Christmas Party

Boxing Day Race

Entries are now being taken for the Boxing Day Race and hopefully it will attract a big crowd.

Bernie Alcorn, P.R.O.