Finn Valley Take National Cross-country Title in Dungarvan

The Finn Valley master athletes made the long journey to Dungarvan, Co. Waterford last weekend to compete in the National Masters Cross-Country Championships. Our men's team were out to retain their National Title, indeed going for three in a row, and were determined to improve on their silver-medal position in the recent Ulster/Northern Ireland Masters Championships where they were narrowly beaten by North Belfast.

They certainly took on the challenge with brilliant performances from Dominic Bonner in 6th place, James McMahon, who flew over from England especially for the event, 7th, the ever-determined Mark Connolly 28th, Joe Brennan, who had badly injured his ankle at training two weeks ago, putting in a very brave run in 33rd place with Pat Hegarty in 34th, Bernard McCabe 68th, Gerard Bogle, 80th and Paddy Bond 138th. The team score added up to 74 points and victory, four points ahead of North Belfast on 78 points with Liffey Valley in 3rd place.

Gold for Donegal Women's Masters Team

Finn Valley's Noeleen Porter and Kay Byrne were on the Donegal Team for the Women's Masters Championships and led the County Team home to Gold medals with great performances from both -- Noeleen fighting all the way for an individual bronze medal with Kay having a great run in 6th place, Helena Crossan, Letterkenny 7th and Bridie Trearty, Cranford 8th making up the Gold medal-winning team. The Finn Valley club team finished 6th with Noeleen, Kay, Nancy McNamee 50th, Mary Martin 66th and Mary Bond 68th.

Intermediate Championships

Finn Valley had three athletes on the Donegal team which finished 5th in the Men's Intermediate Championship with Conal McBride 41st, Frank Chaney 91st and Michael Penrose 112th.

Jeff Cassin

Jeff Cassin was competing in a 50K walk in San Sebastian, Spain at the weekend but unfortunately was disqualified at 15K. Jeff was attempting to achieve the qualifying time for the Olympic Games but hopefully he will get another chance at the Phoenix Park International Grand Prix later in the year.

Ulster District Schools

The Ulster District Schools Cross-Country Championships were held in Templemore, Derry last week with very good performances by Finn Valley athletes for their various schools. Tara Hegarty had a great run in the junior girls race to finish 2nd with Jackie Gibson 6th both qualifying for the Ulster Schools finals next Wednesday. Ryan McDaid, 4th and Shane Bonner, 6th ran very well in the junior boys race also gaining qualification. Nikki Alcorn had a great run in the Intermediate girls scoring on the Loreto Letterkenny team who won the Team Gold, this team has won the All-Ireland Schools Title for the past two years and they will be out to defend it this year again. Laura Reid also qualified in this race. Maurice Boyle ran a very strong race to finish 6th in the Intermediate boys race with Stefan Connolly also qualifying as an individual although unfortunately St. Eunan's College, last year's All-Ireland Schools Champions, did not have a team.

Sportshall Team

Congratulations to Laura Feely, Shane Bonner, Shane McCool and Lorcan McMenamin who have been selected on the Donegal Sportshall Team for the Ulster area finals in Enniskillen.

Next weekend

The Ulster Juvenile Indoor and Senior Championships will be held in the Odyssey, Belfast this weekend; this will be a great opportunity for our athletes to compete in these great facilities and will give the juvenile athletes valuable indoor experience for their up-coming trip to the Scottish Indoor Championships at the end of February.

Proposed Dates for Ulster Coaching Courses