More Success for Finn Valley Juveniles & Masters at Donegal Cross-country Championships

Following on from their successes in the uneven age group County Cross-Country Championships Finn Valley athletes were to the fore once again in Milford for the even age groups with the majority of our athletes running out of their age groups.

Melanie Penrose won the U/8 girls race with an excellent run whilst Brendan Hughes was also impressive in the U/9 boys race finishing 7th.

The first Championship race was the U/10 girls with a decisive team victory with the very talented Rebecca Ward once again leading her team home in 2nd place individually, Cheyanne Griffin 7th, Caoimhe McMenamin 8th and Blathnid Patton 9th all running very well to secure the gold medals with a team total of 26 points. Good back-up from Shannon McLaughlin 10th, Megan Stewart 11th, Kathleen McGinty 12th, Grace O'Donnell 15th, Michelle Bonar 17th, Clarice McColgan 19th, Amanda McCafferty 20th, hayley McGlinchey 22nd, Shannon Heapes 27th and Erin McGranaghan 30th.

The U/10 boys also secured the gold medals in the team event led by Oisin Merrit delighted with his first individual Championship Gold. Oisin 1st, Paul Smith 5th, Jonathon Carlin 8th and Peter Brown made up this winning team with a total of 24 points. Strong runs also from Niall Bonner 23rd and Karl Hughes 30th.

The U/12 girls were unlucky to miss out on medals in 4th team position but all ran well led by Aoife Gallgher in 9th, Rochelle Tourish 12th, Madeline Penrose 13th, Justine Duffy, 26th. Fine running also from Louise McCafferty 32nd, Ciara Bogle 34th, Caroline Moss 37th, Nadine McBride 40th and Stephanie Connolly 41st.

We had two individual medallists in the U/12 boys with Mark Bonner continuing his excellent form in silver medal position and Ryan McNulty also in fine form taking the bronze medal. The team event was a very close affair with Finn Valley and Letterkenny both on 22 points with Letterkenny taking the gold as their 4th scorer was in before ours. Our scoring team was Mark 2nd, Ryan 3rd, Emmet Paterson 5th and Colm McLaughlin 12th. Both these Donegal teams are very good and should do well in the upcoming Ulster Championships. Back-up here provided by Justin Brown 15th, Andrew Gallagher 16th, Dean Bonner 17th, Owen Bonner 18th, Kevin Smyth 22nd, Ryan Porter 25th, Kieran Brennan 26th, Shaun Bannigan 28th, Paul Kelly 32nd.

We had another individual Champion in the U14 Girls in the form of Fionnuala Linsday who is running particularly well this season. Fionnuala was well backed up by Gemma Vance in 4th, Aoife Whelan 6th and Jodie Stewart 10th all running well to lift the team title as well with 21 points. This is also a very strong team with great depth from Ailish Patton 11th, Niamh Doherty 12th, Clara Dunnion 14th, Emily Murphy 17th, Andrew McCafferty 18th, Aileen Brennan 24th and Ciara Devenney 25th.

The U/14 boys also won the team title led home by great all-rounder Lorcan McMenamin, better known for his jumping talent, in an excellent 4th place followed by Daniel McLaughlin running very well in 6th, Philip Brown 8th and Pauric McLaughlin 9th making up the scoring team on 27 points. Good back-up from Dermot Brennan 10th, Ciaran McAteer 15th, Christopher O'Leary 16th, Andrew Harron 18th, Patrick Geary 20th, Niall Doherty 23rd, Karl Bradley 24th.

The outstanding race of the day was the U/16 girls with Breda McGinty showing that she is one of the most talented middle-distance athletes ever to come out of Donegal winning by the proverbial mile and leading her team of Jackie Gibson who won the individual silver and Laura Reid individual bronze, Maeve Culhane 4th to Gold medals. This team will have high hopes not only for Ulster glory but also National glory. Back-up here from Tara Hegarty 8th, Fionnuala Bruton 10th, Bronagh O'Doherty 13th and Ciara Hegarty 14th. Points total for this team was the unbeatable score of 10 points. Shauna Guthrie was absent from this team due to her accident but was there to cheer her team on.

The U16 boys race was very exciting with the continuing duel between Ian Ward and Dan King, two of the country's most talented young athletes. The two boys battled it out all the way with Ian pulling away in a sprint finish. Darren McGlinchey 4th, Ryan McDaid 5th and Aidan Connolly 7th all running well to win the team title also on 17 points. Back-up here from Diarmuid Fullerton 9th, Shane Bonar 11th and Kevin Gallagher 13th.

Nikki Alcorn, 4th, led Finn Valley to silver team medals in the U/18 girls 3000m race with Emma O'Neill 5th and Bronagh Sweeney 6th running very well to complete the scoring team.

Stefan Connolly was our sole representative in the U/18 boys running very well to finish 4th.

Masters Cross-country Championships

The Masters Cross-Country Championships were also held in Milford with individual medals for Pat Hegarty 2nd in the men's race and Kay Byrne 3rd in the women's race. Finn Valley won both team titles here.

Training

Training continues on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays with all systems go for the Ulster Championships.

National Jumps & Throws Conference

Patsy McGonagle, Gerard Doherty and Bernie Alcorn attended the very successful National Jumps & Throws Conference in Dublin last weekend. Congratulations to Stephen Maguire, Georgina Drumm and Dermot Nagle for organising this excellent coaching conference.

Bernie Alcorn, P.R.O.