THE Finn Valley AC sprint academy kicks off once again on Saturday morning.

Finn Valley AC retained the McGonagle Champions Cup on Sunday.

The McGonagle Cup was presented to Finn Valley AC captain Zara Alexander by experienced club coach and Peadar McGranaghan, the Finn Valley AC president.

Finn Valley AC took the overall prize after winning team golds at under-9 girls, under-9 boys, under-10 girls, under-11 girls, under-11 boys, under-12 boys, under-12 girls, under-13 girls and under-15 boys.

Rhia Toner (Under-9 girls), Shea Irwin (Under-9 boys) and Niamh McGlinchey (Under-12 girls) won individual golds.

The Under-12 girls race was a real highlight from a Finn Valley AC perspective with Niamh McGlinchey, Aoibhin McElhinney and Amy McElchar making it a one-two-three. Andrea Reid backed them up strongly in sixth.

Just under 400 athletes, from clubs across seven counties, took part. This event followed three days of excellent primary and secondary schools cross-country action at Finn Valley with around 1,300 participants competing in the last week.

The club was delighted to welcome World Athletics’ Head of Competition Management, Pierce O’Callaghan, to our Champions Cup event. Pierce has had a close association with Finn Valley AC over the years and all in the club wish him well in his new role.

Competing at the SIAB Schools’ International in Derby on Saturday,  Hannah Murray ran a PB of 40.50 seconds in the 300m, but missed out on a medal. Hannah was a member of the Irish 4x100m team that won bronze at the same event.

Karen Gallagher helped University of Limerick to team silver in the Universities Cross-Country in Dublin. Karen was 13th overall after a fine race.

Stateside, Oisín Ó Gailín and Ben Carr had strong runs at the weekend. Oisin was 19th overall and helped University of Wyoming to a fifth place finish at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minnesota.

At Percy Warner Park, Bem Carr was 14th overall while competing for Trevecca Nazarene University.

Finn Valley teams competed at the Ulster Road Relays on Saturday. The women’s team of Emer O’Brien, Nuala Bose, Natasha Kelly and Sarah Bradley were just outside the medals in fourth.

The Finn Valley men’s team of Diarmait Keogh, Shay Carolan, Gerard Gallagher and Sean McGinley finished in sixth.

This weekend, it’s over to the Donegal even ages and masters cross-country championships. These Championships take place in Carndonagh and Finn Valley have a strong presence ready for action.

The Valley Bar & Bistro is once again open for business: Friday 4.30-11.30pm; Saturday 2pm-11.30pm; Sunday 12noon-11.30pm. Please direct all bookings to 087-2847912.