Well done to Newcastle AC Junior Members Harry McVeigh, Connaire Óg McVeigh and Henry Houston who competed in the Mallusk XC on Sunday 16th January 2022.

Harry McVeigh had a podium finish in the Boys 800m race, finishing 2nd place, in a fantastic time of 01:48.

Connaire Óg McVeigh came 16th place in the same race, finishing in 16th position, in a time of 2:00.

Henry Houston competed in the Under 14 Boys Race, and completed the 3k course in 11:48, finishing 10th place.

Series Results 2019/2020

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, unfortunately we have been unable to hold the usual Prize Giving Evening. We have ordered Prizes for everyone who completed the series, and your club will be in contact with you soon regarding the collection of these. We would like to say a massive Thank You to the participants and their parents/guardians for all the support throughout the series – without you all, there would be no series!

We would also like to take the opportunity to thank our sponsors, McGrady Financial Services Ltd for their continued support of the series since its inception in 2010.

We will be publishing details on the plans for the 2020/2021 Series over the next couple of months on the Newcastle AC Website – www.newcastleac.org

It was an extremely successful day for Newcastle AC at the Stormont Cross Country on Saturday 8 February. Hosted by the NI Civil Service AC, this annual event takes place at Stormont Estate and this year Newcastle AC Juniors had 9 participants across the various age categories.

In the Under 15 Category, Ethan McMullan had a great run of 11:07 in the Boys Competition. In the Girls Race, Ciara Savage stormed her way into 4th position in a time of 11:27, whilst the aptly named Storm Ciara was battering the country! Aoibheann O’Gorman also had a fantastic race, finishing in 13:41.

In the Boys Primary School Race, Henry Houston had a fantastic race, finishing 6th in a field of 141 participants in a time of 3:23. Quinn Devlin was close behind in 10th position in a time of 3:25, with Oran Denvir finishing in 5:05.

In the Girls Primary School Race, Erin Easton had a great race, completing the course in 16th position in a time of 3:46. Teammate Sarah Uhomoibhi finished the course close behind in 3:54, and Emily McMullan completed the race in 4:41.

Finally, NJAC coach Thomas O’Gorman finished the Male Open & Vets Race in a very respectable 12th position in a field of 201!

We would like to say a massive congratulations and thank you to all the Juniors who took part, and of course to the parents/guardians who took them there. Without your support, we wouldn’t have had a such a great representation at this event!

After the usual bustle getting athletes signed up, the host team of EDAC parents and coaches swung into action to get the packed schedule underway. The P4 and under race is always a big draw particularly with the girls. 17 girls took part in that age group so it was a full on battle with a string of girls coming in each a mere second apart. It was Saoirse Morgan of Burren AC who took first place with Anna Kelly and Mary Houston of Newcastle battling right to the line for 2nd and 3rd place in that order. The boys were let off next and zipped round the 500m course in no time and with only Newcastle on the books they were fighting for in club bragging rights. Harry McVeigh slipped a lead on Joseph Uhomoibi for the honours and Connaire Og McVeigh was in 3rd place.

The P5 Boys had Darragh Ruddle Newcastle in first place one second ahead of club mate Conall Kelly. Jarlath Kearne  (East Down) who is improving by the day was a good 3rd. There was a good scrap between 5th 6th and 7th place in which excited the onlookers. William Taylor of EDAC managed to hold off Ronan Grant with a spirited surge on the hill sprint. The P5 Girls’ podium was split between 3 clubs. Murlough in first with Maisie McVeigh who lead from the off, Dromore in 2nd (Maisie Nicholl) and East Down in 3rd (Caragh Moore).  In the P6 Boys, Henry Houston of Newcastle ran strongly to finish first with Aaron O’Boyle in hot pursuit. Rory Morris still fairly new to cross country gave EDAC a third place slot. The P6 Girls was again a Newcastle one and two with Erin Easton having the edge over Sarah Uhomoibhi. Dromore took third with Hannah Topping.

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