Delamont Decider as McGrady XC Series comes to a close

After one of the many storms this year, the Delamont race was postponed due to severe weather warnings in January and on Sunday past, East Down AC hosted, yet again another flawless event to bring this year’s Series to a close.

For many, there was still a lot to run for. With scoring very tight in some categories even improving on one place could mean the difference between a podium place or not and this was evident in every race as all the young athletes fought to the finish line.

Ruaidhrí Watson was the first Newcastle AC runner of the day to cross the line after a dramatic race in the P4 and Under category as he held on to 1st place over Dromores Patrick Topping. This will be a pairing that will be sure to bring plenty of great races in the future.  Luca McIntosh had a fantastic run and completed the 500m in 2.31 for 5th place quickly followed by Sophie Kerr leading the girls home to secure 1st place. Maria Sloan smiled the whole way up the finishing straight. As the two youngest runners of the day Alfie Sloan and Charlotte Kerr embraced the finishing straight as they crossed the line to rapturous applause.

Rua Gosling was a stand out runner in the P5 race as she challenged the boys out on the route right down to the final stride to take 1st girl and 4th overall in the race. She was soon followed by Sophie Sloan in 2nd place in 3.13.

In the P6 boys there was no question as to whether Harry McVeigh would win, it was more, how much will he win by? Following his win at Mallusk on Friday, he enjoyed the run whilst maintaining a commanding lead to take the series win. Rossa McAleenan gave everything he had in his pursuit to secure a comfortable 3rd place. Cuan McMurray ran strong and has really shown great improvement over the series. He finished in 5th place for the boys. He was soon followed in quick succession by Ellie Moore and Meabh McCartan who finished in 7th and 8th place respectively.

Senan Gosling continued to ensure he was leading the family pecking order as he held his cousin behind him yet again for the final race to take 2nd place in the P7 boys race. Emily Kerr, after a superb run at Mallusk on Friday, found her stride early on and ran a beautiful run to secure 2nd place. Zoe Astruc-Kidd, was 6th in the P7 girls race fighting right to the line to be beaten by a single stride.

In the Year 8 race, there were plenty of mid race battles and shows of drive and determination. Dillion Hynds of East Down AC ran a very smart race and stretched out with 300m to go to take Connaire Og McVeigh by surprise. It was an admirable race strategy which paid off pushing Connaire Og into second place. Lily McMurray and Eilis Donnelly both had fantastic races and crossed the line for a 1, 2 in 5.51 and 6 minutes dead.

Aoife Grant continued her recent good form and hopes to take that with her to indoors next weekend.

Fiachna McAleenan wasn’t fazed by an early assault from Jarleth Price as he took the win in the Year 9 race by 10 seconds. Donal McDaid embraced the last race of cross country season with everything he had to finish in 7th place. He was followed by Sebastian McCaughey who looked very comfortable throughout the race. Fionn McEvoy continues to make great strides and his confidence is growing in race situations. Rónán Grant ran a strong 8.17 mile and produced a strong finish with a smile on the final straight. For the Year 9 girls, Maisie McVeigh was glad to put in the final mile of Cross Country season and done so by spotting the photographer and smiling mid race. She secured 2nd place and is looking forward to track and field season. Mila Astruc-Kidd showed that she has so much to offer cross country as she looked in control and a force to be reckoned with out on route to finish in 5th. She was quickly followed by Kate Bradley who too also found another gear in the final 500m to finish with style.

Aaron O’Boyle’s run was more of a showpiece in the Year 10 Boys race as he continued to build towards the Schools All Ireland XC in 2 weeks and every spectator was in awe of how clean, controlled and swift his run was. Jamie O’Flaherty was 2nd in 6.38 and unchallenged by any runner behind. Carrie Bradley, who has really grown into her talent this year had a superb race for the Year 10 girls and won by a large margin of 30 seconds.

Natalie Cotton and Sophie Neill were the only representatives for the club in the Year 11 and over category. The 2000m route was busy at every corner after the field spread out. Both girls came in one after the other. Sophie has secured the win for the series for the Year 13&14 category with a 8.40, 2k. Natalie has had an amazing cross country season, even representing the County Down squad at the All Irelands. She finished in 3rd in her category and will embrace the move to track in the coming months.

A huge thank you to East Down AC for hosting the event and presenting the athletes with not only a challenging course but it was also very spectator friendly. The results will now be collated and in June the prizegiving will be hosted where those athletes who completed 3 of the 4 races will win a series prize in addition to the awards for the podium spots and club participation prizes.

Ruaidhrí Watson working hard as he takes the win in the P4 and Under Race

Maisie McVeigh in the Year 9 Girls race

Senan Gosling powering around the course in the P7 race

Carrie Bradley leads the way in the Year 10 girls race

Flahavans Primary School Cross Country NI Final

On Friday, three of the Junior squad took to the line at Mallusk to represent their schools at the Flahavans Primary School Cross Country NI Final having qualified as fastest finishers over the three local heats earlier in the school year.

Emily Kerr, Newcastle Primary School, Aydah McKibbin, All Children’s Integrated Primary School and Harry McVeigh, Bunscoil Bheanna Boriche have given 100% over the course of the whole league and have delivered outstanding performances, inspiring their friends and clubmates at training. All three even put in extra sessions together over the school holidays in preparation for the event.

The girls race was first up and unfortunately both Emily and Aydah got boxed in, in the early stages of the race and couldn’t break free from the pack as easily as they had planned. However this didn’t deter the young ladies from remaining focused and picking off the runners in front in the final 300m. As other runners wilted, both girls got evidently stronger and capitalised on it. Emily crossed the line in 28th place with Aydah, 10 places behind in 38th. Exceptional running and Aydah has another year in this competition as she is only P6 so she will be one to watch next year as her race experience grows. Emily will move on next year to Post Primary though she continues to grow into her talent and will use this experience and build on it for future races. Both girls were delighted that their race was over and were quick to turn their attention to the boys race to support Harry. Harry had already secured a clean sweep of wins at district heats and all eyes were on the youngster.

With support all around the course with posters and familiar faces to cheer him on, Harry made light work of the 1600m in front of him and from the start he led with confidence and produced a masterclass in Cross Country running whilst under the additional pressure of performing against the best runners in Northern Ireland. This prestigious win can now be added to his plethora of achievements this season, so far, which include Ni & Ulster U11 XC Champion, 3rd U11 All Ireland XC, 5th U12 All Ireland XC, several MJ10 Parkrun course records and 2nd in U12 Armagh Road Races.

Aydah, Emily and Harry at Flahavans Primary School Cross Country NI Final in Mallusk