The first day of the Connacht Clubs Cross Country Championships were held last Sunday last in Enniscrone, Co Sligo, in muddy and testing conditions. The Even Ages Juvenile races for U10 to U18 were held, along with Day two of the Connacht Senior League.
It was a Galway 1-2-3 in the U10 Girls race, as Katie Considine of Craughwell AC raced to victory ahead of Castlegar athlete Hana Fara Gheziel and Tuam's Caoimhe Murphy in second and third respectively. Castlegar AC came second and Craughwell placed third in the Team event. In the U10 Boys, Ben O'Connor won outright and led his South Galway team to provincial gold, with clubmate Tadhg McCarthy in third claiming bronze.
In the U12 Girls event, Ciara Ward of Craughwell AC secured a fantastic gold medal win, with Ruby Coyne of Castlegar AC third. South Galway AC won team bronze. In the U12 Boys, Darragh Steede for Tuam AC claimed yet another Galway gold individually, with Castlegar second team and Athenry AC a fine third squad overall.
The U14 Girls race saw Tuam AC win team bronze overall, whilst in the Boys event Castlegar also won team bronze. In the U16 races, Castlegar AC showed their club's strength in depth winning team silver in the Girls event, led home by Siun Ni Chonaill, while in the Boys, David Frazer won silver for Craughwell AC.
The U18 Girls race saw a Galway clean sweep, with Claudia Coyle dominant in winning for South Galway, Orla Casey of Castlegar came second and Keilah Murray claimed bronze for Galway City Harriers. In the U18 Boys, again it was a Galway top three, with Luke Walsh strongest for South Galway, clubmate Ciaran Considine second and Rian Collins impressive in third for Athenry.
The Connacht Senior League Ladies race saw a win for Holly Shaughnessy of Tuam AC in the Junior Women’s and Joanne Loftus of Moy Valley in the Ladies Senior. In the Junior Men, Mathys Bocquet of Craughwell won silver behind Darragh Mulrooney of Moy Valley, and Shane Ryan of Tuam won bronze. Alan Dunne of Swinford won the Men’s race, with Evan O'Rourke of Maree having a fine run in second place.
Fixtures
This weekend sees the Corofin 8k and 10 Mile races take place on Sunday, November 2. The races both start (and finish ) in the village of Corofin at 9am for the 10 mile race and 9.30am for the 8km race. Race entrants are asked to assemble at Dr Duggan Hall at 8.40am for the 10 mile and 9am for the 8km, prior to being directed to the start line.
