Main pic: Bronze team medals for U11 girls, lead home by Enya Logue in 3rd place.
Last weekend saw a large squad of 55+ Rosses athletes travelling to the Ulster Juvenile Cross Country Championships.
The event was for uneven age as well as the Ulster Novice for men and women hosted by Finn Valley. The day got off to a great start as Enya Logue picked up from her 5th place two weeks ago to battle it out all the way to the line finishing with a well deserved 3rd and then leading the team to 4th place and All Ireland qualification with the team made up of Caitlin Sweeney, Eveney Greene, Tamara Parker, Rosie Breslin and Brontë Green.
The u11 boys battled hard with strong runs by Fionan Breathnach, Ruairi Lynch and Patrick McGeever.
The u13 girls saw a large field with a fast start and Rose Harkin was to continue to show improvements and first home with a top 25 place finish out of her age group, closely followed by the strong running Amelia McGee, Shauna McGovern, Aaliyah Gallagher Canavan, Aileen Logue and Freya Davidson.
Evan Ward and Eli Duffy who claimed 4th and 6th place finishes in the U13 boys race.
The u13 boys saw Evan Ward getting back to form and was in the mix for a podium position all the way but unfortunately had to settle for 4th place in the end. Eli Duffy has continued to go from strength to strength these last few months and his strength and determination was to bring him to an excellent 6th place ensuring him and Evan secured top finish medals and automatic qualification for the All Irelands. Michéal Breathnach has returned to racing and showing he has the abilities to be a top performer battling today to secure a top 15 finish with Aidan Lynch and John Brennan not far behind and when the points were added the boys just missed out silver but did secure bronze team medals.
The u15 girls saw Faela Houston and Aoife McGonigle take to the start line with both girls having trained hard over the past few months. The race was a 3k race over very wet and challenging conditions but both girls showed they were well able and ensured they finished in the top end of a 70+ field of athletes.
Faela Houston and Aoife McGonigle who competed in the U15 girls race.
The u15 boys saw a strong team of 7 boys lining out in the orange vest and right from the gun Odhran Rodgers showed he meant business sitting in second place and as the race progressed he never moved out of a top 3 position and in the end secured a podium position and Ulster bronze medal. Tristan Green was out of his age group but was not too daunted by the older boys and stayed with the pace finishing in a strong 12th place and securing an Ulster medal and qualification on the Ulster team for the All Irelands. Jack McElroy is getting back from injury but ran today to secure a top 20 finish followed by Odhran Lynch, Shay Gallagher, James Brennan and Lucas Parker and when the scores were tallied the boys secured. 4th place team finish and qualification for All Irelands. There were also a number of athletes who secured County Gold Team medals with Enya Logue and Caitlin Sweeney in the u11 girls, Evan Ward and Eli Duffy in the u13 boys and Odhran Rodgers, Tristan Green and Jack McElroy in the u15 boys. Overall another great day out for the club and huge thanks to all the athletes, parents and coaches. With Ulsters now complete it’s onwards to the All Irelands in Kilkenny in two weeks and Navan in four weeks.
In the Women and Mens races the kids had softened the course with some wet and sticky conditions with the ladies up first claiming a very strong 4th team placing in a large field with Bernie Boyle continuing her strong performances to come home in 6th place closely followed by Martina Mulhern, Selina O Donnell, Sarah Mullholland, Donna Boyle, Lorraine Doherty and Angela Trimble. Special not to the powerful running from start to finish that saw Amy Greene being crowned Ulster novice champion. Next up was a large field of men from all over Ulster that saw David McKelvey 24th, Manus McHugh 27th, Patrick Trimble 34th and Declan Gallagher 35th. They were backed up closely by Paul McKelvey, Edward Harkin and Michael Logue.
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