Cheryl and Sinead the stars in Enniskillen

Castle Irvine Demesne, Irvinestown, Enniskillen provided the perfect backdrop for the National Juvenile Even Ages & Senior Cross Country Championships which were held on Sunday. The venue allowed for many of our younger athletes to experience a weekend away for athletics for the first time with lots of memories made. In addition, many of our juveniles got to see some of the best athletes in the country competing against each other in the Senior races with our own Cheryl Nolan right up there with the best females.

As always, the juvenile races were stacked with large numbers and great quality throughout. The underfoot conditions were very good for the early races, however conditions did become more testing as the racing progressed.
First in action for St Abban’s were the Boys U12 team who raced over 2000m. Páidí Murrin led the team home, he was closely followed by Liam Doyle, Edward McDonald, Sean O’ Doherty and Callum Kenny. The lads gave it their all and finished in 13th place overall in the team competition.

Next up were the Girls U14 who competed over 3000m. Sinead Fitzpatrick was out with the lead group from the gun and she ran a very smart race finishing in an excellent 3rd place. Sinead also led the club team to a 2nd place finish with Laura Ayres 17th, Zoe Dunne, Aoibheann Carter, Leah Dunphy and Ellie Knowles all gathering up the all-important places for the team which saw them claim silver team medals. Sinead and Laura were both also part of the Leinster team who took provincial gold.

In the Boys U16 4000m Will Duffy finished in 45th place helping the Laois team to 4th place in the County competition. The Girls U18 team qualified through to their first All-Ireland and the group of Rachel Ayers, Aine Carter, Caitlin Dillon Byrne and Annabelle Lawlor ran strong races. Finn Craig was the clubs other medal winner on the day, scoring on the Leinster Boys U18 Provincial team who finished 3rd. Finn was joined in the Boys U18 race by John Delaney, James Hyland and Shane Stynes which saw the club team finish 12th and the county team claimed 7th place.

It was then on to the Senior races where the St Abban’s interest lay in the Senior Women’s event. Cheryl Nolan ran a brilliant race in the Senior Women’s race to claim a fantastic 6th place. Cheryl sat just behind the leading group early on and gradually picked her way through the field over the 7.5km course. As the rounded the final 400m there was a battle between 3 athletes for 4th-6th place with Cheryl finishing just behind her county teammate Mary Mulhare. With Maisy O’ Sullivan close behind in 33rd and the McDonald sister’s Kate and Niamh also finishing strongly the team were in the running for County medals. However, they just missed out finishing in 4th place overall, nevertheless a fantastic result. Cheryl’s result is the highest by any St Abban’s athlete at a National Cross Country in recent years and displays the hard work she has put in over the last number of years to achieve this.  
Mary and Cheryl will have an agonising wait throughout this week as they wait for news on team selection for the European Cross Country Championships to be held in Turkey later this month. The first 3 athletes are guaranteed a place on the team and with the Girls finishing 5th and 6th their faith is in the hands of the selection committee.

Well done to each of our athletes who competed today and to their families and coaches who made the long trek to support them. A huge thank you also to those members of the committee who organised travel, accommodation, and a delicious meal for our members. We look forward to the Uneven Age Cross Country in Tramore in two weeks’ time.