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Keelan Kilrehill (Moy Valley AC) and Ann-Marie McGlynn (Letterkenny AC) claimed their first national senior cross country titles at the 123.ie National Cross Country Championships held at the picturesque Castle Irvine Estate in Co. Fermanagh this afternoon (November 17th).
Kilrehill was a convincing winner of the men’s race pulling ahead of Nick Griggs (Candour Track Club) with around 3,000m to go. When he made his decisive move there was no way back for the chasers, which included many household names, and he ultimately took victory by just short of thirty seconds.
Grigg’s challenge ultimately faded, and it was Niall Murphy (Ennis Track Club) who broke clear of last year’s champion Cormac Dalton (Mullingar Harriers) with 500m to go, sprinting to the line to take silver. Dalton would have to settle for bronze, with Efrem Gidey (Clonliffe Harriers) and Sean Tobin (Clonmel AC) rounding out the top five. William Fitzgerald (Craughwell AC) was sixth.
Murphy took the U23 title with Griggs finishing second in the category and seventh overall. Cathal O’Reilly (Kilkenny City Harriers) won U23 bronze, crossing the line eighth overall.
Speaking after the race Kilrehill said, “It’s class. This is the one title I couldn’t finish athletics without, it’s the one I’ve dreamt of. To win it like that is unreal.
“Racing gives you a lot of confidence but in training I’ve been getting so much confidence as well. I’ve been doing stuff this year which has been surprising me, which is always nice, but until you put it together on the day you don’t really know…I’m so proud of the way I ran today.”
Griggs led his Candour Track Club team home to their first ever senior title, with their four scoring athletes finishing in the top thirty.
The women’s race saw Ann-Marie McGlynn break clear of Niamh Allen (Leevale AC), Danielle Donegan (Tullamore Harriers), last year’s champion Fiona Everard (Bandon AC) and Cheryl Nolan (St Abban’s AC) shortly after the half-way point.
From there the Offaly native, who won the national marathon title only three weeks ago, was unstoppable and had over ten seconds to spare as she crossed the line, wiping tears from her eyes and raising her arms aloft into the air in celebration.
Allen would have enough in the tank to win silver ahead of the fast-finishing Donegan who won bronze. Everard fended off a late surge from Mary Mulhare (Portlaoise AC) to cross the line fourth.
McGlynn becomes the first athlete to win the national senior cross country and marathon title in the same year.
Speaking after the race she said, “I can’t believe it. I’m not even going to lie this wasn’t in the plan. I went to the Dublin Marathon, I didn’t have to go to the well and I came off it in great knick, I wasn’t sore. I took a full week off running.
“I didn’t do anything apart from staying in contact and all of a sudden then I landed at the front. I kept that same momentum, I didn’t do anything stupid or crazy, my strength paid off in the end. It was a tough, honest course. There was no real let-up, it suited me. It was just my day, I’ll take it.”
Senior team honours went the way of Leevale led by Niamh Allen, with McGlynn’s Letterkenny team finishing second.
Emma McEvoy (Dundrum South Dublin AC) won U23 gold ahead of Amy Greene (Finn Valley AC, silver) and Roise Roberts (Candour Track Club, bronze).
In the Men’s U20 race Jonas Stafford (UCD AC) showed his class to win the national title, pulling away from Sean Quinn (Dundrum South Dublin AC) in the closing stages. A tiring Quinn was pipped on the line for silver by Frank McGrath (Lagan Valley AC).
Lucy Foster (Willowfield Harriers) was a runaway winner of the Women’s U20 title, having an emphatic twenty second margin of victory. The Belfast athlete asserted her dominance on the race from the early stages and never relented. The home crowd were delighted as local athlete Annabel Morrison (Enniskillen Running Club) finished strongly to win silver ahead of Avril Millerick (Youghal AC) who had a battle down the home straight which ultimately saw her claim bronze.
Noah Harris (Parnell AC) and Eva Bartlett (Lagan Valley AC) took respective U18 glory in hotly contested races.
There was no shortage of drama and quality action during earlier juvenile races. Twin sisters Freya and Holly Renton (Westport AC) won gold and silver in the U16 Girls race, with Ciaran Considine (South Galway AC) claiming a thrilling victory in the U16 Boys race. Darragh Whelan (Limerick AC) and Ailbhe Finucane (Templeogue AC) triumphed in the U14 races, while Grace Tighe (Moy Valley AC) and Ronan Geaney (St. Catherine’s AC) had days to remember as they won the U12 titles which opened the day’s proceedings.
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