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Sean McGinley (Finn Valley AC) and Abbie Sheridan (St. Peter’s AC) were winners of today’s national novice titles at the 123.ie National Novice and Juvenile Uneven Age Cross Country Championships which took place at Tramore Racecourse (December 1st).
Both athletes pulled away from their closest challengers in the final stages of today’s races to claim memorable wins in beautiful December sunshine at the coastal Waterford venue.
McGinley put the boot down with a lap remaining and was uncatchable from that point onwards, taking victory by nearly twenty seconds.
Oisin Murray (An Riocht AC) battled hard to win silver, while Daniel Ryan Ellis (Nenagh Olympic AC) won bronze.
A strong performance from Ennis Track, led home by Barry Conway in fourth, saw the Clare club take team gold.
Speaking after his race, McGinley said, “It feels good. I didn’t know what shape I was in coming into it. The first few races this season, Intervarsity’s and National Seniors two weeks ago, didn’t go great because the fitness wasn’t there. I started the season a bit late just with injuries. To come out with the win is the ideal result, I’m delighted with it.
“I felt really good. The course probably suited me. Coming up before the last lap I put my foot down a wee bit, opened a few metres and going into the downhill let myself go. I opened up a gap and just kept pushing from there, luckily it didn’t come back to bite me.”
The women’s race was ultra-competitive with the podium positions wide-open going into the race. Abbie Sheridan (St. Peter’s AC) made her decisive move with about 500m to go and her turn of speed proved too much for her rivals as she claimed gold on the 4,000m course.
Speaking after the race Sheridan said, “It feels great. The course was great compared to two weeks ago in Fermanagh (National Senior Cross Country) so when we got to 500m to go I just legged it and hoped for the best. I only decided to run this after Fermanagh didn’t go my way.”
Sadhbh Mohan (Metro/St. Brigid’s AC) won silver, with Hannah Kehoe (Kilkenny City Harriers) securing bronze.
Like they did in the men’s race, a strong Ennis Track contingent won team gold in the women’s event, with three athletes packing inside the top thirty.
There were a host of notable performances across today’s action including wins in the U19 races for Caolan McFadden (Cranford AC) and Lorraine O’Connor (Clonliffe Harriers).
For the second successive year Emily Bolton (Clonliffe Harriers) won gold in the Girls U17 race, while Harry McKenzie (Enniskillen Running Club) picked up Boys U17 gold having won bronze in the U18 race in his home county a fortnight ago.
Westport’s Freya Renton completed the Girls U15/U16 double with a dominant display, while Darragh Whelan (Limerick AC) followed in the footsteps of his mother Susan (Murnane) by winning U14 and U15 titles in the same year. Susan achieved the same feat in 1989.
Today’s 12-race schedule got underway in splendid sunshine with Ennis Track’s Quinn Hughes taking gold in the U11 Girls race. Host club Tramore AC got on the podium in the same race thanks to Amy Storey’s excellent bronze medal.
All eyes now turn to Antalya next weekend as Irish athletes, including last year’s Novice Champion Lucy Holmes, take to competition at the European Cross Country Championships in Turkiye on December 8th.
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