Centenary All Ireland Schools Cross Country Finals.

On Saturday the 5th of March 2016 all roads led to Sligo racecourse where under the shadow of Benbulben a thousand young athletes gathered for the centenary celebration of the Irish Schools Cross Country championships. The Irish University Championships were held in conjunction with the event which added to the sense of occasion. The racecourse track set a tough task for the competitors with some very soft going in places and a long hill section that had to be negotiated on two of three occasions depending on the age group competing. With an average of one hundred and twenty participants per race there was no hiding place in this the purist of all athletic endeavors. Bandon AC had many athletes qualified and competing for various schools. These athletes had put in many hard nights training under the watch full eyes of club coaches Tom Laffan, Brendan Crowley and Catherine Duggan.

In the senior girl’s race Fiona Everard, MICC Dunmanway ran an excellent race to claim 5th place in a very competitive race. In the intermediate boy’s race Naoise O’Flaitheataigh, Hamilton H.S put in a great performance to come 26th while Laura Nicholson, Bandon G.S competing in the intermediate girls race placed 20th another sterling performance. In the minor boys Fionn Harrington, St Brogan’s College came in 41st with Niall Desmond; St Brogan’s College finished 43rd and Peter Ronan Hamilton H.S finishing in 51th place, great running from three athletes competing in their first Irish Schools final. The clubs involvement in the competition did not end there: Club athlete and Coach Ronan Duggan who is a P.E teacher a Belvedere College Dublin coached his school team to win the bronze medal in the junior boy’s race. In the men’s University cross country championships club athlete Mark O’Sullivan, CIT took 20th place in a very competitive field.

All of these athletes will now turn to the track season hoping that the foundation they have laid over the long cold wet nights of winter will stand to them in the coming months.

Report by Catherine Duggan