There was the usual huge turnout for the Primary Schools Cross Country Championships on Friday 17th September. Hosted annually by Bandon AC, the event is open to all primary schools in the Bandon catchment area. Participating schools this year were Crossmahon NS, Lauragh NS, Scoil Padraig Naofa, Presentation Girls Primary School, Bandon Bridge, Kilcolman NS, Gael Scoil and finally Castlelack NS who competed for the first time this year.

The event was once again held in the Bandon Rugby Club and conditions on the day were perfect. Medals were presented to the first twelve finishers in each race, however for this report only the first three will be listed. For Schools races, the race categories are year of birth. Sincere thanks to all of the schools who sent teams. It was a fitting testament to the athletic talent in evidence on the day, that every school brought back a number of medals.
Girls 2002 – 400m
1 Stacey Komolaye, Bandonbridge
2 Sorcha OCrochuir, Presentation Primary
3 Ellie O’Donovan, Crossmahon NS
Boys 2002 – 400m
1 Donagh Galvin, Crossmahon NS
2 Fionn Harrington, Scoil Padraig Naofa
3 Tim Twohig, Crossmahon NS
Girls 2001 – 500m
1 Fionnuala Murphy, Presentation Primary
2 Gillian Synge, Bandonbridge
3 Saoirse McCarthy, Presentation Primary
Boys 2001 – 500m
1 Mushtaq Musa, Scoil Padraig Naofa
2 Brian Mac Suibhne, Gaelscoil
3 Gavin Hodge, Crossmahon NS
Girls 2000 – 600m
1 Ciara McKeown, Lauragh NS
2 Emily H Foot, Bandonbridge
3 Niamh Calanan, Lauragh NS
Boys 200 – 600m
1 Cristian Buttimer, Kilcolman
2 Conor Calnan, Crossmahon NS
3 Shane Lowney, Crossmahon NS
Girls 1999 – 700m
1 Carla Hicks, Presentation Primary
2 Aoife O’Riordáin, Gaelscoil
3 Lilly Carey, Castleack NS
Boys 1999 – 700m
1 Eamon O’Sullivan, Crossmahon NS
2 Victor Lovell, Crossmahon NS
3 Paul Long, Lauragh NS
Girls 1998 – 800m
1 Kerri Buckley, Crossmahon NS
2 Erin Kingston, Gaelscoil
3 Aideen Lynch , Presentation Primary
Boys 1998 – 900m
1 Taja Musa, Scoil Padraig Naofa
2 Daniel Hathaway, Bandonbridge
3 Joe Gibson, Bandonbridge
1997 Boys – 900m
1 Marcin Makowski
1997 Girls – 900m
1 Sophie Hurley, Crossmahon
2 Ella Rose Dennehy, Crossmahon
3 Nicole Quinn, Crossmahon
The EBS Secondary Schools Cross Country Championship takes place on Thursday 23rd September in Dunmanway. The County Juvenile Cross Country Championships will be held on 3rd and 10th October in Conna and Carrig na bhFear at 1pm. The County Novice, U23 and Masters Cross Country Championships will also be held on Sunday 10th October in Carrig na bhFear. Finally, the annual Evening Echo Cork Women’s Mini Marathon will take place this coming Sunday 26th September with a 1pm start. Details of all forthcoming fixtures and results can be found on www.bandonac.org.