Mary Mulhare stole the show as Laois athletes were well represented at the All Ireland Cross Country Championships in Gowran yesterday.
The Portlaoise AC athlete took home a silver medal in the Women’s Senior event – following a tremendous performance.
The women’s race saw the quartet of Fiona Everard (Bandon), Mary Mulhare (Portlaoise AC), Danielle Donegan (Tullamore AC), and Fionnula Ross (Armagh AC) race clear of the field at the mid-way point.
An injection of pace from Everard saw her stretch clear of the field to claim gold with almost 40 seconds to spare.
The race was then on for second place with Portlaoise’s Mulhare grabbing that ahead of the third placed Donegan.
There was more Laois success in the team event as Avril Deegan, formerly of Ballyroan, Abbeyleix & District, finishing 10th for Dublin City Harriers.
She was the second best scorer on her team and they went on to claim gold in the team event.
There was also a fine performance from St Abban’s Cheryl Nolan who bagged a top ten finish – coming home 8th.
Orla Looney of Portlaoise AC also had a fine performance in the U-23 event.
St Michael’s of Portarlington also had Heather Murphy in the U-20 Girls race where she finished 19th.
In the Men’s race, Cian McDonald of Ballyroan, Abbeyleix & District finished 93rd with St Abban’s Will Fox in 140th and Patrick McLoughlin of Oughaval AC in 191st.
This race also doubled up as the U-23 event with Fox finishing 31st in that.
Before all of that, there was a full programme of juvenile cross country to get through.
First up for St Abban’s was the Boys U-12 team who finished in 10th overall after the tough 2km course was completed.
They were led home by Eoin Dowling in 51st, Shane Kelly 80th, Daire O’Sullivan 90th and Cathal English in 93rd completed the scoring members of the team.
Harry Brennan, John Conway, Rory O’Doherty and Paidi Murrin completed the team and all left everything on the course.
Oisin Maguire was Oughaval’s only competitor and he ran a fine race here.
There wasn’t long to wait for the next athletes with the Girl’s U-14 toeing the line over 3km.
Katie Harnett was first home for the St Abban’s team in 54th, Zoe Dunne was next in 95th, Laura Malone 114th and Leah Dunphy 124th completed the team.
This was good enough for 13th club and with some members of the team affected by illness this was a very gutsy performance from each of these girls, especially given the conditions.
Hanna Lutrell and Amelie Milligan of St Michael’s in Portarlington also took part in this race.
This was the first National competition for Amelie and she put in a good show.
She started steady and worked her way through the field to finish fourth scorer on the Laois team.
Hanna also put in a really good performance and was second scorer on the team, even after taking a good fall around midway.
Lauren and Olivia O’Flanagan also raced strongly for Oughaval AC in this race.
In the Boys U-16 race, Will Duffy, who has been in great form over the cross country season, finished in 17th place for St Abban’s.
Will set out with the lead pack early on, but like many found the going tough in muddy conditions throughout the 4km event.
He came home in a pack where positions one way or another were up for grabs all the way to the line.
After a return from injury, Rachel Ayers of St Abban’s took to the start line in the Girls U-18 and Junior combined event.
Ran over 5,000m, Rachel worked hard throughout and finished 31st overall and 13th in the Girls U-18 event.
In the Boys U-18 and Junior combined event, St Abban’s Finn Craig finished in 70th overall and 32nd in the Boys U-18.
Well done to all who took part!
