NORTH Belfast Harriers were denied a shock win at yesterday’s National Cross Country Championships in Gowran, Co. Kilkenny.
An agricultural course described as “atrocious” by one prominent coach and reminiscent of the sport in the last century gave the event a feeling of déjà vu but certainly not nostalgia.
And it was a day of almost but not quite for North Belfast who were initially declared Senior Men’s team winners by a point only to lose the title on countback after a revision of the results when both they and Kilkenny City Harriers ended up tied on 72 points. The only adjustment made was to relegate Conal McCambridge down a place to thirtieth and tip the balance in favour of the Kilkenny men.
First man home for North Belfast on Andrew Milligan in tenth and followed by teammate Finn McNally one place further back. Matthew Lavery showed his liking for the soft going with a fine 21st placing and it was left to another mudlark Conal McCambridge to complete the scoring quartet in 29th, subsequently revised to 30th. That gave the men from Oldpark a total of 72 points, equal to the Kilkenny City Harriers’ score. Conan McCaughey (53rd), Cathaoir Purvis (96th) and Philip Goss (105th) all played valuable supporting roles for North Belfast.
In the individual race, Mullingar Harrier Cormac Dalton claimed his first senior cross country title ahead of Ennis Track Club’s Kevin Mulcaire and Ballina’s Hugh Armstrong. Candour’s Callum Morgan was second in the U23 championship Lavery taking the bronze medal. Both look to have booked their flights to Brussels for the Euros while Finn Valley’s Sean McGinley, 5th U23 across the line, will have an anxious wait until the final selections are made.
Bandon’s Fiona Everard was a first time winner of the Senior Women’s race with Portlaoise’s Mary Mulhare in second and Armagh’s Fionnuala Ross in third. Enniskillen, in ninth, led Dublin City Harriers to the team gold medals.
While there were unexpected results, to say the least, throughout the meeting, the biggest shock of all was the failure of Nick Griggs to finish the Junior Men’s race. The Candour TC athlete looked well on his way to his third consecutive victory in the event when he pulled up in the final kilometre when he collapsed and needed medical care before being taken away in an ambulance.
Ennis TC’s Niall Murphy was surprised to claim the gold medal with City of Derry Spartan Seamus Robinson in fourth and another son of Derry Liam McCay in sixth.
Anna Gardiner scored the best win of her short career when she led home the combined Junior U20 and U18 fields booking her place at the Euros in three weeks. “I’m absolutely over the moon, I’m so happy with that run,” said the East Down athlete. “ It (the course) was brutal – it was probably one of the toughest courses in terms of terrain - but it was worth it all in the end.”
Ulster athletes also filled second and third spots in the U18 age group through Willowfield’s Lucy Foster and Enniskillen’s Annabel Morrison. Finn Valley’s Amy Greene, in second overall, took the U20 gold medal. Lagan Valley finished runners-up in the U18 girls’ team contest and third in the corresponding boys’ age group.
The U16 girls’ age group was another particularly lucrative for Ulster athletes. Willowfield Harrier Emer McKee was first across the line followed shortly by Foyle Valley’s Ciara Casey in third. There were six northerners in the first nine and Willowfield and Lagan Valley went one-two in the team competition. City of Lisburn’s Madison Welby took the individual silver medal and Finn Valley were runner-up team in the U14 girls’ race.
