Maximum Points as Girls Win League in Style

(report by Ange Perrott) After 5 months of toiling in the mud during a hard season of cross country where the going has been soft under spiked foot at every single race, the ladies from North Down Athletic Club finally secured victory on Saturday in the inaugural Athletics Northern Ireland Cross Country league. In the lead right from the start at the first race last October in Barnetts Park, the girls had won on Saturday before the race had even been run.
After the race on, Ladies Cross Country and Endurance Captain Ange Perrott said “I’m extremely proud of all these girls. They have worked so hard for months, braving freezing temperatures, knee deep in mud, continually testing themselves and training very hard outside the races – they have excelled at every single race.”

The League was created in October of last year by Athletics Northern Ireland to boost support and participation and has featured some 6 races across Northern Ireland, including the Blue Riband International Cross Country event at Antrim in January. The League has been a great success, with clubs committed and competing hard right from the very start.

Saturday’s at Stormont race inluded 12 of the 14 North Down girls who have competed in the league with only Ali and Lauren missing.  Roberta Dornan, Julie Balmer and Jessica Craig filled 3 of the top 4 places with Stephanie Hambling claiming  top master’s prize (no F40 category). The league had long been won but this was another emphatic team win, while if allowed, a B team could have been 2nd. The girls won 4 of the 6 rounds and were 2nd twice.

Stormont NICSAA xc results 2012