With the venue in great shape and the weather ideal, the even age Cross Country Championships took place in Ballyclare alongside the McConnell Cup meeting. There were big fields in the age group races where the top 12 individuals, top 3 club teams of 4 and top 3 county teams of 6 qualified for the Irish Championships. North Down had trouble turning out 4 runners per age group but Mark Armstrong, Clare Scott, Lauren Scott, Mark Patterson and Robin Brown qualified as individuals and several others are eligible via the County Down route. Francis Marsh and Nicola Simpson were the top performers in the senior races where North Down ran an excellent turnout of 14 men and 3 women.In the boys U14 race Mark Armstrong qualified in 10th with Josh Lowry at 16th finding the race a bit short and Daniel McAllen 37th. filling the first 3 County Down spots. In the girls U16 event Clare Scott was 12th and Leigh McWha 31st. Mark Patterson had the best North Down finish of the day with 4th in the boys U16 race with Michael Patterson 19th and Brian Barron 31st. At U18 level Lauren Scott was 10th and Jessica Craig was 25th while in the boys event Robin Brown was 7th, Niall Robinson 24th and Thomas Simpson 37th.
[Not a valid template]Nicola Simpson is very confident these days and she was not fazed by very strong opposition in the Senior Womens race. Nicola ran the first lap in 4th among the leading group and though she could not maintain it and dropped to 15th it was a very gutsy performance. The scoring team was completed by Jill Dowie in 26th and Emer Hopkins in 27th.
Francis Marsh is a former winner of the mens event, the 5 mile McConnell Shield, but as a veteran he has now regained his eligibility. Francis ran his usual strong last lap to finish 7th in 28:01 and first M40. James Budde was 13th and Nick Arkenspaar 32nd and the scoring 6 was completed by George Bell, John Quiery and David Seaton. That still left another 8 finishers to complete a second team and start a third, quite an impressive turrnout.