The even age Cross Country Championships took place in Ballyclare alongside the McConnell Cup meeting in a day characterised by big fields and many unpredicted results. Lauren Scott, 7th in the U16 girls race, and Suzanne Conlan, 10th in the U12 girls race did best for North Down with both reaching the AAI All Ireland Championships as individuals. Clare Scott, Jessica Craig, Robin Brown, Jordan Neil and Stewart Robinson qualified through the back door as scorers in County Down teams which medalled. A couple of club teams missed out on probable medals due to problems with a fourth runner.
Lauren and Suzanne both had excellent runs with Suzanne in her first race. in an agegroup traditioally dominated by cross border clubs. Jessica ran well to finish after twisting her ankle and finished one place outside the qualifying 12. Nicola Simpson and Kerry Iveston also were 12th and 13that U18 but didn’t have a county team as a cushion. U18 boys who had looked a good bet for a medal were depleted. All in all North Down had athletes in 8 of the ageroup races.
There were plenty of runners in the 5 mile McConnell Shield though all but James Budde were 40+ veterans, nine in fact. It was in fact a good warm up for the international next week in Dublin. David Seaton again won the V60 category and there were other good results from older runners hidden in the general results. The McConnell Shield was won by North Belfast while there was a runaway individual win for Sandile Lembetha, a South African in Ireland for the Dublin Marathon who had stayed behind for a few days.