On Sunday 22nd November Santry Demesne, Dublin was the venue for
the championships which was the follow on from the Ulster even age
groups at Jordanstown a month ago.
Our first runner was Tara McDonough in the U12 girls race over
2000M. Finishing comfortably inside the top half of the field in 64th
position Tara also made the 6 strong Ulster counters for the province
team points.
The U14 girls had an additional 1K to run than the U12’s and we had
Murphy Millar, Megan Briggs and Amelia Tyler in this race. Murphy
returned to form with an excellent 18th place followed by Megan in
66th place, which was still considerably well up the field. Amelia had
an off day – not feeling well – but still managed to complete the course
despite this.
Running in the boys U14 were John McNally and Irish age group
novice Adam Skelly. Both boys were also representing County Down
and performed well in a very competitive race.
The boys and girls U16 races were ran over 4000M and in the girls
event we had a trio of athletes in the form of Jessica and Anna Scott
and Nia McNally. All 3 ran well in a race in which they also
represented County Down.
The next race with NDAC interest was the combined boys U18 and
mens junior race where we had Craig McMeechan and Reece Simpson
U18 and Jamie McMeechan junior men. Craig produced the
performance of the day finishing in 2nd place and assisting Ulster in
winning the provincial race. Reece finished well in a race littered
with experienced athletes as did Jamie who fared well in the older
age category. Craig’s performance earned him selection as a reserve
on the Irish junior mens’ (U20) team to run in the European cross
country in France. Great effort from the 16 year old.
In the high class senior ladies and mens races NDAC put in very
credible performances. The ladies ran over 8K and the team of
Jessica Craig 29th, Rachel Gibson 33rd, Katie Moore 44th and 7th U23 and
Valerie McDonough 67th combined well to give the club a 5th place
overall, but 2nd team and silver in the Bgrade club diviision. The
men, missing a couple of athletes through injury, competed well over
10K. Jordan Stokes and James Budde ran together for most of the
race finishing 80th and 81st. Michael Dyer 91st, Francis Marsh 95th and
Mark Weir 142nd completed the North Down finishers placing the
team 11th of 20 team overall, but 2nd team and silver medals in the
C grade division (just 1 point ahead of Dunboyne AC).
Full results can be found here: http://www.athleticsireland.ie/competition/results/
