It was a mighty weekend for cross country on every front. Irish athletes were lining out across the Atlantic and at home, showing the grit that has long been stitched into the sport here. The action kicked off on Friday in the United States with the NAIA nationals, then rolled into a packed Saturday featuring the NCAA Division One and Division Two championships, where Irish representation was strong and deeply felt.
Then yesterday brought the biggest stage of the lot. The National Cross Country Championships landed in Derry, and the weather did its level best to spoil the show. Rain, wind, muck, the full Irish menu. Still, the crowds came out and the athletes dug in, giving us a day that certainly did not fail to deliver.
Here is the full look back at the weekend.
Ireland Collegiate Talent Well Represented in the NAIA and NCAA Nationals
NAIA Nationals
Friday morning saw the weekend open across the Atlantic at the NAIA nationals in a mist covered Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee. The name of the venue will ring a bell for many, as it will stage the World Cross Country Championships in January. Only one Irish athlete lined out in Florida, Heather Murphy originally of St Michaels AC in Laois. She put in a powerful run to place third in the women’s race and her result played a key role in lifting her university Montreat to nineteenth overall, landing them solidly in the middle of the table in the team standings.
NCAA Division II Nationals
Saturday morning brought the NCAA Division Two Nationals in Wisconsin and there were just two Irish athletes involved, both lining up in the women’s race for Adams State University. Ava O’Connor (Tullamore Harriers) continued her strong season with another top ten finish, playing a major part in guiding Adams State to fourth place in the team standings. It capped a fine day for the university as they also claimed the individual titles in both the men’s and women’s races.
Claragh Keane (DMP) also featured for Adams State and came through for fifty ninth place, contributing valuable points for the team in what was a fiercely competitive field.
NCAA Division I Nationals
The main event of the collegiate weekend arrived with the NCAA Division One championships in Columbia, Missouri, bringing together the strongest college distance runners in the United States. Across the men’s and women’s fields there were eight Irish athletes in action.
Abdel Laadjel (Donore Harriers) continued his impressive run of form on the college cross country circuit with another top ten finish, finishing 9th and helping the Oregon men place 5th in the team standings. Matthew Neill (Strive) came home in 73rd, playing a part in Syracuse securing 4th overall. The Irish presence in the men’s race was rounded out by Dean Casey (Ennis Track) who finished 92nd, contributing to Colorado finishing 10th.
In the women's race, Oregon’s Anika Thompson was the top Irish performer, coming through the line in 68th place and helping her team claim 3rd in the overall standings. Providence College had four Irish athletes on the start list. Amy O’Gorman finished 123rd, Cara Laverty followed in 197th, Niamh O’Mahony crossed in 252nd and Jane Buckley came home in 238th.
Individual Results Summary
NAIA Nationals
Heather Murphy - Montreat College - Women's Race - 3rd
NCAA Division II Nationals
Ava O'Connor - Adam's State - Women's Race - 8th
Cara Laverty - Adam's State - Women's Race - 59th
NCAA Division I Nationals
Matthew Neill – Syracuse – Men's Race - 73rd
Abdel Laadjel – Oregon – Men's Race - 9th
Dean Casey – Colorado – Men's Race - 92nd
Anna Gardiner – Providence – Women's Race - 123rd
Cara Laverty – Providence – Women's Race - 197th
Niamh O Mahony – Providence – Women's Race - 252nd
Jane Buckley – Providence – Women's Race - 238th
Anika Thompson – Oregon – Women's Race - 68th
Fay & Everard Come Out on Top at Irish National in Derry
Men's Races
The senior men were served a course that can only be described as pure cross country in the Templemore Sports Complex in Derry. The rain never seemed to take a break, the wind cut right through you and the mud was ever present throughout the course.
It turned into a three way battle up front. Raheny Shamrock’s Brian Fay, Candour Track Club’s Nick Griggs and Mullingar Harriers' athlete Cormac Dalton had little between them in the final stages. Coming up to the last 150 metres, Fay found just that bit more in the legs and kicked away to take the national title in 25:13 seconds.
Griggs crossed in second, the 2023 champion Dalton followed in third, bringing to a close a remarkable spell of ten straight years of different winners in this event.
Griggs also the took U23 title, with Jonas Stafford of UCD AC taking silver. Last year’s winner, Liam Murphy of Ennis Track came through for bronze.
There was more joy for Candour as Griggs helped secure the senior men team crown, bringing the title back to Belfast.
Women's Races
The senior women were met with the same misery from the skies in Derry. Sheets of rain, crosswinds that nearly lifted the tape and a course that turned into sludge in long stretches.
Leevale’s Niamh Allen tore straight into the lead and forced the pace through the first half of the race, stretching the group early and refusing to let anyone settle. It looked for long spells as if she might carry it all the way, but Fiona Everard of Bandon judged it patiently and kept herself close enough to strike when the time was right.
Once they hit the final lap, Everard moved through with real purpose. She opened a gap that kept growing all the way to the finish and crossed with a clear cushion to take her second national title in 26:49. Another mud covered day for the scrapbook and a commanding way to punch her ticket for the European Cross Country Championships in Portugal next month.
Allen held on for silver and Tullamore Harriers athlete Danielle Donegan came home for bronze. Leevale claimed the senior women team crown on the back of Allen’s placing.
Podium Results
Senior Men 7,500m
🥇 Brian Fay – Raheny Shamrock AC – 25:13
🥈 Nick Griggs – Candour Track Club – 25:15
🥉 Cormac Dalton – Mullingar Harriers AC – 25:16
Senior Women 7,500m
🥇 Fiona Everard – Bandon AC – 26:49
🥈 Niamh Allen – Leevale AC – 27:04
🥉 Danielle Donegan – Tullamore Harriers – 27:10
U23 Men 7,500m
🥇 Nick Griggs – Candour Track Club – 25:15
🥈 Jonas Stafford – UCD AC – 25:39
🥉 Niall Murphy – Ennis Track AC – 25:51
U23 Women 7,500m
🥇 Roise Roberts – Candour Track Club – 27:29
🥈 Amy Greene – Finn Valley AC – 27:40
🥉 Eimear Maher – Dundrum South Dublin AC – 28:07
U20 Men 4,500m
🥇 Noah Harris – Parnell AC – 14:02
🥈 Caolan McFadden – Cranford AC – 14:06
🥉 Tom Breslin – Clonliffe Harriers – 14:11
U20 Women 4,500m
🥇 Emma Hickey – United Striders AC – 15:36
🥈 Lucy Foster – Willowfield Harriers – 15:55
🥉 Eimear Cooney – Ace AC – 16:12
U18 Boys 4,500m
🥇 Andrew Hinds – Togher AC – 14:21
🥈 Conrad Latham – Raheny Shamrock AC – 14:31
🥉 James Foot – Bray Runners AC – 14:41
U18 Girls 4,500m
🥇 Emma Hickey – United Striders AC – 15:36
🥈 Abby Smith – Shercock AC – 16:27
🥉 Isabel O’Reilly – Blackrock AC – 16:40
U16 Boys 4,000m
🥇 Darragh Whelan – Limerick AC – 12:27
🥈 David Frazer – Craughwell AC – 12:50
🥉 Ruby Devereaux – Youghal AC – 12:53
U16 Girls 4,000m
🥇 Freya Renton – Westport AC – 13:47
🥈 Ally Duffy – Tullamore Harriers – 14:08
🥉 Holly Renton – Westport AC – 14:09
U14 Boys 3,000m
🥇 Daniel Greene – Kilkenny City Harriers – 9:31
🥈 Harry McVeigh – Newcastle and District AC – 9:32
🥉 Lucas Ballantine – Sligo AC – 9:33
U14 Girls 3,000m
🥇 Sinéad Fitzpatrick – St. Abban’s AC – 10:09
🥈 Roxane Sands – Moy Valley AC – 10:18
🥉 Ailbhe Finucane – Templeogue AC – 10:21
U12 Boys 2,000m
🥇 Lukas Janosik – City of Derry Spartans AC – 6:07
🥈 Loughlin Downes – St. Cronan’s AC – 6:07
🥉 Oisin Gallagher – Tír Chonaill AC – 6:14
U12 Girls 2,000m
🥇 Sadhbh Callan – Foyle Valley AC – 6:29
🥈 Sophia Stanley – Dundrum South Dublin AC – 6:30
🥉 Louisa Martin – Parnell AC – 6:33
The curtain has come down on a packed cross country weekend that stretched from Tallahassee to Derry and everywhere in between. The conditions at home were brutal and the college stage was no picnic either, but the standard across every race spoke for itself. From senior titles decided in the last strides to young talent tearing through the muck, it was a weekend that had a bit of everything.