The national novice and underage uneven cross-country championships proved a tremendous success for Finn Valley AC on Sunday on Tramore Racecourse in Waterford. A large Finn valley contingent made onerous journey to the southeast and came home with pretty much a bucket full of medals, which on any occasion is something to be celebrated. Leading the charge and indeed the notable success came from Sean McGinley in the novice men's race. Sean had an excellent run becoming the second Finn Valley man in history to win this particular national championship. Back in 2002 Joe Byrne won this event, indeed led a Finn Valley team to victory in this event in Dalgan Park in West Meath. Sean, who ran recently in the national senior cross-country championships and would indeed have been disappointed with his performance, will be absolutely thrilled with the response and indeed the manner of his victory on Sunday. He had of course been injured and was returning to competition at the national senior championships so with that, and indeed the Irish university cross country relay championships, he ran an easy victory. As he himself has said, it has boosted his confidence and will carry him right through into the new year. A Finn Valley team of Oisin Toye who delivered a strong performance, finishing in eighth position, John Joe Doherty and Darren Toland finished fifth team, five points adrift of the medals. Also in action was Shay Carlin and they can be happy with their performance but there was possibly of medals had a stronger team travelled. Congratulations to Sean and we will see him in action once again at the Saint Stephen's day 5K, a race in which he has performed so well in previous years.
Earlier in the day, good conditions saw the Finn Valley U11 teams perform admirably. The U11 boys, led by Zack McKinley, finished second which on any day is an unbelievable performance for a young boy who only began athletics a number of months ago at the Finn valley open schools event in September. Zack was supported by Shea McHugh from Convoy, Darragh Coyle from Drumkeen and William McGlinchey from Stranorlar. So it was third team for Valley on this occasion, with the team gold going to St Cronins with Castlegar placing 2nd. That was the story of the boys but there was a similar positive story from Finn Valley U11 girls. They had a scoring team of Caitlyn Gillespie, Sorcha Cunningham, Erin Moy and Ceola McGlinchey from Aghyarn. Team bronze here in this grade so the day was off to a really really strong positive start. The team was Ennis, Moy Valley, Finn Valley. There was to be further success with the U15 girls, led once again by Darcie Clarke with strong support from Andrea Reid, Amy McElchar and Saorla Gilligan. This team once again were in bronze medal position and added to medals previously won at U14 age group level in Irvinestown.
Then the big result of the day at underage level came from Odhrán McBrearty who ran a really really top performance in the U17 boys, to finish 2nd behind McKenzie from Enniskillen. That was the finishing position in the Ulster Championships and was repeated here at National level. Odhrán dug deep and will be pleased as he had a disappointing run by his standard at U18 level a few weeks ago. So in effect he has bounced back with a positive performance and now can prepare for the Irish Schools Cross Country Championships and an International call out hopefully. We move on to the U19 boys and it’s a story repeated many times . It's always important in that under U17/U18 age group to provide a positive ranking teams and Finn Valley have been doing this, this cross country season. The U19 boys, led by Kieran McCarroll with support from Lorcan Byrne, Patrick Corry and Pauric McDermot. This team finished third and were on a Donegal team which included an additional Letterkenny athlete and the race winner Caolan McFadden, Donegal, finished second behind Dublin. So a positive day on two fronts at club level and indeed at inter-county level for this Finn Valley group.
The day was a tremendous success, one of the best club outings that the club has had in recent years. Club coaches and the parents who undertook the long journey should take a bow as to place four teams in medal positions is indeed a standout return from a national championship at this level.
That completes the pre-Christmas cross country story, with the exception of Amy Green who travels this weekend to Turkey to compete for Ireland at U23 level. We wish her well and this again will add to her experience of international competition it’s another ranking point for an athlete who has adapted so well to senior level athletics and university athletics. Currently on student placement at Saint Crona’s National Dungloe, beside her home, she is an inspiration to many of our younger athletes. Amy competed for Ireland at U20 level last year and indeed is no stranger to European athletics.
We now look forward, beyond this weekend, to the international race walk competition in Dublin the following weekend in which Leah O’Gara and Aoife McGranaghan compete. They travel in the company of their coach, Sinead McConnell. This is a high ranked bronze level world athletics meet and again they will not only be excited but it will give them a kick start for yet another season and we wish them well.
We are now close to Christmas and, as usual, the club will promote the St Stephens day 5K. Entries are now open online. It’s a 12 noon start and as usual, we encourage families to get out and about on the day in the fresh air, go for a walk, a jog, or a run, whichever is suitable. This is really a big community event and in addition can can be a fun event or indeed a competitive event, depending on what people want to want to take from it. A cup of tea afterwards and home for dinner is the norm on this particular day, an event that has been ongoing for 50 years. We have seen some outstanding performances and large large crowds in attendance.
The final point this weekend is that annual membership will no run from January 1st to December the 31st each year so all members need to check their membership status. Enquiries should be directed to Club Registrar, Neil Martin. It is an essential requirement at the club that everybody is a member for registration and insurance purposes.