Rostrevor, 26th Oct 2013
A group of 23 Annalee athletes traveled to the picturesque venue of Kilbroney Park, Rostrevor for the first of the Ulster Championship Cross Country events last Saturday. The course was set on parkland giving ideal conditions for competitive races.
First to the line was the under 10 boys team of Odhran O’Reilly, Donnacha McNamara, Donal McSorley and Malachy O’Brien, racing over the 1000m course. After a fast start the Annalee athletes settled in the top 10 positions biding their time to make a move on the leaders. Coming up the last hill with 300m to go the Annalee boys made their move with Odhran O’Reilly taking the pole position to win the race with Donal McSorley a close second and Donnacha McNamara finishing fourth. Newcomer to the team Malachy O’Brien performed excellently in his first Ulster Championship finishing strongly in 28th position to give Annalee the Gold medals in the team competition.
The girls under 12 team of Mary Kate Gannon, Bevan McCaffrey, Emily Sheridan, Blathnaid O’Reilly, Lucy Jayne Grant, Doireann McNamara and Alannah O’Brien were next to compete over the 1500m course. Mary Kate Gannon was the top finisher in tenth place which qualifies her for the All Irelands in Santry in November. Overall the girls finished in 4th team position.
Boys team under 12 was Alex Prior, Ethan Coyle, Conor Galligan, Cormac Hegarty and Conall Ruddy. The boys raced over the 1500m course and gained valuable experience over the longer distance.
The boys under 14 team of Ciaran O’Reilly, Sean T Murphy, Mark Minahane and Daire O’Reilly raced over 2500m. Having positioned themselves in the leading group on the first 1000m lap O’Reilly moved up to take the lead going into the second lap of 1500m. From here there was a mighty battle between Donegal man Aaron McGlynn, Omagh athlete Sean Corry and Cavan’s O’Reilly with the lead changing many times. On the final straight McGlynn got the upper hand to win from Sean Corry with Ciaran O’Reilly in third place. Sean T Murphy was next to finish for the Annalee team with Mark Minahane and Daire O’Reilly packing in well to leave the team in fourth position.
Caoimhe O’Reilly was the only Annalee athlete to compete in the under 16 race over a distance of 3500m and she a had a strong performance over the course.
Clodagh O’Reilly was the favorite going into the under 18 race and she didn’t dissappoint. With the other athletes keeping a close eye on her for the first lap Clodagh made her move going into the second lap giving herself a breakaway lead of 20 meters on the uphill section of the course. From there the rest of the field were unable to reduce that lead and Clodagh finished the race in comfortable style with a 50 meter lead over Zoe Carruthers from Lisburn.
The Bobby Rea Memorial race for ladies was next and Eadaoin O’Reilly made her return to competition finishing 5th in the Junior under 20 section. In the men’s race Cian O’Reilly started well with the leading group but the now worsening conditions due to the heavy rain took its toll and Cian finished 6th in the senior race.
All told it was an excellent day out for the Annalee athletes with some promising performances and these athletes will be looking towards the next day out in Gransha Park, Derry for the Uneven Age Group Ulster Championships on November 10th.