On Sunday at the very picturesque Delamont Country Park, East Down Athletics Club hosted the final fixture in the McGrady Financial Services XC Series. This was a rescheduled date after the previously arranged date in January fell victim to the severe recent weather conditions. Thankfully this weekend’s weather proved to be more pleasant, if not slightly cold. After several days of bright, dry weather the ground conditions were good and much drier than some previous XC fixtures. East Down Athletics Club fielded entries in all age groups with excellent running from all athletes.
P4 and Under
The days races started off with the youngest competitors in the P4 and Under race. East Down were represented by three competitors in this category. Willow Keown finished in a fantastic time of 2.35 to finish as 2nd place girl. Coen Canavan was the highest place East Down boy in 3rd place finishing in a time of 2.23. Oisin Taylor was hot on his heels and finished 4th in a time of 2.28. Next up were the P5 age group and East Down were represented by Rosa Canavan and Fiadh Kellet. Both girls completed the course showing grit and determination to finish in 3rd and 4th place respectively.
P6
The P6 boys race proved to be one of the most competitive races of the day. Mack Canavan held on to better his 3rd place finish last week at Tollymore, to finish as 2nd place in a time of 3.22. His fellow East Down teammate, Jude Kinsella, followed in not far behind at 3.54 to finish in 4th place. Amber Keown matched her younger sisters placing by finishing strongly as 2nd girl with Tarynn Smyth completing and placing as 4th place girl while Cara Rogan placed well in 5th position.
P7 Race
Orlaith Kearney gained yet another very convincing 1st place finish in the P7 girls race, finishing in a time of 4.36. Well done Orlaith! Alice Taylor ran well to finish in 3rd place, with Maria Rooney finishing in 4th place (5.14) and Isla Talyor 5th (5.26)
Year 8 Race
EDAC fielded six athletes in the Year 8 race and Dillon Hynds soon sealed his dominance to finish strongly in first place. Team mates Rory Kinsella and Oscar Keown both completed the 1.4km course to finish as 5th and 6th place boys. The three Year 8 girls ran superbly with Annie Canavan picking up a 4th place and Aoife Gilchrist in 5th place. Freya Cushnie completed the course soundly to finish with a time of 7.03.
Year 9 Start
East Down had five representatives in the 16 strong field mixed Year 9 race. The talented Jarlath Price ran a very strong race to finish in 3rd place with Caolan Morgan following shortly after in 4th place. Luke Napier and William Taylor both finished well up the field with times of 6.52 and 7.05 respectively, Aoife Kellett was the only Year 9 girl to line up for East Down and finished confidently to gain 4th place.
Year 10
Abbie Wilson was the sole entrant for East Down in the Year 10 race. This was the smallest race of the day. Abbie ran comfortably over the 1.8km course and finished the 3 laps with a time of 8.34 as 2nd girl.
Year 11+
The last race of the day was the combined Year 11-14 race. The 2km route consisted of 3.5 laps of the course. East Down fielded a total of nine talented runners in this race out of twelve runners. It was a clean sweep for the older East Down athletes in 3 out of the 4 age groups in this race. Jacob Crawford was the sole East Down male athlete in the Year 13-14 age group and finished the course effortlessly in 7.08. Alex Robinson continued his dominance in the Year 11-12 category gaining another first place finish in a time of 6.40. Thomas Magee finished in 2nd place (7.39) while Matthew Taylor ran well to finish in 4th place (8.16). East Down had 6 entries in the girls Year 11-12 group. Sarah Gilchrist ran well to take 1st place (8.27) and Charlotte Barr following in 2nd place (8.31). Rebekah Wilson was the next East Down athlete through the finish and gained a 4th place finish with a time of 9.06. Evie Cushnie and Chloe Fleming both finished well and confidently with times of 9.25 and 10.08 respectively.
It was amazing to see the talent and determination of all the EDAC junior athletes who attended this fixture and the other fixtures in the series. Well done to you all! Their confidence and determination is growing week on week. Thanks to the EDAC coaches and parent volunteers who made this well organised fixture very enjoyable and inspiring to watch. Thank you to all the local athletic clubs who attended and to the team at Delamont for the use of the venue. Also thanks to McGrady Financial Services for their continued support of this race series. The kids can now look forward to the prize giving where they will be awarded for their hard work over the series.
This race nearly brings to an end the cross country season for 23/24. The only outstanding fixture is the all-Ireland schools championship in two weeks’ time. However there will be no rest for the juniors. Track season begins next weekend in Dublin.
Gail Gilchrist