Dalton takes third in National Cross-Country Senior Men

Castle Irvine Estate in Irvinestown, County Fermanagh was the venue for the national cross-country championships on Sunday. Castle Irvine, also known as Necarne Castle, is a 230-acre estate that includes the castle, courtyard and trails through stunning woodlands. The estate hosted the cross-country course for the Athletics Ireland 123.ie National Cross-Country championships for senior, junior, U23 and juveniles U12, 14, 16 and 18.

Senior Men

Cormac Dalton headed to Fermanagh to defend his national title from last year. He was involved throughout the race in a great battle for the podium places, and eventually had to settled for the bronze medal. For club honours, he was well supported by the strong finishing of Jack O’Leary in 29th place, Vinny Connolly in 35th, and Jamie Battle in 39th. They finished in 4th.

Kevin Moore, Andy Nevin, Timmy Murphy, Ian McCormack and Stephen Nea gave great support, finishing in the middle of a large field. In the U23 race, run in conjunction with the seniors, Matthew Glennon performed admirably and came home in a top 20 position.

Senior Women

A team from Mullingar Harriers were among the nearly 100 starters in the senior women’s race. This was great to see as the club had not fielded a full Senior Women’s team in this race since 2019.

Leinster champion Claire Fagan ran with the leading pack over the fast first lap and tucked in nicely as the race progressed over the mucky and hilly terrain. The front pack began to split after approximately 3km when the eventual winner Annemarie McGlynn of Letterkenny AC pushed the pace on, but Claire continued to race hard and finished strong in 11th position. A great result in what was a field of high-quality female athletes.

Susan Glennon ran a great race, working with a pack of athletes through the course, to finish in 56th position. Ciara Foy progressed well through the race, running a fast last lap to finish in 68th. Sinéad Whitelaw in 72nd and Orlaith Flanagan in 82nd completed the team. The Mullingar Harriers finished in 8th position overall, a good result in what was a competitive national club championship.

Juvenile and Junior Competitions

Mullingar Harriers had athletes competing in the juvenile and junior competitions. Pride of place in these events goes to Lily Walsh, who ran a superb race to take individual silver in U14 Girls and lead the Leinster team to the provincial gold medal. She was well supported by her club colleagues in this event, Chloe Bell, Siomha Leonard, Shaynah Mitchell, Clodagh Keane and Amelie Kelly.

In the U12 girls there were good performances from Caoimhe Lynam, Lawryn Smith, Katie Bohan, Isabelle Morris and Helen McGrath. In the boys U12 the club were represented by Daniel Cummins, Mel Bohan, Adam O’Donoghue, Donagh Burke, Aaron Robinson, Cillian Gavin, Conor Gavin, Cian Gavin and Noah Morgan.

In the U14 boys event the club was represented by Antonio Bertolo, Oisin Clarke, Gareth Glennon, Harry Flanagan and Louis Kiernan. Mullingar come home just outside the team medals in 5th place.

Eleanor Kiernan was part of the Leinster team to secure silver in the U16 girls, where Tianna O’Leary also performed well. Conor Walsh was the sole club representative in the U16 boys. With a strong run over 4,000m, Conor finished 18th of the 150 participants.

The boys U18 was a competitive race. Jamie Wallace had a fine run, backed up by Conor Liston, Donagh Carey and Oisin Kehoe; they finished a close 5th. They had good support also from club colleagues Matthew Molloy, Luke Greene and Txema Lozano. The girls Junior squad ran well and finished 5th club. There were good performances from Grace Byrne, Aibhne O’Farrell, Jessica Cunningham, Aine Gilhooley and Louise Callaghan.

The Mullingar boys U20 team ran with great determination and a excellent run from John Ryan, followed closely by Diarmuid Fagan, Ross Killalea, Conor Sherwin and Conleth Mullen brought the club home in 5th place and second Leinster team.

British and Irish International

The 35th staging of the British and Irish Masters Cross Country International was in Belfast on Saturday. The Billy Neill Country Park, 115 acres of natural beauty with 10 grass football pitches, 3km of walking trails and 2.5km cycle trail along with 25 acres of native species woodland was a spectacular location for the event.

Mullingar Harriers had five athletes selected for the Ireland team in their categories. A total of 427 athletes representing England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland took part. Maura Dervin, Brigid McCabe, Eddie Newman, Eddie Lynch and Sean McMullin were the Mullingar athletes. Maura, Brigid and Sean took part over a 6km course, and the two Eddies ran over 8km.

Brigid McCabe led home the Irish team to secure silver in their category and she took the bronze medal. Maura Dervin was the second Irish finisher in her category, helping her colleagues secure bronze for Ireland, Sean McMullin was the second Irish athlete to finish, and a part of the 3rd placed Irish team in his category.

Eddie Newman, 3rd Irish finisher, and Eddie Lynch, 4th Irish finisher, helped their colleagues to pick up the silver medal in their category. When all the scores of the different masters competitions were tabulated, for only the second time in the history of the event Ireland won the overall team Gold. It was a proud day for the five Harriers masters athletes representing club and country in Belfast.

Clontarf Half Marathon

Almost 3,500 athletes took part in the annual Clontarf Half Marathon. Run along the Clontarf Promenade, on an out and back course that takes in a section of beach, the conditions on Saturday for this year’s event were mild, with a light breeze and overcast skies. Mullingar Harriers were represented by Criona Reid, her 1:35:05 earning her a category win, Joan Hickson 1:44:12, Sharon O’Dowd 1:50:41 and Michelle O’Halloran 2:01:42.

International for Ian McCormack

Ian McCormack has been selected on the Irish Army team to compete in the World Military Championships in Belgium next months. Ian finished 5th in the recent An Cosantóir Army Championships, earning him the coveted international vest.

Currently based at the Curragh, Ian’s name will now be added to the club’s international list of members who have gained selection to represent their country in athletics.

Updates

Check the club website at mullingarharriers.com or Facebook page for more news.