Juniors shine at Delamont

Juniors shine at Delamont

28 February 2024

ON Sunday at the very picturesque Delamont Country Park, East Down Athletic 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 bight, dry weather the ground conditions were good and much drier than some previous XC fixtures. 

East Down Athletic Club fielded entries in all age groups with excellent running from all athletes.  

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 second place girl. Coen Canavan was the highest place East Down boy in third place finishing in a time of 2.23. Oisin Taylor was hot on his heels and finished fourth 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 third and fourth place, respectively. 

The P6 boys race proved to be one of the most competitive races of the day. Mack Canavan held on to better his third place finish last week at Tollymore, to finish as second place in a time of 3.22. 

His fellow East Down team-mate, Jude Kinsella, followed in not far behind at 3.54 to finish in fourth place. Amber Keown matched her younger sisters placing by finishing strongly 

as second girl with Tarynn Smyth completing and placing as fourth place girl while Cara Rogan placed well in fifth position. 

 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 third place, with Maria Rooney finishing in fourth place (5.14) and Isla Talyor in fifth (5.26) 

East Down 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 fifth and sixth place boys. 

The three Year 8 girls ran superbly with Annie Canavan picking up a fourth place and Aoife Gilchrist in fifth place. Freya Cushnie completed the course soundly to finish with a time of 7.03. 

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 fourth 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 fourth place.  

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 three laps with a time of 8.34 as second girl. 

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 12 runners. It was a clean sweep for the older East Down athletes in three out of the four 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 6.4. 

Thomas Magee finished in second place (7.39) while Matthew Taylor ran well to finish in fourth place (8.16). 

East Down had six entries in the girls Year 11-12 group. Sarah Gilchrist ran well to take first place (8.27) and Charlotte Barr following in second place (8.31). 

Rebekah Wilson was the next East Down athlete through the finish and gained a fourth 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 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.