Hugely Successful Leinster Intermediate and Masters Cross Country at Dunboyne AC – Sunday 14th January

Photos courtesy of Paul Kelly – Crusaders AC

Dunboyne AC hosted the 2018 Leinster Intermediate & Masters Cross Country in the Cow Park on Sunday 14th January.

As usual the Cow Park provided a great venue for the event. The club have now hosted a number of XC events which have been hugely successful and it is testament to the experience we have in our ranks and the volunteers within the club that yet again this event was such a roaring success.

This location is ideal for athletes and clubs to access from all parts of the province with ample car parking in the nearby train station a great advantage.

A large number participated in the event which was well attended with the catering tent doing brisk business all day.

Once the Juvenile relays completed it was onto the adult races.

These were fast and furious races providing great excitement for spectators with Dunboyne AC athletes in the mix in both individual races and in the team competitions.
The super knowledgeable Paddy Mangan of Dunshaughlin AC further added to the excitement of the day with his excellent commentary throughout.

In the intermediate race we had 4 Dunboyne athletes competing.
They were led home by the impressive Jane Bandila who finished just outside the medals on the day, but in a brilliant 5th place overall after a very strong run.
Well done Jane.

Eva McNelis was next home for Dunboyne AC in 7th place after a very impressive run from her.
Eva battled hard throughout and finished strongly.
Well done Eva.

Not far behind Eva and finishing in a very strong 12th place was Carol Cullinane who was in the mix throughout the race, battling it out in the lead groups.
Great running Carol.

Eimear English crucially finished strongly in 24th place after a great run from her which meant Dunboyne were going to go close in the team competition.
As it turned out the ladies secured the gold medal by just 3 points from Sportsworld AC in 2ndplace and St Senans AC of Kilkenny in 3rd.

So huge congratulations to our Intermediate Women’s team on a great performance in winning Leinster gold. Very fitting with it being run on home turf.

Jane, Eva and Carol had the added bonus of scoring on the Meath team that won a Bronze medal in the county competition so well done again.

With just 3 runners in the intermediate men’s race we didn’t have enough to make up a team unfortunately.
All men were on the Meath team on the day.

Rory Kavanagh was best of the Dunboyne trio with a very strong 6th place finish.
He was up with the leaders throughout and dug deep to finish very strongly. Well done Rory on another strong performance.

Morgan McDonagh was home next in 14th place after a gutsy run, battling it out to the line and not far behind Morgan was John Maguire who finished in 19th place after a very good run.

Our 3 lads were the first 3 scorers on the Meath team in the county event and the county team earned a richly deserved Bronze medal so well done to you all.

In the Masters ladies event, Emila Dan led the team home by finishing 12th and 2nd in her category.
This was very strong running yet again from the ever consistent Emilia.
Well done Emilia.

Claire Ni Fhearcheallaigh was next home after an impressive showing. She ran a very controlled race resulting in a 17th place and 6th in her category. Well done Claire.

Clodagh Dunphy was our next runner home in 32nd and 9th place in her category.
Well done Clodagh on another battling performance picking off runners as she went which was going to prove crucial in the team competition.

Norma Farrell not long back from injury ran very well also to finish in 51st and 25th in her category after digging deep and finishing strongly. This was a super showing in this tough field of provincial runners so very well done Norma.

In the team competition the ladies were rewarded for their efforts with a very fine 3rdplace, holding off Raheny Shamrock AC in 4th place by just 2 points so well done to you all on your Leinster Bronze medal.

In the Masters Men’s race seven Dunboyne AC athletes toed the line.

Leading the team home was Gererd Martin who finished 39th and 7th in his category after an impressive showing.

One place behind and next home was Gerry O’Reilly who finished 7th in his category after a fine run.

Just one place back again was Derek Finegan which earned him a 10th in his category.

And just to win the best packing club team of the day award, a further 4 places back in 45th, Donal Cashin came home strongly which gave him a 12th place finish in his category.
Well done lads, the chat must have been great on the way round !!

Not far behind these four and next home for Dunboyne was Gerard Solan who was a very impressive 5th in his category, well done Gerard.

Jim Lineen was 21st in his category after battling it out in this high class field and Michael Cornyn finished 6th in his category with a strong run on the day. Well done lads.

Unfortunately the lads finished just outside the medals in the club competition and while both Gerard and Gerry scored on the Meath team they were also just outside the medals this time.
Well done to all our Masters men.

Well done to all those who represented our club so well on and off the course today.

The event was brilliantly organised and run so well on the day.
It is safe to say that all participants and spectators were impressed with the effort club members went to, to make this such a success.

Well done to you all and a big thank you to everyone who helped in any way.