Jake Byrne and Ciara Hewson were convincing winners of the showpiece under 20 races at the AB Travel Ballyfin Junior-Cross in Emo Court on Saturday. Despite some top names being forced to withdraw due to injury, both races contained strong fields with athletes from Tipperary to Antrim travelling to the event. Byrne was quick to move to the front in the under 20 Men’s 4000m race with Liam Brady of Tullamore Harriers in second. Carl Dunne and the Mullingar duo of Thomas Fagan and Robert Yorke along with Donore Harriers’ Max Van Haeften made up the chasing pack. Byrne and Brady kept pulling away with Byrne leading the way.
Despite looking the less comfortable of the two, Brady put in a big surge up the hill with a mile to go to take the lead. It was short-lived, however, as Byrne remained calm and moved back in front without any fuss. From then on, the outcome was never in doubt with Byrne finishing with 14 seconds to spare over Brady. Dunleer’s Carl Dunne had a fine run for third while Robert Yorke and Thomas Fagan took fourth and fifth spots to ensure team victory for Mullingar.
Ciara Hewson was a comprehensive winner of the under 20 Ladies’ event with a strong front running performance. Ciara Cummins from Moyne kept closest contact for most of the race with Mary Mulhare and Mary-Ann O’Sullivan hot on her heels. As Hewson extended her lead on the final lap, defending champion Mulhare started to close on Cummins before overtaking her in the latter stages of the race to finish second and lead her North Laois team to victory. Cummins took third spot with Mary-Ann O’Sullivan coming home in fourth. Helen Lavery of Beechmount Harriers in Belfast was fifth. Raheny Shamrocks took second in the team event.
Mullingar Harriers’ were the dominant club of the day. Winning four of the seven individual titles, along with the under 20 team title, made the trip to Emo Court more than worthwhile for the Westmeath club. Niamh Quinn’s under 13 win and the clean sweep of the medals from Padraig Moran, Liam O’Reilly and Oisin Quinn in the under 15 boys race set them up nicely for the showpiece under 20 races where Byrne and Hewson took the honours. Dunleer also had a successful day with winners in both under 11 races as well as Carl Dunne’s third place finish in the under 20 race. Belfast’s Beechmount Harriers also sent down a strong contingent with Helen Lavery’s fifth place under 20 finish concluding their day after two silvers and one bronze in the juvenile races.
Results:
U20 Men 4000m
1 Jake Byrne Mullingar Harriers 13:47
2 Liam Brady Tullamore Harriers 14:01
3 Carl Dunne Dunleer 14:41
4 Robert Yorke Mullingar Harriers 15:04
5 Thomas Fagan Mullingar Harriers 15:05
6 Max Van Haeften Donore Harriers 15:10
Team:
1. Mullingar Harriers 10pts (1,4,5) – Jake Byrne, Robert Yorke, Thomas Fagan
2. Dunleer 27pts (3, 10, 14) – Carl Dunne, Shane Walsh, Sam Bingham
3. North Laois 33pts (9, 11, 13) – Christopher Finn, Paddy Conroy, David Mulhare
U20 Ladies 2600m
1 Ciara Hewson Mullingar Harriers 10:06
2 Mary Mulhare North Laois 10:16
3 Ciara Cummins Moyne 10:18
4 Mary-Ann O’Sullivan Tinryland 10:32
5 Helen Lavery Beechmount Harriers 10:45
6 Anna Healy North Laois 11:12
Team:
1. North Laois 19pts (2, 6, 11) – Mary Mulhare, Anna Healy, Mary Campbell
2. Raheny Shamrocks 24 pts (7, 8, 9) – Chloe Doran, Alice Fennell, Orla Manley
U11 Girls 600m
1 Emma Cheshire Dunleer 2:07
2 Aoife Darby Mullingar Harriers 2:11
3 Seoda Matthews Dunleer 2:12
U11 Boys 600m
1 Kevin Ledwith Dunleer 2:08
2 Christopher Whittle Tullamore Harriers 2:08
3 Liam Connaughton Dunleer 2:09
U13 Girls 1000m
1 Niamh Quinn Mullingar Harriers 4:21
2 Janet Copeland Beechmount Harriers 4:23
3 Shauna O‘Brien Beechmount Harriers 4:24
U13 Boys 1000m
1 Bobby Crowley St Laurence O’Toole 3:50
2 Conor Magess Beechmount Harriers 3:55
3 Domhnall O’Farrell North Laois 4:00
U15 Boys 1600m
1 Padraig Moran Mullingar Harriers 5:28
2 Liam O’Reilly Mullingar Harriers 5:36
3 Oisin Quinn Mullingar Harriers 5:51
Full results and further information available at www.ballyfincrosscountry.com