Ballyfin Junior-Cross Ballyfin Junior-Cross ’09 has announced its latest batch of elite athletes for the event which will take place in Emo Court, Co. Laois on September 19th.
Ciara Everard, Patrick Flynn and Ryan Creech are the most recent to confirm their participation with the event looking set to be a highly competitive affair.
National junior indoor and outdoor 800m champion, Ciara Everard will hope to make her mark in her first cross country race of the season. She finished 10th in last year’s Inter-Counties and is a potential member of this year’s team for the European championships. She will face tough competition in Emo in the form of Catherina Mullen, Mary Mulhare and Mary-Ann O’Sullivan.
Patrick Flynn was on the team for last year’s European Championships in Brussels and will be hoping to repeat the feat again in Santry. He was 4th in last year’s Inter-Counties and 2nd in the u19 national championships and will be hoping to find this kind of form once again in the coming months.
Ryan Creech is on the long road back from a prolonged injury. His comeback began in earnest with a silver medal in this year’s National 3000m championships and he will hope to bring this form into the cross country season. As a former 7th place finisher at the Schools cross country international he certainly has the potential to make it back to the top.
The main opposition for Creech and Flynn will come in the form of 1500m star Paul Robinson.
Irish team manager Anne Keenan-Buckley will present the individual prizes on the day. With the European Championships in Santry just around the corner she will no doubt be keen to observe the form of the country’s top juniors.
Team prizes (three to score) will be presented by the event’s sponsors Airboran Travel, Portlaoise (www.abtravel.ie), Rogerson Reddan: Project, Construction and Cost Managers (www.rra.ie) and Donncha Phelan, Osteopath (www.myspace.com/498252855)
Prize details are as follows:
Junior Men 4km, 1.20pm:
1st 100 EUR
2nd 50 EUR
3rd 25 EUR
Junior Women 2km, 1pm:
1st 100 EUR
2nd 50 EUR
3rd 25 EUR
Further information and entry forms can be obtained at www.ballyfincrosscountry.com. Race director Cormac Fitzpatrick can be contacted at 086-8366561 or by e-mailing [email protected].