Ann-Marie McGlynn raced away to an unexpected victory in the women’s race at the National Senior Cross Country Championships in Irvinestown.
Aside from the national medals, places on teams for the European Cross Country Championships next month in Antalya were also up for grabs.
Coming only three weeks after taking the national title at the Dublin Marathon, the 44-year-old forced the pace in the early stages before showing her younger rivals a clean pair of heels from halfway of the 7.5km race before coming home 11 seconds clear of Leevale’s Niamh Allen with Tullamore Harrier Danielle Donegan in third.
McGlynn’s Letterkenny AC colleagues Nakita Burke (14th), Noeleen Scanlon (30th) and Claire McGuigan (34th) combined well to take the silver team medals behind Leevale.
It looked like it might be a northern double with Nick Griggs prominent during the early stages of the men’s race when he and Keelan Kilrehill had broken clear of the field. But the 19-year-old had no answer to Mayo man’s strength on the hills and faded to seventh across the finish line.
An individual silver medal in the U23 age group was scant reward for the efforts of the Newmills teenager but there was gold for him at the end of rainbow when the team tallies were completed with his CNDR Track Club taking the team title from North Belfast Harriers in second. The other CNDR scorers were Conall McClean (11th), Callum Morgan (16th) and Luke Kelly (27th).
Frank McGrath secured his place on the plane to Turkey with a runner-up spot in the U18/U20 men’s race and also led his Lagan Valley squad of Oisin McGloin (24th), Noah Kavanagh (35th) and Jack McCausland (43rd) to silver team medals. Cranford’s Caolan McFadden and Enniskillen’s Harry McKenzie claimed the minor U18 individual medals.
There was a strong northern showing too in the combined U18/U20 girls’ race where Willowfield’s Lucy Foster scored a 21-second individual win over Enniskillen Running Club’s Annabel Morrison. The first three were all in the older age group leaving Lagan Valley’s Eva Bartlett, in fourth, to claim the U18 gold medal. Her club, Lagan Valley, packed well to take the team title from cross-Belfast rivals Willowfield.
Meanwhile, the Republic ran out overall winners of the British & Irish Masters’ Cross Country Championships at Dundonald on Saturday.
