The 2022 Louth Cross Country Championships got off to a great start on Sunday last, with day 1 taking place in the beautiful surroundings of Bellurgan Park in Dundalk.
A sunny and crisp morning saw juvenile and senior athletes take on the longer running distances on the grass, complete with twists and turns and a tough uphill finish for all races.
In the novice ladies, Monica Jhuboo made a great return to competitive action in the Boyne AC vest, as she finished in the top 20 over the 3,000m distance. The men had double the distance to test themselves over, and Andrew White gave a good effort, despite being off form recently.
The juvenile races followed, with the u8s non championship 200m getting things underway, where Conor Hughes and Oisin Carolan both ran well.
The first race of the championship proper saw the u10 girls tackle the 800m distance, with great runs from Caitlin Hughes and Aoife McCabe. In the boys race, a super run from Cillian Hickey saw him take the third spot on the podium, with teammates Will Gow, Oran Monaghan, Harry Kingston, Garvin Lundon, Ross Byrne, Tite Williams, Finbar Fagan, Jamie Leddy and Thomas Crosbie all having a great race too, under the watchful eye of coach Richard.
The u12 girls took home the 2nd place team medal thanks to speedy runs from Isabelle Winters, who finished just outside the medals in 4th place, and was running out of age, followed closely by Robyn Reilly, Ellen Boylan, Ellie Russell and Cara Fagan.
The second place girl’s u12 team, Cara Fagan, Ellen Boylan, Robyn Reilly, Ellie Russell and Isabelle Winters.
In the boys race, Eoin McEntee was just pipped on the line into 5th place as he ran a great race over the tough 2,000m distance, while clubmates Marko and Ronaldo Ozolins gave it their all over the long course.
The u14s had an even longer 3,000m to contend with and in the girls race, Shauna Rice proved her consistent work is paying off as she finished high up the field, while Naoise McAvinia also ran a super race, finishing just outside the medals in 4th place in a very competitive boys race.
Day 2 of the championships takes place this Sunday in Darver.
