Pictures and results: Sean McGinley, Nakita Burke take flight to win Donegal senior titles

Click on the arrows to go through the results and some photos from the day

Sean McGinley and Nakita Burke

Sean McGinley and Nakita Burke were crowned Donegal senior cross country champions on Sunday with Finn Valley AC claiming both senior team title.

Finn Valley AC’s McGinley and Letterkenny AC woman Burke were impressive victors at the Mullaghderg Banks, the event hosted by Rosses AC.

As flight EI3401 - Aer Lingus’ 10.05am voyage to Dublin - took off from nearby Carrickfinn, eyes looked to the skies. With the senior women’s race just underway, the glances at the ATR 72-600 aircraft soaring overhead became infrequent.

On the testing dunes of Mullaghderg, participants might’ve experienced turbulence themselves. The bumpy terrain by Mullaghderg beach offered little respite and obstacles aplenty.

McGinley made a surge over the last few kilometres to take his first Donegal Senior Cross Country title. By the time McGinley cornered the Ballymanus Mine Disaster monument - the structure remembering the 19 men killed when a previously-undetonated wartime mine exploded in 1943 as they were attempting to bring it ashore - for the final time, he was in command.

McGinley joined the illustrious roll of honour, including fellow Glenswilly men Neilly McDaid (the first winner of the race) and Danny McDaid, after pressing down on the gas to move clear of the 2022 winner, Letterkenny AC’s Donal Farren.

McGinley and Farren were toe-to-toe for a fair portion of the 10,000m distance. After the fourth of the five laps, McGinley made his move. Coming over the final hill, McGinley - a team silver medalist with the Ireland Under-20s in Europe last December - was firmly clear with Farren claiming silver while Oisin Toye edged Finn Valley AC team-mate Jon-Jo Doherty for bronze. 

“I’m delighted to win it,” McGinley told Donegal Live.

“The first senior one was always going to be special. This sends me to the rest of the season with good confidence. I put the foot down and I felt I had more in me so I pushed on. I enjoyed it.”

McGinley led Finn Valley AC to regain the team title with Toye Doherty, Gerard Gallagher (6th), Mark McGinley (11th) and Gavin McCullagh (15th) also scoring. Gallagher went over on his left ankle a lap from home, but the Crossroads man recovered well to finish sixth.

McGinley said of the challenging course: “You don’t get a minute to take it easy. You always need to be alert out there.”

Burke and former winner Teresa Doherty were neck-and-neck for much of an intriguing senior women’s race. Burke asked the question of herself in the final lap and the Letterkenny woman had a good winning margin for her third Donegal senior crown.

Burke said: “Teresa was pushing it and I made a decision to go for it in the last kilometre. Thankfully that paid off.

“It feels amazing. I love the Donegal senior. It’s a race you always want to win because it’s your own county title. Racing against Teresa, who has won so much, is always going to be tough.”

Doherty was the lead scorer as Finn Valley took the senior women’s team honours with Leoni Cooke in third. The ever-green Catriona Devine was fifth with Hayley Corry in ninth completing the scorers for those in blue and white.

Sarah Henry was an excellent winner of the under-17 girls race, seeing off Letterkenny AC club-mate Anna Russell with Finn Valley AC’s Eimear McCarroll pulling up with a hip injury after the first lap.

Caolan McFadden, who was the national under-16 champion in 2022, won the under-17 boys gold from Finn Valley AC pair Odhran McBrearty and Ciaran McCarroll.

There was joy for Rosses AC in the under-15 boys as Odhran Rodgers landing the individual gold. Rodgers was joined by Tristan Greene, Jack McElroy and Odhran Lynch in the top ten as Rosses swooped for the team prize.

Also impressing were Finn Valley’s under-15 girls, headed by gold medalist Andrea Reid, who was swiftly followed to the podium by Abi McGeehan and Aimee McElchar with their runners in each of the first six places, including Holly McNulty, who staved off a fall and a nasty spike scratch that necessitated stitches to go through in sixth.