McGlynn absent as LAC battle for medals at National Senior

Letterkenny AC’s senior women will be vying to compete among the top sides again this weekend at the National Senior Cross Country Championships.

LAC will be without National Marathon champion Ann-Marie McGlynn as they head for Gowran Park.

Last year in Rosapenna, the black and amber missed out by the narrowest of margins with Dublin City Harriers taking team gold with just a point to spare on Letterkenny’s quartet, who took silver.

McGlynn stormed to victory in the marathon in 2:34:13 in late October and will not be toeing the line in Kilkenny.

When Bobby Charlton gave ‘examples of his genius’ against Finn Harps

English football legend Bobby Charlton was laid to rest this week. When his glittering playing career with Manchester United came to an end in the 1970s, he had a brief stint in the League of Ireland - including two games against Finn Harps

While the absence of the on-form McGlynn, fourth in the 2022 National Senior and a bronze medal winner with Ireland at the European Cross Country Championships last December, is a blow, LAC will now be led by Donegal Senior Cross Country champion Nakita Burke.

Noeleen Scanlon and Natasha Adams, who were seventh and 10th in the recent Bobby Rea International, will also be key figures for LAC.

In the 2022 version, Burke came 13th while Noeleen Scanlan (21st) and Natasha Adams (27th) provided the backup and they will be joined by new recruit Claire McGuigan this year.

Finn Valley AC’s Flanagan twins, Eilish and Roisin, will not be in Kilkenny this weekend, with the Gortin girls set instead to compete on the road over 8km in Philadelphia.

In Italy last December, their 11th and 12th placed finishes were vital as Ireland bagged team bronze medals in Turin and they’ll look to be in consideration again for this year’s event at Laeken Park in Brussels.

Vying too for European places will be Finn Valley AC trio Sean McGinley, Liam McCay and Amy Greene, who have been in super form over recent weeks.

They will be aiming for spots in under-23 and under-20 events for Brussels and will have designs on strong finishes this weekend.

The podium is the target for McGinley and Greene - both students at DCU. McGinley was the recent Ulster Novice gold medallist while Greene led the charge in the Ulster Under-20 race.

McCay, the Irish Under-19 3,000m gold medallist on the track this summer, will also have hopes of impressing.

At the Billy Neill Country Park, Greene was one of four gold medal winners from Donegal with Cranford’s Caolan McFadden (under-18), Odhran McBrearty of Finn Valley (under-16) and Tristan Greene from Rosses (under-14) also atop the podium.

McFadden - so impressive in winning the under-16 crown last year on home soil - might be out of age this weekend, but the Creeslough man will look to be in contention with McBrearty and Greene aiming to build on Ulster promise, as will the Finn Valley under-14 girls, under-14 boys and under-12 girls teams who were gold medal winners in the province.