Caolan McFadden wins Ulster U18 Cross Country, team success aplenty for Donegal clubs

Caolan McFaden’s mind will turn now to an assault on his latest national crown after the Cranford AC man won the Ulster U18 Cross Country title.

At the Billy Neill MBE Country Park, McFadden’s victory in the U18 boys race was one of the highlights with several Donegal teams, including a notable gold for Finn Valley’s U18 boys, enjoying team success.

McFadden took victory in that U18 boys race. McFadden’s eyes will return again to a national tilt in the coming weeks again and he had around nine seconds to spare on Enniskillen’s Harry McKenzie for the win here.

Finn Valley AC’s Odhran McBrearty was third and led his team to gold.

Ciaran McCarroll followed in sixth and they were joined by Lorcan Byrne (18), Paraic McGettigan (23), Padraig Corry (30) and Jamie Gallagher (37) to top the team charts, beating Enniskillen by four points.

Caolan Gilbride of Tir Chonaill AC was sixth and Michael Moore of Cranford 14th in the boys U18 event.

There was a fine individual bronze for Philip McGee of Letterkenny AC in the U20 men’s section.

Finn Valley's victorious U18 boys

Finn Valley AC won the U16 girls gold with Andrea Reid in eighth, Aimee McElchar 12th, Nia Byrne 17th and Holly McNulty 20th all in the top 20 to score.

They were closely followed by Abi McGeehan in 21st, Leah Kelly in 27th and Niamh McGlinchey in 38th.

Oisin McBride from Cranford AC was an impressive winner of the U14 gold in a race that saw Eli Duffy and Evan Ward of Rosses come home in fifth and seventh.

Duffy, Ward, Ben McGee (14) and John Brennan (65) took Rosses to team golds and a Letterkenny AC quartet of Ewan Summers (9), Davyn McGlynn (12), Luke McClafferty (51) and Paddy Haslette (52) were pipped to bronze by a solitary point. 

It was a similar tale for Letterkenny AC in the U16 boys with Michael Donaghey (14), Daragh Naughton (17), Jokin Menchacatorre (49) and Senan Shiels (67) finishing as fourth team.

Finn Valley AC’s U14 girls were edged to gold by Lagan Valley. Darcie Clarke in fourth and seventh-placed Saorla Gilligan were in the top 10 and joined by Caoimhe McNeill (17) and Aoibhinn Greene (35) for silvers.

Letterkenny AC's Philip McGee on the podium

Letterkenny AC’s Katie McDowell won gold in the U12 girls. With McDowell the lead runner, LAC left with team gold with Eve Nic Giolla Bhain, Aoibhe Gibson and Niamh Woods 9h, 14th and 16th.

In the boys U12s, Shay McHugh of Finn Valley AC finished seventh and his team collected bronze. Kyle Doherty (14), Evan Patton (17) and Shea Irwin (33) also scored.

Letterkenny AC, led by Emma Bonar, performed well in the U18 girls race. Bonar was fourth and was followed by team-mates Anna Russell (16), Sophie Ellis (26) and Cara McGonagle (34), but they narrowly missed out on team medals.

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Caitlin Gillespie of Finn Valley AC was the U10 gold medallist and with Erin Moy second, Cora Clarke fourth and Eimear Moy sixth, Finn Valley AC took the team gold ahead of Glaslough and Letterkenny AC.

For LAC, Abbey Harkin (5), Maia McGuirk (7), Martina Perri (13) and Beth Duffy (17) scored for team bronze.

Jude Martin (9), Harry Houston (16), Finn McNamee (18) and Blake Keenan (26) took team bronze for Finn Valley AC’s U10s.