Finn Valley take Ulster Novice Men’s title as McBrearty wins U19 race

There were plenty of Donegal medals on show as Finn Valley won the Novice Men’s title at the Ulster Novice and Uneven Ages Cross Country Championships in Stranorlar.

Finn Valley were hosting the competition, and they were the stars on the day, taking the Novice Men’s team title, led by Diarmait Keogh in second place.

Strong runs by Enda Doherty (sixth) and Paul Smith (ninth), and 15th from Shaun Bannigan were the scorers for the team as they won the title from Enniskillen AC.

James Lynch from Carrick Aces AC won gold with a time of 19.55, nine seconds clear of Keogh in the 6km race.

Shaun Kerrs of Tír Chonaill AC was fourth overall.

In the Women’s Novice race, Ciara Cunningham of Tír Chonaill took silver with Emer O’Brien of Finn Valley taking bronze, as Enniskillen Running Club won the team title from Finn Valley, with Emily Callaghan, Martina Quinn and Orlaith McCrory scoring for the team.

In the Under-19 Boys, Odhrán McBrearty won with ease for Finn Valley, with clubmate Mark Kearns in third.

Tír Chonaill AC claimed team gold in the U13 Boys race, with Oisín Gallagher in second leading the charge, well backed up by Adam McBrearty (11th), Donal McMonagle (13th) and Noah Gallagher (32nd), as Finn Valley took bronze.

Finn Valley picked up gold team medals in the Girls U17, U13, U11 and U9s, while their boys teams won gold in the U11 and U9 races.

Eimear McGinley led the way in the U17 race as she took home gold, with Andrea Reid (eighth), Leah Kenny (tenth) and Ruth Reilly (13th) as the scorers on the team.

In the U13s, Caitlin Gillespie (second) and Muireann Burke (third) were on the podium, with Hannah May Browne, Sorcha Cunningham and Eimear Moy finishing fifth, sixth and seventh respectively. Letterkenny AC took silver in the race.

Blake Keenan’s third place helped the U11 Boys to team gold, as Cora Clarke (fifth) led the charge in the girls race. Ari Bonner of Rosses AC finished fourth individually, as Rosses picked up bronze in both of those races, with Áine Doherty’s fourth leading the Rosses girls to third.

In the U9 Girls, Niamh McHugh from Milford AC took the gold from Olympian YAC’s Grace Butler as Finn Valley won team gold from Milford and Tír Chonaill in third. Amber Stewart (eighth) led the team from Caragh McGinty (ninth), Evie O’Hagan (15th) and Freya Keaveney (19th). Molly O’Brien of Cranford AC finished in fourth, with Ciara Cullen (Letterkenny AC) fourth as Eva Barton (Mid Ulster AC) was third.

The Boys race saw Finn Valley take gold from Milford and Rosses AC respectively, as Senan Healy led the locals to victory with the win with Calvin Laird (fourth), Adam O’Mahony (ninth) and Donagh Cunningham (tenth).

Caoimhe McNeill from the club was the silver medalist in the U15 Girls, while Sam Deery took bronze in the Boys race.