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12th
March 2011
CONNOR WINS GRANSHA 5K AS SHANE GRABS IRISH SCHOOLS BRONZE
Despite the inclement weather sixty five hardy souls lined
up in Gransha for Saturdays Padddys Weekend 5K,getting the
local road race season off to a great start as Connor Bradley
sped to an impressive 15m 16s victory, while in much better
conditions down in Dublin, St Columbs College talent Shane
McGowan grabbed a well deserved individual bronze in the Junior
Boys race at the Irish Schools cross country championships.
Shane McGowan produced a terrific run in Dublin on Saturday,stepping
up significantly on his Ulster bronze medal performance a
few weeks ago to claim a podium spot at national level with
a real battling effort. A mere eight seconds seperated the
leading six finishers as the St Columbs lad pushed hard to
the line, behind Hugh Morgan of De La Salle Waterford and
St Malachys Belfast athlete,Paddy Robb.
Morgan was clocked at 11m 31s, Robb at 11m 33s and the Derry
boy just two seconds in arrears as six runners charged for
the line. Shane was not happy with his finish at Mallusk in
the Ulsters but against the best in the land he showed he
can seriously mix it and his bronze national championship
medal was a fitting reward for all his dedication to training.
A further prize awaits as he is surely now guaranteed a place
in the Irish Schools squad for the upcoming Home Countries
International in Antrim at the end of the month.
Thornhill College student Aoife Laverty was also involved
in the medal mix in her Minor Girls championship but despite
her best efforts she finished in fifth spot, seven seconds
off the bronze medal winner. Ulster champion Clodagh O Reilly
from Cavan took silver,three seconds behind the Dublin winner
and Aoife grabbed fifth on the line,inches ahead of another
Ulster rival Zoe Carruthers of Friends School, Lisburn.
None of the other locals featured in the up front action in
their respective races as the Thornhill Minor Girls squad
finished seventh and the St Columbs Intermediate Boys squad
will have been unhappy with their eleventh place finish. However
this is a high level competition,qualification from Ulster
in itself is a significant achievement and all the local runners
who made it to Dublin will learn and move on from their experiences.
Bradley In Cruise Control
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Back to Gransha and Connor Bradley of the promoting City of
Derry Spartans, cruised to a very impressive win in difficult
conditions,finishing comfortably clear of Foyle Valleys Scott
Rankin with another Spartan, Noel Logan in third. Theresa
Doherty of Inishioen AC took the female honours ahead of clubmate
Evelyn McGinley and Rosie O Brien of Foyle Valley.
Bradley took the pace from the gun to impose himself on the
opposition and his 15m 16s winning run was pretty good on
a difficult day for quick times. He had wanted to break the
15m barrier but he will have to wait until either the Queens
5K at the end of the month or the Bay Rd race in mid April.
Rankin kept his nerve to claim the runners up spot in 15m
37s, a good effort and Logan,s first outing over the distance
was also positive with a 15m 53s fimish time for third.
In fourth place was James Brown,the leading M35 on 16m 28s;fifth
was Chris McGuinness on 16m 39s; Paul Mc Cafferty was next
and the top M40 with !6m 55s and was closely followed by Pius
McIntyre and Ryan Snodgrass on 16m 58s and 16m 59s respectively.
The top ten was completed by the leading M45 Gerry Duddy on
17m 16s and Letterkennys Paul Toner a further three seconds
behind.
Other significant performances came from Connor Doherty the
first U20 in 17m 43s; M50 winner Dermot Connolly with 17m
38s; top M55 Peter Lilburn clocked 18m12s and Gerry Lynch
was the first M65 on 19m 28s, after a race long battle with
Theresa Doherty who outsprinted him for her winning 19m 26
s clocking. Evelyn McGinley was the second female finisher
and first F35 on 19m 39s and Rosie O Brien posted 19m 44s
for third and top F40. Roisin Lynch showed the benefits of
a successful cross country season,finishing first F60 in a
new PB of 23m 09s. Results here
More Action
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The annual ST Patricks Day 5K will be staged in Letterkenny
on Thursday at 11am with the usual big turn out expected and
on Saturday next its the Larne Half Marathon which has a 1pm
start. Also this weekend Magherafelt hosts the National Juvenile
Indoor championships and this two day competition will feature
many of the top local under age stars.
Diarmuid Back On The Road
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Belfast based Spartan Diarmuid Grant made his road race season
debut in Downpatrick at Sundays annual Jimmys 10K and finished
third behind the in form Stephen Scullion of North Belfast
and St Malachys Joe McAlister. Staged in very windy conditions
which saw the second 5K times average well over a minute slower
than the opener,Scullion clocked an impressive 30m 39s,well
ahead of McAlisters 31m 50s with the Spartan clear in third
on 32m 29s. A solid effort from Grant who is targeting the
Belfast Marathon in May and together with his City of Derry
senior mens clubmates will be in Dublin on April 10th next
for a crack at medals in the National 10K road championships.
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