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10th
Jan 2011
Golden Masters Cross Country Debut For Reed At Stormont
Declan Reed made his long overdue debut in championship Masters
cross country at Stormont last Saturday and stormed to a brilliant
indivual win ahead of red hot favourite Annadales David Morwood,as
his City of Derry squad claimed a well deserved team silver
in the NI/Ulster male Masters championships. The unassuming
Spartan took on,stayed with and outsprinted the much vaunted
Morwood over the testing Stormont 8K distance and with great
support from Colin Roberts, Paul McCafferty and Dermot Connolly
led the red vests to championship team silver medals behind
the holders Annadale but comfortably ahead of North Belfast
Harriers who took team bronze.
This stirring performance in the first race of the day was
the icing on the cake for local runners and several excellent
performances followed from age group winners, Sammy McAnnaney
M55;Gerry Lynch M65 and Roisin Lynch F60 and the Spartans
Junior Mens squad led by teenager JP Williamson to a hard
earned team bronze in the days feature 10K race. JP,s seventh
place finish was an eye catching performance as was Marina
Campbell in the Womens Intermediate championship with a terrific
run for fourth place,just out of the medals.
Back to the male Masters 8K,run over four challanging laps
on the undulating Stormont circuit and Declan Reed was the
big story here as he matched Morwood from the gun,refusing
to give a inch as the pair ran shoulder to shoulder for almost
the entire distance. Their relentless duel drove them well
clear of the opposition and as they went into the final lap
Morwoods famed finish kick was cited by most of the enthralled
spectators as the defining factor in the absorbing struggle
for supremacy.
However no one seems to have told the man in the red vest
and on the hilly back end of the 2K lap it was still neck
and neck. Turning into the long 600 metres finish straight
it was looking like another win for the fast finisher but
to everyones surprise Reed eked out a few metres advantage
in a long bid for victory.The Stormont finish straight is
very long and contains a mix of flat,downhill,incline and
even a difficult camber,making it a real test of speed and
stamina for tiring runners who can see the finish gantry from
a long way out but sometimes despair of ever reaching it quickly
enough.
The red vest was going away for the first time in the race
but still the doubt persisted about Moewoods speed. With the
local contingent cheering him on furiously Reed found pace
no one knew he had and held off the former champion by a two
second margin to claim a magnificent victory in his first
Provincial Masters cross country championship.
Declan Reed on his way to victory here.
Top 3 in Masters race here
Team Silver
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Clubmate Colin Roberts,back in competitive action after a
foot problem ran strongly for fourth place behind the second
Annadale scorer Paul Carroll; Paul McCafferty stepped up to
the plate with a fighting 15th finish and the team silver
was sealed in 25th place by another gritty effort from Dermot
Connolly. This trio were delighted to move up from last years
team bronze at Stranorlar and with Sammy McAnnaney in 28th,picking
up the M55 age group win for good measure it was a profitible
trip for the local Masters.
Indeed In the seperate 4K Gerry Lynch returned to winning
ways, claiming the scalp of perriennial rival,North Downs
Davy Seaton for the M65 age group win with a strong run.Philip
Donaghy and Peter Lilburn were the only other locals in the
8K,both running well with Peter finishing as fourth M55.
The Womens Intermediate and Masters 4K provided ultimately
little pickings for the local participants. Minus their top
Master,the flu stricken Anne Paul and facing real classy opposition
the City of Derry squad finished fifth in the team race behind
winners North Down who dethroned champions North Belfast in
a close contest. Jackie McGinley in tenth spot was their lead
finisher a little disappointed with her run perhaps but she
will move on to the next challange, Bridgeen Byrne was 18th
and third F45 finisher with a gutsy effort,Karen Cutliffe
made her Masters debut in 25th, Roisin Lynch was next home
for the Spartan women and claimed yet another F60 age grade
win and Linda Hall rounded off the squad finishers.
Marina Campbell had an excellent run in the Intermediate grade,run
with the Masters and was just out of the indivual medals in
fourth place after giving her all in a top quality field.
She actually finished sixth overall in the combined race,probably
her best run yet over the country and a good reward for her
dedication to training this winter.Jackie McGinley doubled
up as an Intermediate,repeating her tenth place Masters finish;Catherine
Lilburn improved significantly on her Ulster Novice run with
23rd and Catherine Lagan in 26th completed the scoring quartet.
Their 63 points gave them fouth place in the team race just
ten off bronze medallists Lagan Valley.North Down added to
their Masters team win with Intermediate gold just ahead of
Dromore. For the record former Spartan Cathy McCourt was the
Masters individual winner for North Belfast and North Downs
Laura Scott was an equally impressive Intermediate champion.
Junior Mens Team Bronze
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The much awaited final race of the day was the Junior Mens
10K, five testing laps and both City of Derry and Foyle Valley
lined up among the hopefuls. Both local clubs were below strength,
the Spartans with a seriously reduced challange,minus three
of their victorious Ulster Novice championship squad,Richard
Johnston,Gary Slevin and Mark Mullan while the Valley had
drafted in several Masters runners to support Scott Rankin.
Not surprisingly the red vests could,nt mount their expected
significant assault on the team title and eventually had to
settle for hard fought bronze medals as the impressive young
North Down squad ,led home by individual gold and bronze medallists
Niall Robinson and Robin Brown finished clear of Willowfield
and the Spartans. Despite a presence in the Masters where
Letterkennys Pauric McKinney won the M45 grade in fifth spot,
the Donegal clubs had a sparse representation and Foyle Valley
and another Derry club Springwell were the only other full
complement squads to finish.
Eighteen year old JP Williamson in seventh place led home
the local contingent and showed that he has a big future with
an agressive run. Argueably if he had gone with the early
pace or at least just off the lead bunch he could have been
further up but coach Noel McMonagle was happy enough with
the teenagers first taste at this level,particulary his strong
surge through the field in the second half of the demanding
10K distance on a tough course.
Noel Logan was also having his introduction to this level
and perhaps suffered from staying with the pace for close
to 3K before slipping back to allow Scott Rankin the chance
to close him down and outsprint the Spartan for a two second
advantage on the line. Both these guys are new to the sport,Logan
has only been training regularly since September last in the
aftermath of the Waterside Half Marathon and no doubt we,ll
see more of both as the year progresses. The Valley runner
ran a smart race for a top ten finish with Logan eleventh.
Brendan Murphy in 15th may have been affected by a Friday
fall from his bike en route to work as he did,nt look comfortable
at all on Saturday; Gerry Duddy once again belied his Master
status with a strong effort for 22nd; new dad Dara Furey stepped
in at late notice for 29th and Michael Finnegan battled his
way round to complete the bronze medal team in 31st place.
For the Valley, Scott Rankin was supported by Cathal McLaughlin
an excellent 17th, Pius McIntyre 26th,Billy Orr 35th,Ciaran
Graham 36th and the ever dependable Declan Doherty 37th finished
off their scoring six.
Overall then another satisfactory day for local athletics,
Declan Reed emerged as a serious contendor and the Spartans
championship medal haul was expanded. Hopefully ther is much
more to come as 2011 unfolds!
Gerry Lynch
Results Vet mens here,
Junior Women here,
Intermediate Women here,
Vet Women here,
Junior Men here
Photos
Junior mens race here
Vets and Intermediate Women here
Vet men here
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