Autumn Open Cross Country
The traditional curtain raiser to the National Cross-Country season took place at Abbottstown in Dublin on Sunday last, on a fast and relatively dry course.
Galway athletes excelled on the day, with notable performances via Sean Cotter, Laura Shaughnessy and Thomas McStay who each placed in the top ten of their respective filed in what were exceptionally high-quality races
McStay of GCH stormed home to a superb seventh place finish in the Senior Men’s race. McStay ran a calculated and composed race and pushed on in the last two laps to challenge the leaders, finishing strongly behind winner Darragh McIlhenny of Cork in the 7500-metre race. Next home was rising star William Fitzgerald of Craughwell AC in a fine 17th place. There were other good runs from Patrick Noonan, Mathys Bocquet , Oisin Davis and Jack Miskella of Craughwell , with Dave Bohan and Conor Byrne also running well for GCH , across the Junior and Senior races.
In the Masters section, Mark Davis of Craughwell will be eyeing aa Masters international berth as he placed fifth in the M50 Category, as will Martin McEvilly of GCH
In the Ladies race, Laura Shaughnessy of GCH ran a storming race to place second Irish athlete home and sixth overall in an international field, while clubmate Ellen Moran of GCH ran strongly for 18th place and Jane Ann Meehan also of GCH was next Galway lady home. Fiona Everard of NUIG and Bandon AC impressed as she ran to a great tenth place overall.
Connacht Primary Schools Cross Country
The Connacht Finals will be held Saturday next October 22nd in Moyne Community College, Moyne Co Longford, with four races on the card from 12 noon. Qualifiers from Galway are the Top 15 individuals and top 3 teams in each race. Athletes and parents are asked to be there well in advance of start time
North East Galway 10k
The North East Galway 10k was held Sunday last in Moylough, with Mick Fogarty of Ferbane AC winning out in a fast time of 32.15, ahead of Gary Scully of Nenagh Olympic in second and Rob Lennon of Castlegar AC in third
First lady home was Kate Kelly of Athlone IT with a great time of 36.45
Connacht Senior League
The first leg of the Connacht Cross Country League takes place Saturday next 23rd October after the Primary Schools Finals finish in Moyne Community College in Longford
Men run 6km and Ladies do a 4km circuit
