The re-arranged Co Down Schools Cross Country championships on Wednesday certainly brought out the best in several of East Down AC's athletes and resulted in a clutch of medals. Highlight of the day was Patrick Sheridan's triumph in the Minor Boys race as he battled it out with the muscular Henri Aiken of St Colman's Newry, the lead changing several times in the course of the twisting circuit.  But young Patrick fiarly flew the hill about 300 metres from the finish to kill off the challenge and cross the line fully14 seconds clear in a field of over 120 runners.

Elaine Burch continued her good form from the Indoors last weekend and ran a controlled race to take the Silver medal in the Junior Girls event, just behind the strong finishing Orla McAteer, Our Lady's Newry.  Clubmate Catherine Martin  finished 26th in another huge field of over 100 runners.

The Junior Boys saw Mark McGrady make his seasonal debut and finish a creditable 36th out of 102 finishers.

Like Patrick before her, Joanne Mills gave an impressive display of controlled running to dominate the Intermediate Girls race and claim the Gold medal in 12.28 with Aine McCann making a welcome and successful return from illness to take the Bronze medal in the same race. In the Intermediate Boys race Aaron Hickland used his new spikes to good effect to place 56th in a race dominated by the Monaghan twins, though Dromore's Ryan McDermott managed to separate them in the top three, with Newcastle's Eoghan Totten in 4th.

The Senior Girls race was dominated as expected by Ciara Mageean as she finished a minute ahead of her Assumption team mate Sinead Redmond but East Down's Caroline O'Hare can be well pleased with her 8th place finish.  Just after that big brother James dominated the Senior Boys 4 lap event from the start and cruised to victory untroubled, with a gap of over half a minute on the second place runner.

All in all a very successful day in the Springlike conditions and excellent surroundings – let's hope that many of these young up and coming runners will try their hands, or better still their feet, at Jimmy's Ten in 3 weeks time.


Joe Quinn

22 February 2009