Moy Valley enjoy successful dayout in Navan
Daniel Gallagher (Moy Valley AC) vying for the lead in the closing stages of the Boys under 13 All Ireland Cross Country championships
Moy Valley AC athletes continued to show they can compete with the best in Ireland after another great day of racing in Navan at the All-Ireland Cross Country championships. The great day started with Grace Tighe claiming her first national title and Cora Naughton making the Mayo team that came third.
The boys under 11 ran as a determined team and are worthy national champions. They put in great work in recent weeks and really worked as a team. A memorable day for Jack Molloy, Noah Fleming, Scott Clarke, Cian McDonnell, Cillian Ruane and Ronan McLoughlin.
Roxane Sands demonstrated her unique talent with a brilliant 6th place finish under 13 girls just two weeks after winning the Under 12 girls national title.
The boys under 13 are a special group and this is their third year winning the All-Ireland title - having won at under 11 and 12 in previous years. Daniel Gallagher and Patrick Ruane again demonstrated their tremendous stamina and racing intelligence placing third and fifth respectively.
Moy Valley won the team title and the team was Daniel Gallagher, Patrick Ruane, Darragh McHale, Tommy Tighe, Brody Loftus, Riain McLoughlin and Conor McLoughlin. In that age group, Mayo won the county title with five Moy Valley athletes on the team.
Tara Nolan and Aoibhinn Clarke won silver medals with the Mayo team in the girls under 15 race with Alisen McHale and Erin McLoughlin putting in good runs. The Boys under 15 team of Eoghan Gallagher, Rian McLoughlin, Conor Blewitt, Thomas Munnelly, Conor Brady and James McDonnell all have a good account of themselves as the course got stickier.
Marc Munnelly and Rory McDonnell also competed in the under 17 and 19 races. As the domestic club cross country season comes to a close, the club extends sincere thanks to a great team of coaches, supportive parents and the tremendous athletes who are great ambassadors for club, county and province.
There was success further afield for other clubs from Mayo. Westport’s Freya Renton completed the Girls U14/U15 double with a ‘from the gun’ win while Holly Renton from the same club finished in third place. Phillip Griffith from Claremorris finished in the top 5 in the U11 Boys competition. Rory Gruddy from Swinford finished in the top 10 of the U13 Boys competition.
All eyes now turn to Brussels next weekend as Irish athletes, including last year’s Novice Champion Fiona Everard, take to competition at the European Cross Country Championships in Belgium on December 10.
