Athletes from Foyle Valley AC in Derry have made the long trip to Waterford to compete in the AAI All Ireland Cross Country Novice Championships taking place today.
The club has competitors in both the men’s and women’s events which will feature athletes from all four provinces.
Following on from the women’s team success at the Northern Ireland and Ulster Novice at Gransha in November, the Derry team will field an equally strong team for the Irish novice.
Newcomers Sarah Lindsay and Charlene McIntyre will be seeking to stamp their mark at an all-Ireland level while regulars Martina McMullan, Denise McElhone, Deirdre Quigg and Trish McClintock will match their efforts to contest the honours in the female race.
The Foyle Valley ladies a 4k course at the Waterford WIT and will need four out of the six runners to feature highly in the rankings to be in with a chance of claiming any all-Ireland success.
The men’s team is made up of Foyle Valley stalwarts Keith Shiels, Scott Rankin, Pius McIntyre, Decky Doherty, Dara McNulty and Ciaran Graham.
They will be joined by rising stars Adrian McGowan and Stephen Connor, representing a strong eight man team from the club to take on the 6k course.
The men will need four high finishers to achieve any honours.
Ably assisted by club coaches, Donal Dunn and Gabriel Bell, the two teams are confident about today’s race.
Gabriel said: The All-Ireland novice is an important race in the annual national cross country calendar.
“As a coach I felt we had very strong teams to compete for honours in both the men’s and women’s races.
“We have a great mix of mature and new runners in each team and this will stand us in good stead for the two races.”
Gabriel concluded: “In training they all work very hard together and have gelled very well as a team.”
Tags:
