Women’s meet and train league 

It was a great morning in Tymon Park for the first round of the women’s meet and train cross country league , thankfully the rain stopped well in time although conditions underfoot were slippy and muddy….we had 7 runners out , 3 of which did the marathon a few weeks ago.  117 runners took part in the 2 mile 3 lap race hosted by Sportsworld,

Well done Louise Kelly 15th, Suzie Henley Willis 28th, Ruth Chambers 45th, Lee Chambers 72nd, Sarah Ni Ruairc 90th, Catherine McKeon 96th and Ann Woodlock 116th.  Louise, Suzie and Sarah ran particularly well working their way through the field with the marathon still in their legs, great to see Lee and Ruth Chambers back in action as well as stalwarts Catherine and Ann. Back at the race afters in St Jude’s GAA, the legendary Ann was also presented with a gift of a customised medal holder from her clubmates to mark her world indoor win this year in Poland

REPORT – NCAA NORTH-EAST REGIONAL CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS at Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx, New York (10.11.2023) and NCAA SOUTH REGIONAL CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS at Mark Bostick Golf Course, Gainesville, Florida (10.11.2023)  

In March 2000, just one week before the first Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, Abdel Laadjel of Donore Harriers and Michael Morgan of Sligo AC won the All-Ireland Schools Cross-Country championship titles in the intermediate and senior grades respectively. 

On Friday last the same two athletes were running in tandem near the front of the NCAA NORTH-EAST REGIONAL CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, New York. 

The 10km course was fast and consisted of one-short and two long loops. Running for the esteemed Providence College Friars the duo set their targets on a top-10 finish in the hope of qualifying for the NCAA National Cross-Country Championships to take place in Charlottesville, Virginia next Saturday 18th of November 2023. 

The training partners were always running close to the top order in a highly competitive field, with Laadjel making positional gains between the 7km and 9km points and eventually secured 9th spot in an impressive time of 29.55.0. Morgan pushed forward in the final kilometre to place 6th in 29.51.2. The race was won by Graham Blanks (29.31.6) of Harvard University. There were 253 finishers. 

Laadjel was the 2nd scorer on the Friars team that placed 4th of 37.

In the NCAA SOUTH REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS at the Mark Bostick Golf Course at Gainesville, Florida Louis O’Loughlin, the other Donore Harriers athlete presently on scholarship in the States, placed 51st of 171 finishers in a time of 30.38.7. The Clondalkin man was lying back in the 80s and 90s positions in the middle part of the race and left himself with too much to do in the latter stages to impact toward the front of the race. He finished as the 4th scorer on the Auburn University Tigers team that placed 7th of 23. His race was won by Hilary Cheryiouut (28.26.8) of Alabama University. 

RESULTS:

NCAA NORTHEAST REGIONAL CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS at Bronx, New York (10.11.2023) – Men’s 10km race – 9th Abdel Laadjel (29.55.0). 253 finishers.

NCAA SOUTH REGIONAL CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS at Gainesville, Florida (10.11.2023) – Men’s 10km race – 51st Louis O’Loughlin (30.38.7). 171 finishers.