St. Andrew's National School
Curragha
​​Co. Meath

Cumann na mBunscol Cross Country Championships
​February 14th 2020

Conditions were wet, muddy, windy and wild - in other words absolutely PERFECT for Cross Country running - at Fairyhouse Racecourse today for the annual Cumann na mBunscol Cross Country Championships.

As always we had some absolutely outstanding performances with Aisling Shevlin from 5th class dominating in the Girls Under 11 category and coming in first place, closely followed by Kirsty Greene in 2nd place. To take the top two spots in a field of over 100 children is a feat most schools could only dream of. With a powerful performance by Oristown with 4 girls placed in the top twenty our girls sadly just got beaten into 2nd place for the team title. Well done to Tara Keogh, Maggi Caffrey, Holly Geraghty, Sophia McDermott, Aisling McMahon and Aine O'Connor who completed our Under 11 line out and gave outstanding performances in their own rights.

Our Under 13 girls put in a wonderful performance in their attempt to defend their county title, falling just slightly short by coming in a very creditable third place overall, with Imogen Horgan pulling off an impressive 7th place - all the more praiseworthy considering she was 3 days too old to run at Under 11 level!!! We are eyeing that plaque for next year girls!! A special mention to Emma Mc Mahon, Gina Ronan and Rachel Storey who stepped up an age group to Under 13 level to complete a full squad with Ava Cleary, Ellen O'Callaghan, Carly Parsons and Jane McDermott showing us how it's done with 4 top 25 finishes!

Our Under 11 boys team was blighted severely by a winter virus hitting 3rd and 4th class but our boys rallied admirably and pulled off great performances under difficult circumstances. Jamie Egan, Leo Hussey, Tigh Carey O'Neill, Ross Doyle, Conor Weldon and Conor Rowland pulled off great runs and were delighted to have a full squad to run with thanks to Niall Horgan and Harry Greene from 2nd class stepping into the breach to fill the squad at the last minute.

The final section of the day was the boys under 13 and we were in dire straits having lost one of our athletics superstars Conor Toole to injury only 2 days before. Our hopes of taking a first ever boys title for Curragha were looking doubtful but nobody told the boys that!!! Christopher Conlan stormed home in 2nd place leading his team to the title with amazing finishes in 11th (Thomas Morgan), 13th (Kevin Doyle) and 16th (Mylo Hussey). With a 42 points tally the boys took the county title with 10 points to spare. Charles Dowse ably supported his Under 13 colleagues with his highest ever finish at a county championship in 40th and as with the girls team we had a few heroes stepping up to complete the squad by running in a higher age group and finishing in highly commendable positions - well done to Jamie Whelan (18th) , Louis Cahalan (24th)  and Lucas Duffy (58th). 

We are as ever, so very very proud of you all for thrilling and delighting us with your dedication in very difficult conditions and bringing home (yet again) another county title!!