Oisin Fitzgibbon relished the mud and the hills that confronted all the runners in the National Juvenile Uneven Age Groups Cross Country championships at Waterford IT Sports Campus on Sunday. Oisin, competing in the Boys u/17s race held over 5.000m, made a conservative start and then used his strength to work his way through the competitive field to place an excellent 11^th crossing the finish line. He was the 3^rd scorer on the Dublin team that won the inter-county championship and that also finished 2^nd in the regional contest. Well done Oisin! A great reward for the hard work put into training.

The Girls u/15s team gave a very creditable performance when placing 7^th of 14 closing team in what proved a very eventful race held over 3.500m of ‘real’ cross country terrain. The challenging course proved a much stiffer task than the recent Dublin championship race, but all 4 members of the team could not be faulted for determination. Lucy McCann led the team home in 27^th position despite being hampered with a stitch in the latter stages of the race. Next in was Keeva Murray. Keeva made great gains after a conservative start and was challenging for a top 20 spot with just one of the 3 laps to go. However she put in an ambitious burst of speed causing a lactate concentration upsurge and she struggled home in 38^th place. Keeva was the fourth of 6 scorers on the Dublin team that won bronze medals behind Cork and Wicklow. Next home for Donore was Eliza Ni Thighearnaigh in 64^th place, whilst Roisin Rynn-Cahill struggled to come to terms with the soft underfoot conditions and she placed 91^st in a field of well over 100 competitors.

The inter-club team prize went to Inbhear Dee AC of Wicklow Town on 64 points. DSD (110) and Omagh Harriers (125) came next with Donore Harriers 7^th on 220.

The other Donore Harriers athletes who competed on the day were: – Sam Allen 34^th in the Boys u/19s race over 6.000m; Ryan Kiernan who was forced to drop out of the same race due to a recurring injury; Stephen Gavin 39^th in the Boys u/17s race; and Niamh Dowling 45^th in the Girls u/19s over 4.000m.