St. Malachy’s Athletics Club U16 boys team had a convincing win at the All Ireland clubs cross country on Sunday 27th November at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown, Co. Dublin. The winning score of 72 points was less than half of the second placed team, Clonliffe Harriers from Dublin (150 points). Tony McCambridge lead the team with a fine performance, finishing in 9th place. Tim Scott showed a welcome return to form, finishing fast to claim 17th place. One of those Tim passed in the home straight was teammate Conall McClean who had his best ever run at this level for 18th. Adam Ferris worked his way up through the field throughout the race to claim an excellent 26th place, Adam is still eligible for this age group next year and will be aiming for a strong finish in the U15 championships in just under two weeks. Matteo Lavorca followed close behind Adam with another strong run in 32nd. Ruari Gallagher, who is two years younger than most of the team, gained valuable race experience in 116th. Such is the depth of the team that they still would have won if they had counted their 2nd to 5th men (instead of the usual top 4).

In the U14 boys race Daniel McComiskey had a fine race to finish in 25th place. Callum Morgan followed close behind him in 29th, a brilliant performance given that he lost a spike on the first corner when someone clipped his heel and ran the whole race with only one shoe. Oscar Smyth continued his improvement with a solid 56th place.

Diarmuid Hanna made an superb start in the U12 boys race, leading the field round the first corner. His early exertions did catch up with him, but he held on really well over the 2k distance to finish in an excellent 15th place.