Craughwell AC's Gerry Ryan won this year's Martin Egan Memorial 10k, which took place in Beagh/Shanaglish on Sunday.
Ryan crossed the tape in a fantastic time of 33:20 on his return to racing after a 17-month injury absence.
Conor Dolan (GCH ) was second in 34.14 while Colm Turner (Limerick AC ) was third. Kieran Diviney was the first local man home for the third year in a row.
Sinead Brody (GCH ) won the women's event in 41.04, while Anne Murray from SGAC was second and Jean Forde was third. Ailish Whelan was the first local lady home.
Schools Cross Country Championships
Galway schools came home with a large medal haul from the Connacht Primary Schools Cross Country Championships in Summerhill Sligo on Saturday.
Fergus Deeley of New Inn was the individual Galway star of the day with a superb win in the junior boys 800m race, just pipping Shane Fitzpatrick of Creagh NS, Ballinasloe, who took silver. Creagh NS won team gold ahead of New Inn, while other Creagh gold medal winners were team members Niall Jennings, Jason Cunningham and Joseph Tierney. The New Inn team scorers were Darragh Donoghue, John Cosgrave and Cathal Ward
In the junior girls 800m, Emma Moore of Lisheenkyle NS took second place ahead of Clarinbridge’s Saoirse Moore, while Killeeneen’s Caoimhe Connolly also ran a fine race to finish seventh. Ava Carr and Katie Scully (22 and 28 ) and Ella Lydon (102 ) helped the Clarenbridge team to secure bronze team medals.
In the senior boys 1000m, Clarinbridge won team silver with 68 points, just three points off gold. David Lee was first home in 12th place with brother Gavin 16th and Liam Leen hot on his heels in 17th. Eoin Lyons completed a fine team score with 23rd place. Kyle Moorhead in a super individual eighth place led his Craughwell NS team to the bronze medals with a fine score of 89 points, and was followed home by team scorers Shaun Gallagher 22nd, Gavin Kelly 29th, and Adam Stewart 30th.
In the senior girls 1000m, the Lisheenkyle NS team had a fine silver medal winning performance, and a fourth place individual run for Freya Bohan, with Ellie Cronin in 23rd, Chloe Quirke and Ciara Mcdonagh also scoring for their team,
Craughwell NS’s team took the bronze medals with Mia Waters, the Miskella sisters, Emily and Ailbhe, and Rebekah Flynn completing the scoring four.
Athletics Ireland Open Cross Country
The first big race of the cross country season took place on the famous Munich Lap in the Phoenix Park on Sunday. The 8km open race saw GCH athlete Gary Thornton lead the race early on, but he was overhauled late on and finished a creditable seventh in a tough field. Craughwell's Peter O’Sullivan took 37th place and also won a spot on the Irish Masters team for his efforts. Craughwell junior athletes Neil Greaney and Damien O'Boyle had good runs in the junior race with 15th and 17th place finishes.
Martin McEvilly of GCH took the O65 win in the 5km event and also secured yet another Irish cap on the Masters team for the Home Internationals in Nottingham next month.
