Termoncanice Primary claim the top honours

The 2013/14 Flahavan’s ANI Primary School Cross Country League, incorporating the Springwell Cup, kicked off this week with the first race at Ballymoney’s Riada Stadium.

Pupils from eight local schools, aged from Primary Five to Primary Seven, competed over the 1,000 metre race to try and win their school the points.

Termoncanice Primary School claimed the honours on the day after superb running from a host of local kids, notably from Sean Deehan who took third place.

The fastest six pupils on the day from each school are awarded points to represent their school. The schools with the best overall score, taken from two out of three races will win the Springwell Cup. The top three schools from each area, in addition to the top five individuals from each area will also be entered in the ANI Primary School Cross Country Final.

In the first race, at the Riada Stadium in Ballymoney, Termoncanice claimed the honours for best overall school, while the Limavady primary also claimed the honours in the boy’s event. Meanwhile, Glenravel Primary School claimed top awards for the girls running team. Local girl and Drumachose Primary School Niamh Mulligan, however, narrowly missed out on the top individual honours by just two seconds.

On the day, the girls got the proceedings underway, setting off at a blistering pace down the opening straight.

Tolulope Jide-Ojo of Portstewart set the pace from the start coming home to win in 3:55 with Niamh McKay of Glenravel PS taking second in 4:08 and Lucy McCallum (DH Christie Memorial PS) just pipping Niamh Mulligan (Drumachose PS) on the line, both crossing the line in 4:10.

The boy’s race produced an epic battle between Cathal Hynds (Glenravel PS) and Patrick Irwin (Portrush PS). Cathal led the race into the final straight but Patrick produced a final effort but was unable to close the gap with Cathal winning in 3:39 and Patrick a further two seconds back. Sean Deehan of Termoncanice PS took third place in 3:43.

After the races the Athletics NI’s Dean Adams presented medals to the top three in each race.

Springwell Running Club would like to thank Ballymoney Borough Council for the use of the facilities at Raida Stadium and the staff’s assistance is setting up the course. Thanks also to schools and parents who turned up to support their kids and the members Springwell who helped out.

The next race is set for December 4 at Coleraine University campus at 10.30am.