Springwell juniors excel in Dundalk cross country championship event

Tolu Jide-Ojo was the first Springwell athlete in action in the Girls Under 12 race. Tolu finished 40th and was a member of the Ulster bronze medal winning team.

There was further success for Ulster when Springwell’s Niamh Carr (4th) led the Ulster team to a silver medal in the Girls Under 14 race.

In the Boys Under 14 Andrew Gordon finished 19th and was a member of the Ulster gold medal winning team. Andrew was joined by Jack Culbertson 44th, Johnny Mairs 82nd Eoughan Gormley 119th, Andrew Carr 120th and Adam Campbell 150th as the Springwell team finished seventh.

Abigail McBroom 10th was a member of the Ulster silver medal winning team. She was joined by Rebekah Hunter 28th, Molly Brennan 47th, Aine McKinney 50th Ellie Beverage 84th and Amy Fountain 110th as the Springwell girls team finished fifth.

Aife McSheffrey was Springwell sole representative in Girls Under 18 race finishing 17th in a time of 16:13.

Luke Dinsmore was a member of the Ulster bronze medal winning team finishing 33rd in 21:15 in the Boy’s Under 18 race.

The final race of the day was the prestigious Senior and Under 23 men’s event, which covered 10K in distance. The race was won by defending Champion Paul Pollock (Annadale Striders) in 30:40 and Liam Brady (Tullamore Harriers) took the honours in the Under 23 race.

Springwell has two athletes in this race representing County Derry. Neill Johnston ran 33:31 (34th) and Conor Christie 36:04 (84th) as the Derry team finished seventh in the county race.

This was a great days racing for the Springwell team who gained valuable experience against the best young athletes in Ireland. Thanks to the parents who many the long trip to transport and support their kids.

On Saturday, Springwell had four runners in a strong Northern Ireland team which competed against teams from Ireland, England, Wales and Scotland at the British & Irish Masters XC International in Nottingham.

Best performance of the day came from Philip Tweedie in the M45 race. Philip led the NI team home finishing sixth in 27:02. Sonia Knox ran well to finish second NI lady in the F45 race. Sonia finished 11th in 22:27. Chris Denton was second NI runner home in the M40 race running 28:50. Jim Platt ran 29:10 in the M70 race.

On Sunday, Springwell’s Katherine Woods finished first lady at the second race NW Triathlon Winter 5K Series on Sunday in a PB time of 20:10. The race was won by Foyle Valley’s Stephen Connor in 15:48.

The conditions were, once again, excellent for the 83 runners at Saturdays Portrush parkrun. The high tide at 6.12am, left the sand slightly soft underfoot in places and the rain stayed away just long enough for everyone to complete the course.

There were a number of tourists from England as well as those from neighbouring parkruns. There were 8 first timers, 19 PB’s recorded and 4 different athletics clubs represented.

The runners generously applauded Andy Deal and Mervyn Thompson who both celebrated birthday’s this weekend.

Springwell’s Glenn Millar was first to finish in 18:49 and for the second week in succession it was a Springwell 1, 2 &3 for the ladies. Karen McLaughlin finished in 21:00 followed by Hermione Skuce and Linda Gillen

Springwell Times - Glenn Millar 18:49, Alex Curran 19:29 (PB), Robert Simpson 19:52, Karen McLaughlin 21.00, Hermione Skuce 21:11 (PB), Richard Baker 21:15 (PB), Johnny Goldie 21:50, Mervyn Thompson 21:52, Jean-Claude Bourgeois 22:06, Graeme Montgomery 22:47, Linda Gillen 22:53, Bob McLaughlin 24:50, Rozzy Shuce 24:54, Betty Deighan 25:32 (PB), Melanie Millar 26:55, Molly Blee 27:27 (PB), Judith McLaughlin 27:58 (PB), Catherine Byers 30:12

Springwell parkrun tourists - Alistair Shaw led the runners home at the Valley parkrun (Newtownabbey) in 19:01. Gary Moore ran 20.21 and Catherine Pinkerton-Moore 22:29 at St Anne’s parkrun (Dublin). Davy Patterson ran a PB time of 25:03 at Belfast Victoria parkrun. Stephen Morrison ran 21:53 at Derry City parkrun.

Everyone is invited to Portrush parkrun’s annual Santa run on Saturday 20 December.