A much shorter journey to the second All-Ireland XC in Conna, Co. Cork for our athletes this weekend and getting to sleep in their own beds and travelling on the day made the preparations a little easier😊. It was a really muddy course with lots of twists and turns and a long and steady climb through long grass to the finish. These are the conditions our athletes seem to excel on and St. Cronans had a fantastic day with our 13 athletes again taking home well over 20 All-Ireland medals.

Our U11 team put in a startling strong performance and gave every last bit of energy to ensure they scored points for the team. In a race of almost 200 of the fastest U11’s in Ireland and Northern Ireland 3 of our athletes (Riain, Matthew & Darragh) made the podium and all 6 put in such an effort that St. Cronan’s took the team 🥇GOLD🥇 in style. This is an exceptional team and have the ability with lots of hard work and training to stay at the top for years to come. The other teams will be fighting hard to take this title next year.

Our U13 team were just beaten out of silver by Moy Valley and took 🥉BRONZE🥉 in a really tough race won by Templeogue AC. A number of our athletes on this team were running above their normal age group so this was still a great achievement. Oran ran a, particularly, excellent race and finished 🥉 individually with the tightest of margins to gold. Our U12’s and U13’s are as talented as any group in Ireland and have won multiple medals over the last few years but to stay at the top they know that dedication to this sport, team work and turning up focussed for every training session are essential.

Our individual runner, Daithi, in the U15 boys race put in a very strong performance, despite also running out of age and finished among the very top runners for his age. The progress he has made this year shows that he has, beyond doubt, the ability to be on the All-Ireland podium in this same event next year.

Full results here

Video of the races here

🙌🏼🙌🏼Well done Athletes and thank you coaches! 🙌🏼🙌🏼