NEWCASTLE & District were the top club at the Northern Ireland & Ulster Senior Cross Country Championships at Lurgan Park.
Seamus Lynch took the individual bronze medal to lead the Down club to a first ever senior men’s team title, while Newcastle’s Shalane McMurray was a runaway winner of the women’s individual crown.
City of Derry Spartans, going for a third title in-a-row, lost their senior men’s crown but had some consolation with Aaron Doherty taking the individual gold medal.
And there was a deserved women’s team title for Beechmount Harriers, one of the most hardworking clubs in Northern Ireland.
It is well over a century since bookmakers were banned from athletics events, but they would have been rubbing their hands with delight after Aaron Doherty’s victory in the men’s race.
You could have named your odds about a victory for the Madrid-based schoolteacher who was unable to gain selection for Ireland’s over 35 team back in November.
But the Derry man ran a canny race to land his first senior title of any description. His task was made somewhat easier by the absence of clubmate and defending champion Declan Reed, but he played his cards perfectly.
Always in the leading bunch, he drew away in the latter stages to win comfortably by 14 seconds from North Belfast Harrier Mark McKinstry, who had filled the same position 12 months earlier.
Seamus Lynch capped an excellent winter by taking the individual bronze medal, another 14 seconds back, but will probably have been more pleased about leading a determined Newcastle squad to their first ever NI & Ulster senior men’s team title.
Eoghan Totten took fourth and was soon followed by Iain Whiteside (sixth), David O’Flaherty (ninth), David Simpson (13th) but they then had to wait until David Steele arrived home in 21st spot to seal an historic victory for the Mournemen.
Shalane McMurray had kicked off the afternoon in perfect fashion for the large Newcastle contingent when she registered a gun to tape win in the women’s race.
McMurray, a 37-year-old mother of two, only took up the sport this year and won the NI & Ulster Intermediate title last month in Coleraine.
Beechmount’s Gerrie Short produced her best run of the season, and possibly her career, to take the runner-up spot, coming home almost a minute behind the Newcastle athlete.
Dromore’s consistent Rebecca Henderson finished strongly for third, another nine seconds in arrears.
Beechmount bridged a 21-year gap by lifting the provincial women’s team title on the back of solid packing from Short, Catherine Diver (eighth), Sarah Lavery (15th) and Daire McCarton (21st).
Dromore took the runner-up spot with 51 points, while Lagan Valley picked up the bronze medals, another seven points back.
Meanwhile, Ciara Mageean got her season back on the road with a new Irish indoor record for the mile of 4:28.40, erasing Roisin McGettigan from the books.
The previous weekend the Portaferry woman had dropped out of the 3000m at the Valentine Meeting in Boston.
Her time was only good enough for sixth in the Wanaker Mile, won by Irish-American Shannon Rowbury in 4:24.39.
National record holder Tori Pena was also sixth in the pole vault and in a consistent evening for the Irish it was sixth place also for Donore Harrier John Travers in the Armory Mile in a personal best 3:58.10.
Donegal man Mark English finished second on Saturday in the 800m at the Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix behind Polish athlete Adam Kszczot, three days after winning a 500m in Stockholm in a new Irish record of 1:00.93.
North Belfast Harrier Gladys Ganiel O’Neill may have lost her final chance of a place at the Rio Olympics despite running a qualifying time of 2:38.47 in yesterday’s Seville Marathon.
The time only puts her fourth in the Irish pecking order for Rio, with just three places available.
Clubmate Breege Connolly (2:37:29) remains in third behind Lizzie Lee (2:32:51) and Fionnuala Britton (2:33.15).
Raheny Shamrock Mick Clohisey moved up one place in the men’s standings with a 2:15.08 clocking in the men’s race.
Belfast man Kevin Seaward continues to lead the way with his 2:14:52 in Berlin last autumn. Paul Pollock warmed up for his assault on the mark at the London Marathon with a solid 63:45 timing in yesterday’s Wokingham Half Marathon.
