Well done to all the USAC Juveniles who competed at the Wexford County Cross Country Championships, at JFK Park, in the Autumn sunshine. The day got off to a great start for the Striders with our boys & girls under 10’s performing really well. Winning loads of medals and running strongly were Cormac Delaney, Heather Costello, Ruairi Lyng and Eanna Grennan.
The U12’s had to contend with a 2 km course, that was in perfect condition, considering the recent rain. The girls team, Katie Costello, Millie Sutton and Sadhbh Rossiter all ran well judged races and were just outside the team medal positions. The boys squad, Sean Lennon, Luca O’Connor, Danny Costello, Tommaso Hickey, Sam Myers, Charlie Alfred and Olan Delaney, ran exceptionally well and won a fantastic silver medal in the team event. 
The U14 girls were one athlete short of a team, but Isabel Bawden and Kelly Corbett ran really well over 3 km. The Striders boys team however turned out in big numbers and dominated the race from start to finish with Aidan Shannon, Myles Hewlett and Darragh Flannelly filling the first three places. With Cosmo Hewlett, Eoin Shannon, Owen Lennon and Oisin McEochaidh all claiming top ten spots, this was a very profitable race for the club, as we added team silver and gold to the individual medals. Clodagh Foran led home the girls U16 team, in a fantastic third place over 4 km. Also running well, just behind Clodagh were Eve Byrne, Louise Doyle, Aisling Power and Ellie Quinn, who combined to win a team gold. The U16 boys team of Adam O’Connor, Aaron Browne, Cian Flanagan, Ryan Kielthy and Daniel Wickham won another team medal, with more strong performances. For the second event of the day, the Striders filled the podium, with Katie Murphy sprinting to victory in the girls U18 event ahead of Rebecca Bawden and Alannah Byrne. In the last of the under age events, Aedan Rogers produced the outstanding performance of the day in winning the boys U18 event ahead of team mates James Boland and Nic Walkden. Competing over 6 km, with the Men’s Novice runners, Aedan raced to an early lead and proceeded to win by a large margin.
Well done to all who assisted in the organisation and preparation of the event, at an amazing venue that’s recognised as the finest cross country course in the south east.
