This year’s edition of the SIAB Schools International cross country took place in Callander Park, Falkirk, in Scotland.
The fantastic individual wins for Darragh Whelan in the Junior Boys race and Freya Renton in the Intermediate Girls race were not the only performances that the large numbers of Irish fans in attendance had to cheer around the course or at the medal ceremony at the conclusion of competition. It was quite the medal haul with the individual wins backed up by an impressive six team silver medals (Junior Girls, Junior Boys, Intermediate Girls, Intermediate Boys, Mixed Junior Relay and Mixed Inter Relay).
Weather conditions were perfect on the day with the sun shining and little or no wind. The course itself was challenging with steep inclines and a large number of switch backs and right angled turns. There was also a demanding camber on much of the course which made it tough for athletes to get into a rhythm.
The first race of the day was the day was the Junior Girls, who raced 3000m. Right from the starters signal England’s Gabrielle Pinder took control of the race and over the two laps gradually extended her lead. She crossed the finish line with a comfortable eight seconds lead over Scotlands Monroe McBrearty who after the first kilometre was only sitting in 10th but had moved through the field with purpose and at one point looked like she might challenge Pinder. Beth Reamsbottom led home a tightly packed Irish squad with an 8th place finish. She went out hard and was never out of the top ten. With Ruby Farrelly, Nellie Bateman 11th, Lily Walsh, Laura Ayres, May Duckett, Cassie Curran and Aine Smith the team combined for fantastic set of team silver medals.
The Junior Boys raced over a distance of 4000m and Ireland’s Darragh Whelan showed some guile in the early stages as he sat in and let Leo Blyton from England take out the pace. The two quickly separated themselves from the rest of the field and though Blyton set a blistering pace he could not shake off a determined Whelan. With a lap to go Whelan took the lead and he stretched away from Blyton and had a lead of twelve seconds as he crossed the finishing line victorious. Meanwhile Ethan Bramhill had made steady progress through the field and then on the last lap surged past the English pack as he accelerated up and down the courses many inclines to come home with a 4th place finish just outside of the medals. With Cormac Leheny, Rory Gruddy, Samuel Redmond, Owen Acheson and Finn Elliott all racing strongly the team also collected silver for their efforts.
In the Intermediate Girls race over 4000m Freya Renton bludgeoned the field into submission with a brutal pace. Her competitors made the mistake of trying to stay on terms with her in the early stages meaning that though she only had a twenty five metre lead after the first kilometre it would steadily increase as the race progressed. However her relentless pace meant at the conclusion of the race that her lead extended out to twenty seconds over Englands Jasmine Christmas and Kitty Scott who had tried to hang on to Rentons early pace. With her twin sister Holly and Emma Hickey finishing in the top ten as well as good runs for Ellen Goggin, Abby Smith, Megan Brunt, Tara Rose Smith and Ella Grace Osborne the team also won silver medals.
The Intermediate Boys raced 6000m over this quite technical course and for the first lap no one was prepared to take on the lead. When the pace eventually picked up the field quickly spread out. While Rory Barclay-Watt was able to save English blushes as his win meant that Irelands two individual victories was matched by England. With Charlie O’Neill 7th and David Wajrak 8th the team were also in with a fighting chance of matching the team performances of the other Irish squads. The team packed well and with Andrew Hinds, Jack Mahon, Ciaran Considine, Riley Connolly, Ben O’Reilly and Ronan Keaney all fighting to the finish line they were able to hold off a tough challenge from Scotland to win silver medals too.
Athletics Ireland would like to congratulate our athletes who did us all proud today. Making a SIAB team is a huge achievement, and we wish you the best for the remainder of your season.
