Finn Valley got off to a great start in the under 11 girls race with Niamh Doherty following up on her win in the recent Donegal Championships with a very easy victory to become Ulster Champion from Shauna McAnespie from Glaslough in 2nd and Finn Valley team-mate Jodie Stewart putting in a terrific sprint finish to finish one second behind in 3rd position. Ciara Devenney had one of her best races this year to finish in 10th position with Emily Murphy, daughter of Irish International athlete Anne Murphy making up the scoring team in 11th place.

Michelle Gallagher, Grace Ward, Aileen Brennan and Stephanie Connolly also ran very well in this race.

Finn Valley won the team with 25 points with Milford 2nd on 40 points and Letterkenny 3rd on 52 points.

The under 11 boys were next to the start line and they totally dominated the race with Gerry Boyle having the race of his life to win the Silver medal, Matthew Kelly (All-Ireland Champion in the Ball Throw) finishing one second behind in Bronze medal position with Christopher McBride on his heels in 4th position and Patrick Geary in 5th position.

Niall Doherty, Andrew Gallagher, Eamon Quinn, James McCafferty, Aaron McMenamin, Kieran Brennan, Kevin Smith and Cormac Gallen also ran very well.

Finn Valley won the team easily with 18 points, Glaslough 2nd 47 points, Cranford 3rd 52 points, Letterkenny 4th on 81 points.

The under 13 girls race produced a great battle between the Donegal Champion Breda McGinty (F.V) and Ailish McColgan running for Sparta NW. Ailish is the daughter of former World Champion Liz McColgan from Scotland and Peter McColgan from Strabane. Breda ran very strongly throughout the race and pulled away in the last lap finishing 1st 5 seconds ahead of Ailish in 2nd place and Frances Forbes from Three Ways in 3rd.

Shauna Guthrie continues her good form this season finishing 11th with Jackie Gibson 13th and Clara Dunnion 18th, Aoife Whelan, Catherine Gallagher, Eilish Patton, Natasha Duffy, Siobhan Gallagher and Fionnuala Lindsay also had very strong runs.

Finn Valley won the team with 43 points, Glaslough 2nd on 50 points, Letterkenny 3rd on 60 points. Donegal won the inter-county Championship.

The under 13 boys who are the current All-Ireland Champions both in their own age group and the age group above were next to the start line. This was also a great race to watch with the top three athletes in the Donegal Championships battling it out to become the Ulster Champion. Ryan McDaid who is the individual All-Ireland Cross Country Champion from last year took the lead from the start with Dan King from Milford in hot pursuit.

Ian Ward, who had recently come out top in the Donegal Championships, fell at the start of the race and had a bit of ground to make up but he made his way through and got up for second position in the run in just one second behind Ryan who retained his title, in fact, only three seconds separated these three very talented athletes at the finish line. Shane Bonner 5th, Aodhan Connolly 6th, Pauric McLaughlin 7th showing that this team will be aiming for Gold in Cork. Great runs also by Conor McNulty, Lorcan McMenamin, Philip Browne, Dermot Brennan, Karl Bradley, Christopher O’Leary and Gavin Foy who showed the depth of talent in this age group winning the Team Bronze.

Finn Valley ‘A’ in 1st place on 14 points, St. Malachy’s, Belfast 2nd with 98 points and Finn Valley ‘B’ 3rd on 100 points. Donegal won the inter-county Championship.

The under 15 girls were next to the start line and were very unfortunate being seriously impeded at the start when the officials mistakenly blew the whistle while still holding our team behind the tape. However, the famous true grit of Finn Valley came to the fore and after untangling themselves chased after the other runners who by now had a 30 metre head start and got up for Bronze team medals.

Maeve Culhane 10th, Nikki Alcorn 21st, Fionnuala Bruton 23rd and Emma O’Neill 29th. Aine McLaughlin, Aishling Rushe and Laura Friel also ran very well.

Letterkenny 1st on 46 points, Craigavan 2nd on 80 points and Finn Valley 3rd on 83 points. Maeve and Nikki scored on the Donegal Team who won the gold medals in the inter-county race.

The under 15 boys were our last team to compete with high hopes of yet another winning performance and indeed they excelled themselves against the much fancied St. Malachy’s from Belfast. Diarmuid Fullerton, Maurice Boyle, Conor McConnell, Jonathan Browne, Alan Cavanagh and Enda Doherty won the team Gold with 56 points from St. Malachy’s on 79 points and North Belfast Harriers on 84 points. Kevin Gallagher, Paul McGrath and Ronan McCabe also ran well in this race with Stefan Connolly having a below par performance suffering from cramp.

Donegal won the inter-county Championship.