Irish Schools Athletic Association hosts the annual Cross Country International

25 Mar 2011


This Saturday the Irish Schools' Athletic Association hosts the annual AVIVA SIAB Schools' Cross Country International on Greenmount Campus, Antrim. It is being run in conjunction with Athletics Northern Ireland who are hosting the Home Countries Cross Country International at the same venue.


This event brings together the best young athletes from the recent schools' championships which have been taking place in these islands over the past few weeks. In Ireland the leading runners from the AVIVA All-Ireland Schools' Championships held two weeks ago in Abbotstown will head the Irish Schools' Teams at Intermediate and Junior level.


Siofra Cleirigh Buttnerwho has a string of victories to her credit from the National Junior Title to Schools' Champion will be severely tested this time by the English Schools' Champion, Jessica Judd. Jessicaa won her 3rd English Schools' title last Saturday in Nottingham by 34 seconds from Alice Wright. Scotland's Rachel Dunn has the capability to figure in this one.


In the Intermediate Boys' race the English Schools' Champion, James McMurray, is the favourite but teammates Matt Shirling and Jonathan Davies will not be too far away. The Irish challenge will come from the improving Ian Hartnett and first year Inter, Aaron Hanlon.


In the Junior Girls' race Ireland's Ella Fennelly has been the most improved young cross country runner this year and thoroughly deserved her Evening Herald Schools' Athlete of the Week Award. But she she will get her severest test to date when taking on English Schools' Champion Bronwen Owen from Yorkshire. Bronwen won that title in emphatic fashion with eight seconds to spare over Surrey's Katie Sheil-Rankin.


Thomas Holden from Surrey took the English Schools' title from Middlesex's Paulos Asgodom by six seconds and should lead the English challenge here. Ireland's Shane McGowan from Derry and Sligo's William Crowe will be hoping to get among the English in this Junior Boys' race. The Welsh will have Lewis Jones to cheer for in this one.

 

 

Junior Girls Team

  1. Ella Fennelly                                                      
  2. Nicole Cuskelly                                                 
  3. Niamh Cotter                                                    
  4. Isabelle Sherlock                                                             
  5. Vera Fadel                                                         
  6. Deirdre Healy                                                   
  7. Louise Shanahan                                                             
  8. Annie Daly                                                         

Team Manager: Breda O'Sullivan

 

Intermediate Girls Team

  1. Siofra Cleirigh Buttner                                   
  2. Linda Conroy                                                     
  3. Jean Clancy                                                        
  4. Clare Nic Carthaigh                                         
  5. Rosie Hynes                                                      
  6. Niamh Clancy                                                    
  7. Sarah Hawkshaw                                                             
  8. Yasmin Wilson                                                  

Team Manager: Ciara Broe

 

Junior Boys Team

  1. Shane McGowan                                                            
  2. William Crowe                                                  
  3. Liam Mac Giolla Phadraig                                             
  4. Peter Gibbons                                                  
  5. Dylan Keegan                                                   
  6. Jack Reid                                                             
  7. Harry Larkin                                                       
  8. Jack Keoghan                                                    

Team manager: Damian Lawlor

 

Intermediate Boys Team

  1. Ian Hartnett                                                      
  2. Aaron Hanlon                                                   
  3. James McGeogh                                                             
  4. Kyle Larkin                                                         
  5. Killian O'Maonaigh                                         
  6. Shane Fitzsimons                                                            
  7. Aaron O'Brien                                                  
  8. Andrew Coscoran                                                           

Team manager: Alan O'Neill

 

Team Manager: Michael Roche