The cross country season got underway last Sunday when the uneven ages county championships were contested at Skibbereen. The course was one of the toughest ever used for underage cross country in Cork, with most of the younger runners unprepared for it’s severity.
Clash of the day came in the under 19 race with the head-to-head between Jamie McCarthy and our own Mark Hanrahan. Mark, as ever, set the pace, with Jamie on his shoulder. They also had Keith Linehan for company on the first lap before the fast pace forced him to fall back.
As the race progressed Jamie tried to take the lead on a couple of occasions, but was pegged back by Mark who insisted on leading. However, he had no answer on the final lap when Jamie finally surged clear for a good win.
Keith was joined by Timmy O’donoghue at the start of the last lap but shrugged off his challenge to take third. Leevale won the team title with Richard O’Connor and 
Aaron Hornibrook completing the scoring.
Ciaran O’Lionaird took control of the under 17 race before the halfway mark and ran on strongly to win easily. BTW, Ciaran ran the race in spite of breaking his arm while on holidays in mid August, something that has curtailed his activities in recent weeks.
The under 15 race saw John Collins and Denis Metcalfe well up with the leaders in the first half of the race. The closing stages were a closely fought affair with John running on well to finish an excellent third. Denis, Brian Manning, Thomas O’Sullivan and Michael O’Keeffe combined to win third team medals.
Lisa Collins ran very well in the under 13 race to finish fifth, with the team of Sharon Peters, Chantel Ng and Jenny Shine winning bronze medals.
The under 9’s were led home by Jennifer O’Lehan in fifth, with Shauna Fagan and Yvette Peters close behind.
The novice races resulted in two good second place finishes from Ronan Crowley and Susan O’Reilly. (Results) (Photos)