McCormack finishes a fighting third in muddy Antrim, While Tamzin Muldowney places 4th in Under-17 Race

 Saturday January 16th 2016
Irish Under 17 Girls Development Team - Antrim International Cross Country 2016
Alanna Bate (361), Margane Dusaux (362), Athletics Ireland Team Manager, Megan Bowen (360) and Tamzin Muldowney (359),Midleton AC
Photo: Athletics Ireland


Antrim International Cross-Country 2016 - First three women
L to R: Mimi Belete, 2nd, Alice Aprot Nawowuna, 1st, and Fionnual McCormack, 3rd
Photo: Athletics Ireland

Fionnuala McCormack finished a fighting third in a true test of cross country at the IAAF Antrim International Cross Country in Greenmount today.

Biting cold and muddy underfoot conditions greeted the runners in Greenmount and it was a challenge that McCormack relished.

"I liked it today," said McCormack who finished third over the 5.8km course in 18:13, 8 seconds behind Kenya's race winner Alice Aprot Nawowuna and four seconds behind Bahrain's Mimi Belete who won here in 2014.

McCormack ended up leading in the early stages by virtue of the fact of the conditions rather than a pre-race plan.

"In the first lap it kind of just happened," said the Wicklow woman on hitting the front. "I think the Africans thought they could get around the mud but realised they couldn’t. That’s how I ended up at the front because I just went through it."

The Kilcoole athlete couldn't hang on to the lead with Nawowuna an impressive victor in the end despite not feeling comfortable in the cold conditions. McCormack also had the consolation of avenging her defeat to Great Britain's Kate Avery at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country last week.

"This was definitely real cross country today," she eschewed happily having drifted back to fourth for the middle part of the 5.8km race. "It was little hills but tough ones and the muck was better than a long time that I’ve seen it. It was good. It would have been nice to have a bit of a kick at the end because you could see people struggling in front but I think on a course like that when someone gets a gap even though you can see them struggling your struggling yourself to get through the mud"

Olympic steeplechase qualifier Kerry O'Flaherty finished 11th, with Irish 800m record holder Rose Anne Galligan 13th just ahead of An Riocht AC's Shona Heaslip, in 14th. Shona's An Riocht clubmate, the evergreen Niamh O'Sullivan finished in a fine 26th place.

Girls Under 17

Earlier in the day, Olivia Nelson won the U17 race for the Irish development team,  with Tamzin Muldowney Midleton AC, in fourth place, ahead of Irish development teammates, Margane Dusaux, in 5th place and Alanna Bate in 9th place.

Boys Under 17

The Ireland Development Team packed perfectly, in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th places, with Togher AC's Ruairi Casey in 8th place.

Selected Results

Full Results (Excel file), on Athletics Northern Ireland website

Senior Women - Top 30

Pos Forename Surname Club Nation Cat Time
1 Alice Aprot Nawowuna   KEN FO 00:18:05
2 Mimi Belete   BRN FO 00:18:09
3 Fionnuala McCormack   IRL FO 00:18:13
4 Kate Avery   GBR FO 00:18:16
5 Ruth Jebet   BRN FO 00:18:22
6 Belaynesh Oljira   ETH FO 00:18:30
7 Louise Carton   BEL FO 00:18:55
8 Louise Small   ENG FO 00:19:03
9 Claire Duck   ENG FO 00:19:19
10 Birtukan Fente Alemu   ETH FO 00:19:44
11 Kerry O'Flaherty Newcastle & District AC NIR FO 00:19:46
12 Sarah Inglis   SCO FO 00:19:55
13 Roseanne Galligan Newbridge IRL     00:20:05
14 Shona Heaslip Riocht AC     00:20:08
15 Stephanie Pennycook   SCO FO 00:20:17
16 Catherine Whorskey City of Derry AC Spartans NIR FO 00:20:30
17 Shalene McMurray Newcastle & District AC NIR FO 00:20:51
18 Rachael Dunn Edinburgh AC   FO 00:21:15
19 Rachel Gibson North Down AC   FO 00:21:22
20 Joanne Mills Newcastle & District AC   FO 00:21:45
21 Rebecca Henderson Dromore AC NIR FO 00:21:55
22 Jodi Smith North Down AC   F35 00:22:16
23 Sarah Miles Dundrum South Dublin AC   FO 00:22:22
24 Elizabeth Egan Bree AC   F35 00:22:33
25 Debbie Matchett Ballydrain Harriers     00:22:44
26 Niamh O'Sullivan Riocht AC     00:22:46
27 Natalie Hall Acorns AC   FO 00:22:52
28 Martina Mc Mullan Foyle Valley AC   F45 00:23:12
29 Amanda Perry Ballydrain Harriers     00:23:45
30 Grainne Neill Foyle Valley AC   F50 00:23:49

Girls Under 17 - Top 10

Pos Forename Surname Club Time
1 Olivia Nelson Ireland Development Squad 00:13:53
2 Edel Monaghan Enniskillen RC 00:14:10
3 Megan Bowen Cardiff AAC 00:14:19
4 Tamzin Muldowney Ireland Development Squad 00:14:21
5 Margane Dusaux Ireland Development Squad 00:14:34
6 Danielle Kelly Giffnock North AAC 00:14:34
7 Aoife Colleran Dundrum South Dublin AC 00:14:51
8 Grace Carson Mid Ulster AC 00:14:52
9 Alanna Bate Ireland Development Squad 00:14:55
10 Madison Bowyer City of Lisburn AC 00:14:59

Boys Under 17 - Top 10

Pos Forename Surname Club Cat Time
1 Sol Sweeney Perth Strathtay Harriers U17 00:17:48
2 Craig McMeechan North Down AC U17 00:18:10
3 Fintan Stewart Ireland Development Squad U17 00:18:18
4 Sean O'Leary Ireland Development Squad U17 00:18:45
5 David McGlynn Ireland Development Squad U17 00:18:48
6 Micheal Power Ireland Development Squad U17 00:18:52
7 Andrew Love Giffnock North AC U17 00:19:03
8 Ruairi Casey Togher AC U17 00:19:05
9 Peter Gracey Beechmount Harriers U17 00:19:16
10 Luke MacGabhann Dundrum South Dublin AC U17 00:19:41