European Cross-Country Championships 2019
European Cross-Country Championships 2019
Lisbon, Portugal
Sunday December 8th 2019
European Bronze for Stephanie!
Stephanie Cotter celebrates!
Stephanie Cotter, West Muskerry AC and Adams State University, ran a very competive race, in the Under-23 Women's race, leading at one point. However, reigning champion, Anna Moller, Denmark, took the race by the scruff of the neck, and ran away, to win by, arguably, the biggest margin in championship history. Stephanie held a good lead over teh fancied Jasmijm Lau, Netherlands, until the final downhill section, where Lau overtook her.
Stephanie's Adams State University colleagues, twin sisters Eliish and Roisin Flanagan, from Carmen Runners AC (Tyrone), were in the mix throughout and finished strongly, in 9th and 7th respectively, to secure Team Silver
Under-23 Womens Individual Results
Irish Under-23 Women
Under-23 Women Team Standings
Efrem Gidey, Le Cheile AC (Dublin), Athletics Ireland's Irish Schools Athlete of the Year 2019
Efrem Gidey, Le Cheile AC, set the tone for the day, winning Bronze with a very strong run, to announce his presence as a force to be reckoned with. The race was won by Jakob Ingebritsen, Norway, who took an unprecedented fourth consecutive Championship. Bantry/Glengarriff's Darragh McElhinney was 12th, with Thomas McStay 24th and Kevin Reihill 26th
Under-20 Men Individual Results
Under-20 Men Team Results
Irish Men's Under-20 Team
Under-20 Men Individual Standings
Team Silver for Senior Women
Ireland's Senior Women's Silver Medal Team
Senior Womens Team Standings
Videos
Under-23 Men
Ireland's Mixed Relay Team
Under-20 Women Individual Results
Under-23 Men Individual Results
Senior Women Individual Results
Athletics Ireland Report - Feidhlim Kelly
Medal Mania for Ireland at Euro-Cross
Ireland’s most successful European Cross Country Championships
Full Irish Results at bottom of this release
Ireland had its most successful European Cross-Country Championships, winning four medals, two individual and two team, at Bela Vista Park in Lisbon today, Sunday December 8th 2019
There were two individual Bronze medals, won by Efrem Gidey (Clonliffe Harriers), in the U20 men’s race, and Stephanie Cotter (West Muskerry), in the U23 women’s race. Two team Silver medals were won, by the U23 women, and the senior women.
There were two agonising fourth place finishes, for the U20 men’s team, and Fionnuala McCormack (Kilcoole) in the senior women’s race.
Athlete interviews are on the Athletics Ireland Facebook page, the Athletics Ireland Twitter page and the Athletics Ireland Instagram page
Full event results are on European Athletics website
Efrem Gidey got the medal haul underway, with a fine individual bronze in the men’s Under-20 6,225m race, which was won, for the fourth successive time, by Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Unfortunately, it was heartbreak for the U20 men’s team finishing fourth on countback.
Great Britain & Northern Ireland won with 25 points followed by Norway on 38 points and Portugal who scored 39 points also. With three athletes to score for the team standings, it comes down to the highest place third scorer, the final counter, to decide the medals.
The Irish team were backed up by Darragh McElhinney (UCD) in 12th, Thomas McStay (Galway City Harriers) 24th, Keelan Kilrehill (Moy Valley) joint 25th, Jamie Battle (Mullingar Harriers) 28th, Shay McEvoy (Kilkenny City Harriers) 76th.
The Under-20 women’s (4,225m) team were 11th led home by Jodie McCann (Dublin City Harriers) in 46th. Aoife O'Cuill (St. Coca's AC) was 62nd, Sarah Kelly (Inishowen AC) was 77th, Danielle Donegan (Tullamore Harriers AC) 84th, Eimear Maher (Dundrum South Dublin AC) 85th, and Maeve Gallagher (Swinford AC) 93rd.
The Under-23 men’s (8,225m) team put in a gritty performance for 7th with Brian Fay (Raheny Shamrock) 22nd, Jack O’Leary (Mullingar Harriers) 25th and Peter Lynch (Kilkenny City Harriers) 26th packing well to score followed by Cormac Dalton (Mullingar Harriers) 49th, Cathal Doyle (Clonliffe Harriers) 71st, and David McGlynn (Waterford) 72nd.
Then it was a super Silver medal for the Under-23 women’s (6,225m) team, with brilliant bronze for Stephanie Cotter (West Muskerry). Cotter went with race favourite Anna Moller (Denmark) who fulfilled that tag to win gold while the West Muskerry athlete hung on gamely for bronze.
She was backed up by her Adams State teammates, and twins, Eilish and Roisin Flanagan (Carmen Runners) in 9th and 17th, followed by Fian Sweeney (Dublin City Harriers) 38th, Claire Fagan (Mullingar Harriers) 47th and Sorcha McAlister (Westport) 57th.
The mixed relay team of Nadia Power (Dublin City Harriers), John Travers (Donore Harriers), Amy O’Donoghue (Emerald) and Eoin Pierce (Clonliffe Harriers) finished 7th.
Sean Tobin (Clonmel) scored his third consecutive top twenty individual placing, in the senior men’s race, in 18th place followed by Conor Bradley (City of Derry) 52nd, Eoin Everard (Kilkenny City Harriers) 61st, Liam Brady (Tullamore Harriers) 64th and Damien Landers (Ennis Track) 71st, with the team 13th overall. Unfortunately, Kevin Maunsell (Clonmel) dropped out on the first lap through injury.
Finally, it was the turn of Fionnuala McCormack (Kilcoole) to cap off a wonderful day of Irish performances, even though they were tinged with some frustration and near misses. None more so than McCormack, who was making a record 16 appearance, as she just missed out on the Bronze medal, in fourth place, behind Sweden’s Samrawit Mengsteab, by just two seconds – Mengsteab ran 27:43, to McCormack’s 27:45. Turkey’s Yasmin Can won her fourth consecutive title.
There was a silver lining though, as the senior women finished second with Aoibhe Richardson (Kilkenny City Harriers) 17th, Ciara Mageean (City of Lisburn) 20th, Mary Mulhare (Portlaoise) 35th, Una Britton (Kilcoole) 37th and Fionnnuala Ross (Armagh) 47th.
Ireland placed fourth out 21 countries on the placing table overall. These were Ireland’s first medals since 2015, in Hyeres, France, and builds a brilliant platform as Dublin host the championships next year, at the Sport Ireland National Sports Campus.
The Irish team also won the second highest number of medals, behind Great Britain & Northern Ireland, to cap off the most successful championships in the history of the event.
Irish Results - European Cross Country Championships, Lisbon
Women
U20 4,225m
Jodie McCann (Dublin City Harriers) 46th, Aoife O'Cuill (St. Coca's AC) 62nd, Sarah Kelly (Inishowen AC) 77th, Danielle Donegan (Tullamore Harriers AC) 84th, Eimear Maher (Dundrum South Dublin AC) 85th, Maeve Gallagher (Swinford AC) 93rd.
Team: 11th
U23 6,225m
Stephanie Cotter (West Muskerry) 3rd, Eilish Flanagan (Carmen Runners) 9th, Roisin Flanagan (Carmen Runners) 17th, Fian Sweeney (Dublin City Harriers) 38th, Claire Fagan (Mullingar Harriers) 47th Sorcha McAlister (Westport) 57th.
Team: 2nd
Senior 8,225m
Fionnuala McCormack (Kilcoole) 4th, Aoibhe Richardson (Kilkenny City Harriers) 17th, Ciara Mageean (City of Lisburn) 20th, Mary Mulhare (Portlaoise) 35th, Una Britton (Kilcoole) 37th, Fionnnuala Ross (Armagh) 47th.
Team: 2nd
Men
U20 6,225m
Efrem Gidey (Clonliffe Harriers) 3rd, Darragh McElhinney (UCD) 12th, Thomas McStay (Galway City Harriers) 24th, Keelan Kilrehill (Moy Valley) 25th, Jamie Battle (Mullingar Harriers) 28th, Shay McEvoy (Kilkenny City Harriers) 76th.
Team: 4th
U23 8,225m
Brian Fay (Raheny Shamrock) 22nd, Jack O’Leary (Mullingar Harriers) 25th, Peter Lynch (Kilkenny City Harriers) 26th, Cormac Dalton (Mullingar Harriers) 49th, Cathal Doyle (Clonliffe Harriers) 71st, David McGlynn (Waterford) 72nd.
Team: 7th
Senior 10,225m
Sean Tobin (Clonmel) 18th, Conor Bradley (City of Derry) 52nd, Eoin Everard (Kilkenny City Harriers) 61st, Liam Brady (Tullamore Harriers) 64th, Damien Landers (Ennis Track) 71st, Kevin Maunsell (Clonmel) DNF
Team: 13th
Mixed Relay 4 x 1500m
Team: 7th – Nadia Power (Dublin City Harriers), John Travers (Donore Harriers), Amy O’Donoghue (Emerald), Eoin Pierce (Clonliffe Harriers)
Placing table overall: Ireland 4th
Event History of Irish performances
Individual:
1994 Senior Catherina McKiernan GOLD 14.29
1998 U20 Gareth Turnbull BRONZE 16.55
2006 U23 Fionnuala Britton SILVER 18.56
2011 Senior Fionnuala Britton GOLD 25.55
2012 Senior Fionnuala Britton GOLD 27.45
Teams:
1999 U20 Team BRONZE 43 pts Gary Murray 8th, Brian Keane 15th, Mark Smyth 20th, Joe McAlister 75th, Robert Connolly 94th
2000 Senior Team BRONZE 72 pts Peter Matthews 10th, Seamus Power 14th, Gareth Turnbull 23rd, Keith Kelly 25th, Ken Nason 55th, Fiachra Lombard 67th
2003 Senior Team SILVER 78 pts Sonia O’Sullivan 4th, Rosemary Ryan 13th, Ann Keenan Buckley 27th, Catherina McKiernan 34th, Marie Davenport 52nd
2004 U20 Team SILVER 54pts Mark Christie 5th, Andrew Ledwith 7th, Danny Darcy 11th, Jamie McCarthy 31st, Joe Sweeney 44th, Mark Hanrahan 56th
2010 U23 Team GOLD 60pts David McCarthy 11th, Brendan O’Neill 13th, Michael Mulhare 16th, David Rooney 20th (25th), John Coghlan 34th, Ciarán Ó Lionáird 76th
2012 Senior Team GOLD 52 pts Fionnuala Britton 1st Linda Byrne 8th, Ava Hutchinson 20th, Lizzie Lee 23rd, Sarah McCormack 36th, Sara Treacy 42nd
2014 Senior Team BRONZE 87 pts Fionnuala Britton 6th, Sara Treacy 12th, Michelle Finn 23rd, Ann Marie McGlynn 46th, Siobhan O’Doherty 47th, Laura Crowe 53rd
2015 Senior Team BRONZE 83 pts Fionnuala McCormack (nee Britton) 4th, Lizzie Lee 13th, Caroline Crowley 23rd, Ciara Durkan 43rd, Michelle Finn 54th, Kerry O’Flaherty 55th
