Amidst stiff competition but with good racing conditions, the Athenry AC ladies took a superb gold team medal in the ‘C’ category at the All Ireland Inter-Club Cross Country Championships on Saturday in Santry Demesne. With some of the team new to cross country this year, Amanda Cannon, Aoife Callan, Deirdre Quinn and Marie O’Connor put in solid performances on a fresh breezy day to bring home gold medals in their team category. The men also fielded a strong team, but were unlucky to finish in fourth place against strong competition in the ‘C’ category. The team comprised Brian O’Connor and Brian Bruton (battling strongly to finish within a second of each other at 46.32 and 46.33 respectively), Seamus Gilhooley, Mick Rice (showing remarkable recovery from his recent 24 hour race) and Johnny O’Connor. Strong performances all round show that the club is building on strong foundations in cross country events, indicating great things to come in 2011.

Also see: http://www.sportsfile.com/id/493233/ .