All-Ireland Schools Cross-Country
Date: 3/3/07
The All-Ireland Schools Cross-Country championships were held today in DCU, with Irelands best distance runners seeking team medals and places on the Irish team for the schools international cross-country. Togher athletes running for Douglas Community School were there in large numbers. The school had three teams competing Junior, Inter and Senior. The course proved a testing one with large sections of mud, a hilly loop and strong winds. The Junior team were led home by the superb Peter Hanrahan and others to impress were Cullen Lynch, Ian Tobin and Shaun Healy. The Inter boys team had been unlucky in the run up to the championships with illnesses taking its toll on the team. Richard Quirke had a great run in 36th position after losing a spike after 300m. Mark Tobin, Adam Kelleher and David O’ Keeffe also had great runs. The senior race tunred out to be a cracker with a head to head battle between Craig Murphy and John Coghlan (son of the legendary Eamonn Coghlan). Craig battled hard throughout but unfortunately he couldn’t match Coghlans final sprint. He finished a fantastic 2nd place and has the added bonus of being able to compete in this age group again next year. He can now look forward to a well-earned break. Douglas CS and St Malachys Belfast were the only two schools in the country to have three teams qualified to compete at the championships, a great achievement by all involved.
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The All-Ireland Schools Cross-Country championships were held today in DCU, with Irelands best distance runners seeking team medals and places on the Irish team for the schools international cross-country. Togher athletes running for Douglas Community School were there in large numbers. The school had three teams competing Junior, Inter and Senior. The course proved a testing one with large sections of mud, a hilly loop and strong winds. The Junior team were led home by the superb Peter Hanrahan and others to impress were Cullen Lynch, Ian Tobin and Shaun Healy. The Inter boys team had been unlucky in the run up to the championships with illnesses taking its toll on the team. Richard Quirke had a great run in 36th position after losing a spike after 300m. Mark Tobin, Adam Kelleher and David O’ Keeffe also had great runs. The senior race tunred out to be a cracker with a head to head battle between Craig Murphy and John Coghlan (son of the legendary Eamonn Coghlan). Craig battled hard throughout but unfortunately he couldn’t match Coghlans final sprint. He finished a fantastic 2nd place and has the added bonus of being able to compete in this age group again next year. He can now look forward to a well-earned break. Douglas CS and St Malachys Belfast were the only two schools in the country to have three teams qualified to compete at the championships, a great achievement by all involved.
View Photos
