Donegan delivers on memorable day for Irish athletics
On a memorable day for Irish athletics - with the U20 men’s team claiming gold - Tullamore Harriers duo Danielle Donegan and Ava O'Connor played their part at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Brussels yesterday (Sunday).
Donegan, in particular, can be justifiably proud of her performance after the Tullamore woman finished eighth in the U23 women's race.
It was a brilliant display of cross country running from national champion Donegan, who worked her way through the field to secure an eight place finish.
O'Connor finished 63rd in the U23 race as the talented Mountmellick native gained more experience at international level.
Tullamore Harriers AC has congratulated Danielle and Ava and said both athletes should be very pleased with their performances in "very difficult underfoot conditions".
The U20 men's team was led to victory by the bronze-medal-winning run from Nick Griggs, with Seamus Robinson (City of Derry Spartans AC), Shane Brosnan (An Riocht), and Harry Colbert (Waterford AC) all contributing to the team as they improved on last year’s silver medal.
Speaking after the race, Nick Griggs said: “It was a pretty special one. It was a really tough battle out there with the leaders up front and I wanted to win, but I can’t complain with bronze in those tough conditions given what happened at the nationals. To lead this team home to a gold is so special after the last two silvers so we’re all delighted.”
In addition to that success of the U20 men's team, Fionnuala McCormack (Kilcoole AC) produced one of the all-time great Irish performances to finish fourth in the senior women’s race.
McCormack's performance was truly remarkable considering that she secured the qualifying time for her fifth Olympics at the Valencia Marathon only the previous weekend. And these displays come less than six months after she gave birth to her third child.
McCormack, who finished in fourth place for the fifth time at these championships, said: “It’s hard to sum it up. It’s never easy to come fourth and I’ve done it so many times at this stage and I really wanted to be on that podium again so I’m going to have to come back again now.”
McCormack continued: “You want to get on the podium so it’s a bit disappointing, but it was great to be in contention and to be chasing down the medals. The support out there was unbelievable, and it was a great race to be a part of. I had in my mind that I really wanted to do this, and my preparations were the same as two years ago so I was happy with my recovery and I think the race went pretty well.”
A summary of the results is provided below.
U20 Men
Individual medals:
1 CHRISTENSEN Axel Vang DEN 30 JUL 2004 16:09
2 LAROS Niels NED 17 APR 2005 16:10
3 GRIGGS Nicholas IRL 18 DEC 2004 16:24
Irish finishing positions (team 1st):
Nick Griggs (CNDR Track Club) 3rd
Niall Murphy (Ennis Track) 9th
Jonas Stafford (UCD AC) 10th
Seamus Robinson (City of Derry Spartans AC) 26th
Shane Brosnan (An Riocht) 28th
Harry Colbert (Waterford AC) 40th.
U20 Women
Individual medals:
1 FITZGERALD Innes GBR 6 APR 2006 18:19
2 THØGERSEN Sofia DEN 6 JUL 2005 18:38
3 LE CORRE Jade FRA 20 OCT 2005 18:49
Irish finishing positions (team 5th):
Anna Gardiner (East Down AC) 7th
Kirsty Maher (Moy Valley) 12th
Amy Greene (Finn Valley AC) 29th
Hannah Kehoe (Kilkenny City Harriers) 45th
Maebh Richardson (Kilkenny City Harriers) 54th
Avril Millerick (Youghal AC) 59th.
U23 Men
Individual medals:
1 BARNICOAT Will GBR 24 MAR 2003 23:42
2 BRESC Valentin FRA 27 MAY 2001 23:42
3 STONIER Matthew GBR 24 SEP 2001 23:51
Irish finishing positions (team 10th):
Oisin Spillane (Ennis Track Club) 28th
Dean Casey (Ennis Track) 29th
Callum Morgan (CNDR Track Club) 41st
Abdel Laadjel (Donore Harriers) 51st
Michael Morgan (Sligo AC) 54th
Matthew Lavery (North Belfast Harriers) 61st.
U23 Women (6000m)
Individual medals:
1 KEITH Megan GBR 23 APR 2002 25:32
2 MONONEN Ilona FIN 18 DEC 2003 26:55
3 BLOMQVIST Nathalie FIN 20 APR 2001 27:06
Irish finishing positions (team 11th):
Danielle Donegan (Tullamore Harriers) 8th
Anika Thompson (Leevale AC) 46th
Ava O'Connor (Tullamore Harriers) 63rd
Aoife Coffey (Lucan Harriers) 66th
Aoife O'Cuill (St Cocas) 70th
Eimear Maher (Dundrum South Dublin AC) 72nd.
Senior Women
Individual medals:
1 GRØVDAL Karoline Bjerkeli NOR 14 JUN 1990 33:40
2 BATTOCLETTI Nadia ITA 12 APR 2000 34:25
3 DONNELLY Abbie GBR 2 SEP 1996 34:42
Irish finishing positions (team 8th):
Fionnuala McCormack (Kilcoole AC) 4th
Fionnuala Ross (Armagh AC) 30th
Fiona Everard (Bandon AC) 34th
Mary Mulhare (Portlaoise AC) 39th
Eilish Flanagan (Finn Valley AC) 44th
Roisin Flanagan (Finn Valley AC) 49th.
Senior Men
Individual medals:
1 SCHRUB Yann FRA 20 MAR 1996 30:17
2 MYHRE Magnus Tuv NOR 15 JUN 2000 30:20
3 HENDRIX Robin BEL 14 JAN 1995 30:22
Irish finishing positions (team 4th):
Cormac Dalton (Mullingar Harriers) 8th
Keelan Kilrehill (Mov Valley AC) 17th
Hugh Armstrong (Ballina AC) 20th
Brian Fay (Raheny Shamrock) 22nd
Kevin Mulcaire (Ennis Track Club) 37th
Fearghal Curtin (Youghal AC) 51st.