Mayo club athlete on hand to launch National Cross Country Championships
Irish athletics fans will descend upon Kilkenny this Sunday (November 19) for what promises to be a stellar weekend of athletics action as Ireland’s best cross country athletes go in search of national glory and European selection at the 123.ie National Senior, Junior and Juvenile Even Age Cross Country Championships.
It will be the first time the senior cross country championships have been hosted in Gowran and those coveted podium places will be as sought-after as ever, with the first three home in each of the senior, Under 23 and Under 20 races securing their place on the Irish team set to compete at the European Cross Country Championships in Brussels, Belgium, on December 10.
The field looks ultra-competitive across the full schedule of competition and the 2023 edition of the 123.ie National Cross Country Championships could throw up some surprises, with athletes in both the senior men’s and women’s races taking on the 9,000m distance.
Darragh McElhinney (UCD AC) returns to defend his title in a stacked looking senior men’s race (2.30 p.m.) that includes recent Autumn Open champion Keelan Kilrehill, the Co. Sligo native and member of Ballina-based Moy Valley AC, who will be one of McElhinney’s main challengers and who was on hand to help launch the event.
Kilrehill, who boasts some of the best recent cross country form, takes his first step into the national senior cross country ranks this weekend and few would bet against him securing another top three finish.
Other Connaught athletes who will fancy their chances of breaking into the top three include Finley Daly of Sligo AC and Hugh Armstrong of Ballina AC in one of the deepest national cross country fields in years.
Another local athlete expected to deliver a big performance is Clodagh Gill of Moy Valley AC, who races in the Under 20 event against the likes of recent Autumn Open (Under 20) champion Avril Millerick and the ever-impressive Roise Roberts of North Belfast Harriers.
A new champion will be crowned in the senior women’s race (1.45 p.m.) in the absence of 2022 champion Sarah Healy. Many eyes will be on West Limerick’s Íde Nic Dhómhnaill, who will look to add another title to a remarkable season that has already seen her win a national gold on the track in the 5,000m distance as well as claiming victory at the recent Autumn Open International Cross Country run at the Sport Ireland Campus.
The action on Sunday will get underway with the Under 12 girls at 11.30 a.m. (full timetable here), building to a crescendo with the senior women’s 9,000m and senior men’s 9,000m at 1.45 p.m. and 2.25 p.m. respectively.