Mayo club athletes hope to impress at international cross country event

Keelan Kilrehill of Ballina-based Moy Valley AC will be hoping to defend his 2023 title against strong opposition in the eighth edition of the Autumn Open International Cross Country Festival.

The event, held in association with Fingal County Council, will take place at the Sport Ireland Campus on Sunday (October 13), with a host of star names set to take to competition across the busy schedule.

Kilrehill will set off in the senior men's race at 2.20 p.m., while the senior women's race will see Íde Nic Dhómhnaill (West Limerick AC) looking to defend her 2023 title at 1.40 p.m.

This year’s Autumn Open is part of the World Athletics Cross Country Tour (Silver) and will, for the second time, incorporate a Mixed Senior Cross Country Relay (11 a.m.) which will see the top two clubs qualifying to represent Ireland at the European Club Cross Country Championships in Portugal next February.

The National Juvenile Mixed Relays will take centre stage from 11.30 a.m. and are sure to offer their customary thrills and spills as the next generation of cross country stars take to championship action.

Kilrehill claimed the title last year in impressive fashion. This year, he signed off his road season in style back in July, taking the national 10 mile title impressively. He returned to competitive action on the grass last month with a convincing win at the Castlegar International Cross Country in Galway, showing early season cross country form which should see him as the one to beat once again this weekend.

The Moy Valley athlete won’t have it all his own way, however, with several seasoned cross country specialists entered. Finley Daly (Sligo AC) came home in third place in last year’s race and is one sure to have sights on moving up the podium places, while the consistent pair of Cathal O’Reilly (Kilkenny City Harriers) and Matthew Lavery (North Belfast Harriers) can’t be discounted. The inclusion of John Travers (Donore Harriers) and Sean Tobin (Clonmel AC) amongst the entries is sure to add plenty of spice to proceedings if both take to the start line.

The senior women’s race looks set to be an ultra-competitive affair too. Nic Dhómhnaill produced one of the performances of the national track championships last year to claim the 5,000m title in Santry, backing up that performance with a runaway win at the Autumn Open ahead of Louise Shanahan.

National cross country champion Fiona Everard (Bandon AC) looks set to get her cross season up and running after a 2023 season to remember for the Cork athlete, while Lauren Tinkler (Dublin City Harriers) comes into the weekend in superb form having taken first place at the Castlegar International Cross. In addition, Nakita Burke (Letterkenny AC) will look to build on last year’s fourth place finish.

The junior men’s race is stacked with talent and looks hard to call on paper. Another Moy Valley AC athlete, Darragh Mulrooney, should be suited to the conditions, while Sean Cronin (Clonliffe Harriers), Louie Woodger (MSB), Noah Harris (Parnell AC), Lughaidh Mallon (Lagan Valley), and Cillian Gleeson (Celbridge AC) are but a few who will fancy their chances of making it into the top three.

The junior women’s race looks just as competitive. Avril Millerick (Youghal AC) was the first Irish athlete home in last year’s edition and is sure to be a lively contender once more, but is likely to be pushed all the way by Kirsty Maher of Moy Valley AC, who enjoyed a superb cross country season last year to finish 12th in the junior race at the European Cross Country Championships before going on to achieve a top 40 placing at the World Under 20 Cross Country Championships in Serbia back in March.

Mahers’s club-mate Clodagh Gill is another to watch out for on the day, while rising stars Pia Langton (Kilkenny City Harriers) and Emily Bolton (Donore Harriers) are two more of the up-and-coming stars who will no doubt outrun their experience on Sunday.