FLAHAVAN’S PRIMARY SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE
The  3rd round of the Flahavan’s Porridge Primary School Cross Country League took place in ideal conditions on Tuesday morning in Donard Park. As in last year’s race the star was East Down’s Lauren Madine, who sat on the shoulder of Holywood’s Emmy Thornton until virtually the finish line was in sight before producing a devastating burst of speed to claim a hat trick of wins in the three rounds to date. She was followed home by her ever improving  East Down clubmate Anna Gardiner in third with Lucy and Jodi Foster in 5th and 8th places respectively.

In the Boys race Ollie Robinson again proved his worth with a fighting display to take 12th place for St Mary’s Primary School, Newcastle

McGRADY’S FINANCIAL SERVICES JUNIOR CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE

Sunday saw the 4th round of the McGrady’s Financial Services Junior Cross Country League again in ideal conditions  in Delamont where many of Eat Down’s rising stars put on their best displays for watching parents, family and friends.
It turned out to be a hugely successful day for the East Down club, with only the occasional headline grabbing performance by Burren, Newcastle or Three Ways runners preventing a clean sweep of the age graded races.

P4  AND UNDER
Erin Moore set the proceedings off with victory in the P4 and under Girls race, finishing just ahead of Kari Foster with Grace Savage running the race of her life to take 5th place. East Down had 10 runners in this race, only one fewer than its record turnout in the P5 Girls race.
Kieran Trainor was an equally impressive winner of the Boys opener, with Alex Robinson battling to 2nd place and Jack Nay in 9th.

P5 GIRLS AND BOYS
Jodi Foster was an easy winner of the P5 Girls race, in which East Down’s 11 finishers represented the highest turnout by any club on the day, but in contrast they only had 2  runners in the Boys contest, Ashton Ross and Matthew Taylor who finished 6th and 8th respectively. Callum Kent 2nd Ollie Robinson 3rd and Conor Armstrong 4th battled it out to the line in the wake of 3 Ways AC very talented Tiernan O’ Hare.

P6 GIRLS
Emily Burns was only just pipped by one second for a podium place in the P6 Girls race and could be well pleased with her performance which included a storming finish up the hill with Molly McCloy in 8th and Olivia Murray in 11th

P7 BOYS and GIRLS
Cormac O’Hare in 6th was the lone wolf for East Down in the P7 Boys race which was dominated by Newcastle AC who had 4 of the top 5 finishers. In contrast East Down dominated the Girls equivalent with the top 4 finishers all representing the host club.  Led by Lauren Madine, who this time adopted waiting tactics behind early leader  Lucy Foster before taking over during the second lap, with Anna Gardiner again picking off Lucy in the uphill sprint for the line. Kara Trainor was a creditable 4th.

YEAR 8
Mackenzie Murray produced a tremendous finish to split the apparently invincible 3 Ways pairing of Caolan O’Hare 1st  and Brian Watters 3rd  in the hotly contested Year 8 race, with Michael O’ Connor also lighting up the crowds with an amazing finishing spurt. In the Girls contest, run in conjunction with the Boys, Kirsti Foster dominated from the off and was ably supported by Iona Bunbury 7th , Marianna Clarke9th , Ellen Tumelty 10th , Seana Murray 11th and Colleen Burke 12th  who it was good to see back in action again.

YEAR 9 BOYS – RACE OF THE DAY
This race was notable for a classic game of cat and mouse, involving Newcastle’s Ronan McVeigh and East Down’s George McBratney. With Ronan establishing a seemingly impregnable lead early on and apparently relishing the role of front runner it all looked over by half way.  George meantime was slowly picking up the pace and picking off his opponents one by one until entering the final 200 metres Ronan was firmly in his sights. And in a tremendous display of determination, which roused the entire crowd, he surged forward only to find that on the last lung bursting hill Ronan had just enough left in the tank to hold him off – but in another 10 yards?? Who knows? In the same event Thomas Brown ran well to take 5th place ahead of Jack Carson and Declan Hampton who were credited with the same time for equal 6th place.  If they ever get round to stopping chatting then they could do serious damage to some of their opponents positions.
Although 3 Ways AC Siofra McAteer was the clear and impressive winner of the Year 9 Girls race, leading her club to a clean sweep of the podium places, Lucy Morgan maintained her recent good form to take 4th place with Aimee McCloy in 6th.

YEAR 10
The Year 10 races saw impressive victories for Newcastle AC runners Eve Kenneally and Christopher Neill though Andrew McGrattan chased Christopher all the way in the Boys category, finishing 2nd  with Matthew Loudon and Ben Carson in 3rd and 4th respectively.
Aoife Burke was the only East Down representative in the Girls race and stuck to her task well to take 4th. Place.

YEAR 11
Edie Carroll led the East Down Girls to a 1, 2, 3 clean sweep in the Final race of the day with Aoife Cochrane and Laura Green filling the minor places and Niamh McBratney and Ella Carroll in 5th and 6th places.

James Smyth performed a similar role in the Boys race coming home well clear of the fast finishing Matthew McGrattan and the equally determined Chris O’Connor in 3rd. Adam Morgan as ever battled through to take 6th and claim valuable team points.

LAURA SHOWS TRUE FORM IN CARDIFF
Laura Gardiner showed something like her true form yesterday in the Celtic Cross Country International in Cardiff when she was first of the Northern Ireland Under20 team to finish, placing 16th overall but significantly ahead of team mates Riognach Catney 17th , Madison Bowyer 18th , and Enya Haigney 19th, who have consistently beaten her in races on the local scene this season. Well done Laura, this must be a considerable confidence booster for you.

ROLLERCOASTER RACES AT RACECOURSE
The next event on the local front is the Rollercoaster Races on  Saturday 11th February at Downpatrick Racecourse and all schools and clubs are invited to send their juniors to this safest of venues for road racing and it would be appreciated if the names of all anticipated runners could be sent in by schools beforehand though entries for all the races will be taken on the day.
All the races take place on the perimeter road round the racecourse and there are refreshments for all participants.

JIMMY’S TEN ENTRIES – EARLY BIRD EXPIRY
If you’re intending to run Jimmy’s Ten on 12 March and haven’t already entered then it’s time to do so now, if you want to save yourself a few pounds – and what runner doesn’t? The special Early Bird rate ends on 31 January and thereafter, entries will cost £2 more per head. Online entry is open at www.athleticsni.org so enter now and don’t say you haven’t been warned.

MALACHY McGRADY RIP
It was with great sadness that the local community, and far beyond, learned on Tuesday of the death Malachy (MB) McGrady, father of our long time main sponsor of Jimmy’s Ten road race, and former active member Mal, present member Declan and grandfather to former junior members Conor, Caoimhe and Malachy jun.  He was described by everyone as “a good man” and he was undoubtedly that, serving his family, community, parish and church with distinction over a lifetime, in his trademark quiet, unassuming manner.  He will be sadly missed, most keenly by Colette, his wife of over 60 years, but leaves a legacy of innate goodness which will be a source of great pride and considerable consolation now and which has been and will continue to be, carried on by his family.
The officers and members of East Down AC express their deepest sympathy to the entire McGrady family at this sad time and assure them of their continuing support and prayers.

Joe Quinn