21 October 2018

Sean Tobin and Shona Heaslip scored significant victories at yesterday’s Autumn International Cross Country Classic at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown, north Dublin. In mild and dry conditions both marked themselves out as potential top ten finishers as the countdown starts to the European Cross Championships in December.

DTC’s Gideon Kimosop took fourth while Adam Kirk Smith also impressed with a close-up seventh in a top class field.  The pair had been second and third respectively in 2017 but in a much weaker field.

Tobin distanced himself from the field as early as the second lap of the 7.5 kilometre race and after the it was just a question of how great would be his winning margin.  In the end the University of Mississippi graduate crossed the finish line with a 36 second buffer over runner-up Kevin Dooney with his Clonmel club mate Kevin Maunsell taking third another four seconds back in third.

Derry-based Kenyan Gideon Kimosop took fourth with his DTC colleague Adam Kirk-Smith showing a return to form in seventh. Glaslough Harrier Conor Duffy will also be pleased with a close-up 11^th but it may be back to the drawing board for St. Malachy’s Ben Branagh who slipped to 18^th after being among the leaders early on.

Shona Heaslip was equally dominant in the women’s race over six kilometres. The Kerry woman took the initiative from the gun and although Scotland’s Mairi MacLennan closed the margin late on to four seconds she was never going to deny the An Riocht athlete here second consecutive win in the event.

Armagh AC’s Fionnuala Ross had probably her best ever race over the country to take third just another 10 seconds back to put herself in contention for a place on the team for the Euros. Letterkenny’s Nakita Burke (17^th) and North Down’s Rachel Gibson (20^th) both sneaked into top 20 spots. Pre-race favourite Emma Mitchell was a late withdrawal.

North Down’s Craig McMeechan was the first northerner in the Junior (U20) Men’s race race, taking fifth, with City of Derry’s Fintan Stewart (10^th) and Newcastle’s Patrick McNiff also catching the eye. Tirconnaill’s Mia McCalmont also impressed with an unexpected second in the Junior Women’s race.

Three DTC athletes were recognised for their achievements at the Athletics NI Dinner in Belfast. Jason Smyth was part of a NI team that set a new 4 x 100m record, Adam Kirk-Smith was eighth in the Commonwealth Games Steeplechase and Conor McIlveen’s fourth at the T38 European Paralympic Champs in 2016 also belatedly received the credit it deserved.
Jacky Newton and her ANI coaching team are to be complimented on an excellent evening.

DTC’s Gideon Kimosop made it a second victory in as many years at the Bangor 10K which this year carried Northern Ireland & Ulster championships status. But the Kenyan did not have it all his own way with Commonwealth Games star Kevin Seaward pushing him all the way to the finish line as both men shared the same 30 minutes and 21 seconds timing.

Jessica Craig was the first woman home in 36:44 leading the host club North Down to the ladies’ team title while North Belfast Harriers were the leading men’s outfit. Almost 1000 runners took to the relatively tough seaside course in cold and breezy conditions.

Kimosop took the lead from the gun with a sizeable bunch, including Seaward, Ben Bradagh, defending champion Scott Rankin and Mark McKinstry, giving chase. But it was soon down to just the Kenyan and Seaward who finished fourth in this year’s Commonwealth Games marathon.

Kimisop visibly slowed the pace on a number of occasions to force Seaward into the lead but Loughborough-based teacher refused to take the bait. The two men were still locked in combat on the climb after the nine kilometre marker but it was the subsistence farmer from the Rift Valley who found a crucial acceleration on the homestraight to see him home by less than a metre.

City of Derry Spartan Declan Reed proved the best of the rest to take third in a very credible 30:57, with McKinstry (31:15) in fourth laying the foundations for a comfortable North Belfast team victory. Defending champion Scott Rankin (31:57) was fifth ahead of Ben Bradagh (32:01) in sixth.

Conan McCaughey (7^th/32:04), John Black (9^th/32:46) and Philip Goss (17^th/33:56) completed the Stags scoring quartet with Victoria Park & Connswater and Acorns AC taking the silver and bronze team medals respectively.

Jessica Craig may have raced lightly this summer but she showed she had lost none of her sharpness as she saw off the challenge of North Belfast Harrier Gladys Ganiel (37:13) by almost half a minute. Dromore’s Laura Bickerstaff (38:03) filled the minor podium place ahead of Beechmount Harrier duo Sarah Lavery (38:55) and Gerrie Short (39:04), who showed no after-effects of her victory in the Belfast Half Marathon the previous weekend.

The other scorers in the victorious North Down women’s team were Sarah Grant (6^th/39:17), Jodi Smith (9^th/40:09) and Clair Quigley (17^th/42:25). Beechmount and Ballydrain were second and third in a competitive women’s team competition.