Tallaght Juvenile Athletes make Great Start to the Cross Country Season Tallaght juvenile athletes made a great start to the cross country season at Donabate last Sunday where no less than 25 young athletes competed in the first Dublin County Board cross country league series, with seven topping the table in various age groups. In the under 10 600m contests, Eve Keegan finished a respectable 10th place and was followed home by Orla Doyle and Faye Dervan, both finishing in the top 20 in their first cross country competition, whist in the boys equivalent debutantes Kevin Lahiff and Dylan O’ Brien ran superbly to finish 5th and 6th respectively, placing them in contention for league awards, with three races to go. Tallaght athletes went top of the table in the U11’s after Nadine Johnston Hickey and Christopher Duffy dominated their 800m contests, with Grace Dervan looking good after her 4th placed finish and Seamus Noone undoubtedly be challenging club mate Christopher for top honours after he finished 2nd. Alana Walsh (20th) will improve as will debutante Ryan Kidd after his 18th placed finish. Nicole Fullam was first home for the club in the U12 girls 1,000m, finishing 8th overall, with Ciara Jordan and Rebecca Casey finishing strongly in the top 20, whilst Cathal Dervan ran a brilliant race to take 2nd spot in the boy’s equivalent. Kayleigh Clarke, despite being sick during the course of her 1,000m contest, bravely fought to finish a respectable 13th with Aloisa King finishing well up in 15th. After an absence of 8 months, Evan Flynn ran as if he had never taken a break, after he dominated the U14 1200m contest from start to finish and Conor Murray did likewise in the U15 1500m to top their league tables, whilst Dylan Kennedy followed Conor home in 4th. There was another great win for the club in the U16 2,000m where Sean Mc Cabe dictated the race from the front until the final 500m where he made a decisive move and put daylight between himself and his nearest rival to go top of the table. In the U17 boy’s 2,500m contest Uchenna Uwechue had a very good race finishing 2nd with Aaron Mc Donagh following him home in 3rd, leaving both well up in the standings. There were two more wins for the club in the U19 contests after Roisin O’ Hanlon and Frankie Walsh won their respective 3,000m and 5,000m contests. Our young athletes will be looking forward to the second league outing in the Phoenix Park next Sunday where they will be competing over longer distances and hopefully where some more of be vying for league points.