SEAN MCGINLEY won a thrilling senior boys race at today’s Secondary Schools Cross-Country at Finn Valley AC – while running barefooted!
The St Eunan’s College student held off Jack Holian (Errigal College) and Oisin Toye (Deele College) to win the race with Dion McLoughlin from Summerhill College in Sligo also contributing handsomely to a strong pursuit of McGinley.
Pictures by Natasha Kelly
The Olympian YAC athlete, though, took the win. The Glenswilly man has become used to the barefoot running of late.
“I’ve been doing this in training now and I’ve only used spikes once this year,” McGinley told Donegal Daily/Donegal Sport Hub afterwards.
“The coach tells me it’ll help with my technique. I feel a lot lighter and feel like I’m bouncing along the ground.
“It’s alway nice to come up here and see how you’re going.
“It was a tight race. The boys were there to the end.”
Oisin Kelly of Loreto, Milford, was an impressive winner in the third year boys’ race, which was a 1-2-3 for Loreto, Milford with Evan Keown and Odhrán McMenamin second and third, while Sarah Bradley of Loreto, Letterkenny claimed the win in the third year girls’ race.
Over 500 children from 23 schools took part in the event.
After the success of yesterday’s Primary Schools Cross-Country event, the Millbrae venue was heaving again today with the sights and sounds of summer still in the air.
Cross-Country season is a sure sign that autumn has arrived and there were some cracking battles today in Stranorlar across all the age groups with schools from Sligo, Fermanagh, Derry and Tyrone also competing as well as the Donegal participants.
“It was fantastic to see,” Finn Valley AC Schools Development Officer Natasha Kelly said.
“It’s great and we couldn’t do it without the involvement of the teachers.
“Cross-Country, when the sun is out, is amazing. There were some great races and 1, 2 and 3 was hard to call in most of them.”
Finn Valley AC’s Patsy McGonagle, the former Irish Athletics Team manager, said: “It was a positive experience and it’s all about building year-on-year. It’s all about building the sport and giving kids a chance to come and try it.”
Race Results
| 1st Year Girls | ||
| Place | Name | School |
| 1 | Elsa Moore | Royal & Prior Raphoe |
| 2 | Gemma O’Callaghan | Mercy College Sligo |
| 3 | Hanna Waid | Thornhill Derry |
| 4 | Mya Fletcher | Loreto Milford |
| 5 | Rhiana McColgan | Crana College Buncrana |
| 6 | Sara Alexander | St Columba’s Stranorlar |
| 7 | Rionna Dotherty | St Columba’s Stranorlar |
| 8 | Saoirse Lawley | Sligo Grammar |
| 9 | Katie Dowd | St Columba’s, Stranorlar |
| 10 | Sophia Ward | Loreto Letterkenny |
| School Result | ||
| 1 | St Columba’s Stranorlar | |
| 2 | Thornhill Derry | |
| 3 | Loreto Milford |
| 1st Year Boys | ||
| Place | Name | School |
| 1 | Francis Donoghue | Summerhill Sligo |
| 2 | Philip McGee | Colaiste Ailigh Letterkenny |
| 3 | John Antonio Gallagher | St Eunans Letterkenny |
| 4 | Oisin Kerr | Scoil Muire Buncrana |
| 5 | Ciaran Logue | St Eunans Letterkenny |
| 6 | Daniels Oates | Summerhill Sligo |
| 7 | Conor Mulligan | St Michaels Enniskillen |
| 8 | Finn Campbell | Summerhill Sligo |
| 9 | Frank Buchanan | St Michaels Enniskillen |
| 10 | Sean Gallagher | St Columba’s Stranorlar |
| School Result | ||
| 1 | Summerhill Sligo | |
| 2 | St Eunans Letterkenny | |
| 3 | St Micaels Enniskillen |
| 2nd Year Girls | ||
| Place | Name | School |
| 1 | Julianne Reynolds | Loreto Letterkenny |
| 2 | Brea McGalloway | Scoil Muire Buncrana |
| 3 | Clara O’Loughlin | Thornhill Derry |
| 4 | Ella McGlinchey | St Columba’s Stranorlar |
| 5 | Amy Bonner | Loreto Letterkenny |
| 6 | Ella Costello | Crana College Buncrana |
| 7 | Tara Dotherty | Crana College Buncrana |
| 8 | Niamh Dotherty | Thornhill Derry |
| 9 | Maeve Donlon | Mercy College Sligo |
| 10 | Clodagh O’Connor | Colaiste Ailigh Letterkenny |
| School Result | ||
| 1 | Thornhill Derry | |
| 2 | Crana College Buncrana | |
| 3 | Scoil Muire Buncrana |
| 2nd Year Boys | ||
| Place | Name | School |
| 1 | Conor Murphy | St Columba’s Stranorlar |
| 2 | Patrick Murphy | St Columba’s Stranorlar |
| 3 | William Kelly | St Eunans Letterkenny |
| 4 | Rory Smith | St Michaels Enniskillen |
| 5 | Reese Love | St Michaels Enniskillen |
| 6 | Nathan Potts | Finn Valley College |
| 7 | Oisin McIntyre | Scoil Muire Buncrana |
| 8 | Patrick Sprice | St Michaels Enniskillen |
| 9 | Daragh Robinson | Sligo Grammar |
| 10 | Sean McCabe | Summerhill Sligo |
| School Result | ||
| 1 | St Michaels Enniskillen | |
| 2 | Scoil Muire Buncrana | |
| 3 | Finn Valley College |
| 3rd Year Girls | ||
| Place | Name | School |
| 1 | Sarah Bradley | Loreto Letterkenny |
| 2 | Hannah Murray | St Columba’s Stranorlar |
| 3 | Cloe Shields | Loreto Letterkenny |
| 4 | Cait Nic Aoidh | Colaiste Ailigh Letterkenny |
| 5 | Bronnagh Gallagher | St Cecilias College |
| 6 | Abby McGranaghan | St Columba’s Stranorlar |
| 7 | Ella Blake | Mercy College Sligo |
| 8 | Nicole McDaid | Loreto Letterkenny |
| 9 | Sophia Ryan | Mercy College Sligo |
| 10 | Amelia O’Riordan | Mercy College Sligo |
| School Result | ||
| 1 | Loreto Letterkenny | |
| 2 | Mercy College Sligo | |
| 3 | St Cecilia’s |
| 3rd Year Boys | ||
| Place | Name | School |
| 1 | Oisin Kelly | Loreto Milford |
| 2 | Evan Keown | Loreto Milford |
| 3 | Odhran McMenamin | Loreto Milford |
| 4 | Sean McNeice | Magh Ene Bundoran |
| 5 | Declan Doherty | St Eunan’s Letterkenny |
| 6 | Michael McElroy | Crana College Buncrana |
| 7 | Gareth McElroy | Crana College Buncrana |
| 8 | Cormac McColgan | Crana College Buncrana |
| 9 | Odhran Kelly | Loreto Milford |
| 10 | Liam McColgan | Crana College Buncrana |
| School Result | ||
| 1 | Loreto Milford | |
| 2 | Crana College Buncrana | |
| 3 | Magh Ene Bundoran |
| 4th, 5th, 6th Year Girls | ||
| Place | Name | School |
| 1 | Eala McDermot | Mercy College Sligo |
| 2 | Anna McGinley | Thornhill Derry |
| 3 | Ariadna Codo | Sligo Grammar |
| 4 | Megan Ferry | Milford |
| 5 | Precious Fatusin | Errigal Letterkenny |
| 6 | Elisa Caton | Sligo Grammar |
| 7 | Shauna Ruddy | Moville |
| 8 | Anna Boyle | Loreto Letterkenny |
| 9 | Cloe Wasson | Loreto Letterkenny |
| 10 | Avril Conroy | Mercy College Sligo |
| 4th, 5th, 6th Year Boys | ||
| Place | Name | School |
| 1 | Sean McGinley | St Eunan’s Letterkenny |
| 2 | Jack Holian | Errigal Letterkenny |
| 3 | Oisin Toye | Deele College |
| 4 | Dion McLoughlan | Summerhill Sligo |
| 5 | Aaron Quinn | St Columba’s Stranorlar |
| 6 | Ryan Canning | Milford |
| 7 | Ross Dotherty | Summerhill Sligo |
| 8 | Jack Casey | Sligo Grammar |
| 9 | Liam Money | Sligo Grammar |
| 10 | Paudric McKelvey | St Columba’s Stranorlar |
| School Result | ||
| 1 | Summerhill Sligo | |
| 2 | St Eunans Letterkenny | |
| 3 | St Columba’s Stranorlar |
