On a miserable, rainy Saturday at National Sports Campus in Abbotstown, an impressive performance from a Dublin University Harriers and Athletics Club (DUHAC) team brimming with potential shone through. With several athletes unavailable through injury or illness, and torrential rain the night before leaving one of the toughest tracks in the country soft and muddy, circumstances meant DUHAC were facing into a formidable challenge for their final cross country event of the season.
The women’s team, captained by Bláithín Sheil, boasted a complement of 19 runners, the highest turnout from the club at a cross country event for a number of years. Their strength in depth was evidenced in their fourth place team finish, with outstanding individual performances from Sarah Fitzpatrick who finished seventh, Cliona Murphy in 21st, Clare McCarthy in 23rd and Deirdre NicCanna in 24th.
In a race won by the current holder of the National senior cross-country title, Shona Heaslip, and contested by 3000m steeplechase Olympian Michelle Finn, Trinity’s women’s team can be greatly satisfied with their hard work with everyone running to their potential and five athletes finishing in the top 30 positions.
The men’s team, captained by Eoin McCullogh, raced to a fifth place finish overall. Feidhlim McGowan finished in 20th place, leading a very competitive Trinity pack, followed closely by by Eoin McCullough who finished 26th, Colum O’Leary in 40th and John Moroney in 44th. With new members coming through this year, the consistency of the performances from both teams send a signal of intent and ensure that the future of the club is bright.
Furthermore, the results provide a solid basis for DUHAC to build on ahead of what promises to be a busy period for the club. With the University Mountain Running Championships taking place on Sunday March 26th and the Leinster Universities Track meet taking place this Friday, there is ample opportunity for success and the club hopes to send sizeable representation to both competitions. The club is also looking optimistically towards the upcoming Colours track event. Squaring up against athletes from University College Dublin (UCD), the club will hope to claim bragging rights over the neighbouring college in the meeting, which will serve as a curtain raiser to their trip to Cork on the weekend of April 7th and 8th.
Correction: 22:23, March 7th, 2017
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the turnout among the women’s team was the highest at any event this year, and that six of the women’s team’s athletes finished in the top 30 rather than five.
