Newcastle juniors turn out in force for Mathieson Cup

22 January 2025

NEWCASTLE AC juniors were out in force at the recent Mathieson Cup cross country event run by Mallusk Harriers.

The route, unchanged from last year

allowed for a fast 100m start, followed by the ‘Hill of Doom’ – a near vertical climb that sucks the life out your legs before hitting a looped course with some good stretches to open up on and a speedy downhill section requiring good agility and balance before fighting right to the finish.

The primary schools’ races brought the usual crowd of ready and raring youngsters to the line.

There is never a shortage of encouragement and support for these young runners, some as young as eight out for participation and, at the other end, those athletes who are building towards an assault on the Flahavans primary schools’ cross country finals in February.

Without long to wait, Newcastle AC’s Harry McVeigh led the charge in the first race of the day for primary school boys

Harry won last year’s race while in P6. Since then he has gone on to win his third Ulster title, finished third in the All-Irelands and is on track to be the first runner to win back-to-back Flahavans primary schools’ NI titles.

The 800m course didn’t faze him as he took the lead on the Hill of Doom and cruised to the win.

Not far behind him, Rossa McAleenan had brought his A game and was navigating his way through the lead pack.

He fought right to the end and crossed the line in fourth place, missing out on a podium spot by a second. In true Rossa style, he celebrated Harry’s win as if it was his own and was delighted with the reusable water bottle the participants received.

The primary girls followed and for Newcastle AC, Sophie Kerr, Rua Gosling and Cliona McAleenan, who have another year in this category, were ready to go.

It didn’t stop them from challenging the ‘big girls’ and this achievement alone brought massive smiles to the girls after their race. Rua challenged the lead group to take 10th place in 2.48, Sophie was 18th in 2.53 and Cliona was 31st in 3.08.

Next up the U-13 group toed the line. The boys and girls ran together over the 2k loop. Connaire Og McVeigh, Owen Gilmore, Lily McMurray and Emily Kerr put on the red and yellow vests and went out hard.

Connaire Og has continued to graft hard in the background with his training over the winter months. With schools districts on the horizon, he has clear aims of what he wants to achieve and to lead his school team to a place in the Ulsters.

He didn’t disappoint and although enjoyed many an evening chilling on the Xbox over Christmas, he clearly put plenty of miles in and didn’t once look behind him as he focused on the finish

Sitting tight for 350m and letting the field even out behind him, Connaire Og made a bold move to stretch it out with only clubmate Owen taking the bait to match his surge.

As one spectator added, he was like a dog chasing a bone and once he approached the final downhill he was grounded and eyes on the prize, crossing the line for a well deserved first place with 10 seconds to spare, in 7.31, making it matching podium positions heading back to No 117.

It’s important to mention that Connaire Og was pushed hard throughout the 2000m. The pairing of Owen and Connaire Og in training and in races has brought both young men on tremendously.

Equally matched across all distances it is always an exciting meet to watch them race each other as it’s so unpredictable.

Owen held on for the most part of the race and was able to make enough safe space between him and the runners behind to take second place. The schools districts will be interesting in a few weeks.

Emily Kerr moved in the U-13 group this month and managed the transition with ease. With the ground to her liking and muddy in many places, Emily finished in 18th place in 9.07. Lily McMurray ran a strong race and fought hard for position in the midfield to finish 26th in 9.33.

At U-15 level it was great to see a strong return to racing from Fiachna McAleenan, who has been on the very long road to full fitness following a debilitating injury.

With many hours spent training for his multi-directional sports commitments, Fiachna has made huge strides in returning to full fitness and he set off in fine form.

Looking stronger than he did this time last year at Mallusk, he managed the two-lap 4km course with precision and left everything out there.

He finished in an admirable 15th place, making massive leaps on last years performance and setting him up for another assault on the Post Primary Cross County Championships.

It wasn’t long before the senior ladies braved the line and for Newcastle AC it was the trio of Aine Gosling, Joanne Mills and Angie Kerr who tackled the 6k course over three laps.

Joanne and Aine worked off each other to come across the line fifth and seventh respectively with Angie using the opportunity for a strong speed session to finish in 32.36.

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