GREENOCK Glenpark Harriers came away delighted after achieving their top 10 target at the National Cross Country Championships in brutal conditions at Falkirk’s Callendar Park.
It was their strength in depth that was apparent with their top eight men all grouping well at the finish in the bitterly cold conditions, and constant rain, with underfoot conditions resembling a sea of mud after having been earlier churned up by the nine previous races, which only got progressively worse as 600 senior men battled around three laps of the hilly course.
The result was extremely pleasing after the major blow of losing Stephen Trainer to flu in the lead-up to the race.
But the Harriers weren’t to be denied with the whole team raising their level of performance to secure 10th.
Shaun Lyon typified the determination in the squad.
Although he was a doubt from starting as he had been struggling with injury for the previous few months and had only run 10 miles in the last week, he put club before self, and delivered a stunning run to lead the men home, and with Andrew Harkins, David Henderson, Steven Campbell, David Tamburini and Kevin O’Donoghue all close behind, they headed Bellahouston Harriers to again finish the top team in the county.
Another positive result was that of the veterans demonstrating the Greenock club’s quality over all the age groups, with Robert Wilson third fastest over-60, Michael McLoone repeating that in the over-50s, and Andrew White and Graham McGrattan also having top 10 finishes in the O45s and O55 categories.
Rhonda White was the leading Glenpark woman, but her club mates Lorna Coyle and Liz McAuslan followed her close behind as all three produced very respectable times over two laps of the testing course.
There was encouragement from the junior boys, who are starting to show gradual improvement, with all producing speedy finishes, but with a little more work on their endurance will see even better results in the season ahead.
Ryan Brown was top under-15, with Harry McGill the quickest under-13.
Results: Men 12km: Shaun Lyon 43.29, Andrew Harkins 44.22, David Henderson 45.16, Steven Campbell 45.21, David Tamburini 46.40, Kevin O’Donoghue 47.07, Michael McLoone 47.13, Andrew White 47.50, Graham McGrattan 52.47, Robert Wilson 53.43, Alan O’Rourke 54.51, Mick Harrington 57.16, Kevin Gill 61.30, Jeremy Deveney 63.16 Women 8km: Rhonda White 37.51, Lorna Coyle 38.11, Liz McAuslan 39.50 U15 Boys 4km: Ryan Brown 16.50, Jonathan Slater 17.31 U13 Boys 3.2km: Harry McGill 13.01, Alan Mollins 13.58, Ewan Ferguson 14.53 GREENOCK Glenpark Harriers came away delighted after achieving their top 10 target at the National Cross Country Championships in brutal conditions at Falkirk’s Callendar Park.
It was their strength in depth that was apparent with their top eight men all grouping well at the finish in the bitterly cold conditions, and constant rain, with underfoot conditions resembling a sea of mud after having been earlier churned up by the nine previous races, which only got progressively worse as 600 senior men battled around three laps of the hilly course.
The result was extremely pleasing after the major blow of losing Stephen Trainer to flu in the lead-up to the race.
But the Harriers weren’t to be denied with the whole team raising their level of performance to secure 10th.
Shaun Lyon typified the determination in the squad.
Although he was a doubt from starting as he had been struggling with injury for the previous few months and had only run 10 miles in the last week, he put club before self, and delivered a stunning run to lead the men home, and with Andrew Harkins, David Henderson, Steven Campbell, David Tamburini and Kevin O’Donoghue all close behind, they headed Bellahouston Harriers to again finish the top team in the county.
Another positive result was that of the veterans demonstrating the Greenock club’s quality over all the age groups, with Robert Wilson third fastest over-60, Michael McLoone repeating that in the over-50s, and Andrew White and Graham McGrattan also having top 10 finishes in the O45s and O55 categories.
Rhonda White was the leading Glenpark woman, but her club mates Lorna Coyle and Liz McAuslan followed her close behind as all three produced very respectable times over two laps of the testing course.
There was encouragement from the junior boys, who are starting to show gradual improvement, with all producing speedy finishes, but with a little more work on their endurance will see even better results in the season ahead.
Ryan Brown was top under-15, with Harry McGill the quickest under-13.
Results: Men 12km: Shaun Lyon 43.29, Andrew Harkins 44.22, David Henderson 45.16, Steven Campbell 45.21, David Tamburini 46.40, Kevin O’Donoghue 47.07, Michael McLoone 47.13, Andrew White 47.50, Graham McGrattan 52.47, Robert Wilson 53.43, Alan O’Rourke 54.51, Mick Harrington 57.16, Kevin Gill 61.30, Jeremy Deveney 63.16 Women 8km: Rhonda White 37.51, Lorna Coyle 38.11, Liz McAuslan 39.50 U15 Boys 4km: Ryan Brown 16.50, Jonathan Slater 17.31 U13 Boys 3.2km: Harry McGill 13.01, Alan Mollins 13.58, Ewan Ferguson 14.53
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