The O’Brien sisters from Islandeady were the golden girls for Westport at the recent uneven ages Connacht Cross Country Championships in Boyle when they each stormed home to win their races in under 13, under 15 and under 17.

Roisin, running out of age, left the field standing in the under 13 girls race.  Saoirse, also running out of age, did the same in the under 15 girls race and older sister Aoife had a fantastic run to take the under 17 girls title in style.

They were the highlight of another great day of competition for Westport Athletics Club, which brought home five individual golds, two individual silvers and an individual bronze.  In addition, Westport had five teams qualify for the upcoming uneven age All-Irelands in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, adding to the five teams which qualified the previous week for the even age All-Irelands in Santry, Dublin.

The conditions at Lough Key Forest Park, Boyle, where the Championships took place, were atrocious.  It was extremely wet and sticky underfoot which made the going very tough, particularly for the younger ages.  

First out onto the daunting course were the under 11 girls, who, despite the conditions put in a valiant effort to take fourth team position with great runs by Leila O’Malley (6th), Claire Conway (11th), Molly Williams (25th), Sarah Mulroy (31st) , Emilie O’Connell (44th), Olivia Costello (60th), Lucy O’Connell (78th) and Zoe O’Grady (79th).

They were followed by the under 11 boys race in which the team of Fionn O’Ruain (32th), Martin O’Grady (51st), James Noonan (54th), Finlay MacEvilly (63rd) and Charlie Harburn (73rd) all ran strongly in a very competitive race.

Roisin O’Brien led her under 13 girls team to a silver team medal, which was fantastic given that many of the team had volunteered to run out of age.  Her team-mates were Laura Moran (17th), Katie O’Grady (19th), Kate Grady (21st) and Sophie Scahill (32nd).

With Malcolm MacEvilly taking first position and Shane O’Malley finishing close behind him to take second, the Westport boys blew the under 13 boys race apart.  They were followed home by their team-mates Con McNamara (9th), James Marrey (17th) and Harrison Quinn (19th) to take the team gold.

Thomas Devaney had a fantastic run in the under 15 boys race to finish second, closely followed by team-mate Luke Dawson in third.  Ethan Lloyd, running out of age, finished a courageous 6th with Tim Campion, also out of age, finishing in 17th.

In the under 17 boys race, Aaron Doherty led his gold medal winning team home with a fourth place finish.  Ben Walsh was hot on his heels in fifth, with Eoghan McLaughlin in 7th and Alex O’Rian in 12th.  This team is particularly significant for Westport Athletic Club because it is the first time in many years that there is a full team of older boys still competing so well.

Finally, Sorcha McAllister took the Junior Girls title in what was her final Connacht Cross Country race competing as a juvenile.