The Striders were well represented on Sunday at the last juvenile event of the calendar year, the National Juvenile Cross Country Championships for uneven age groups, held at Waterford. With soft underfoot conditions and some steep slopes, it was no place for the feint hearted. But the Striders were very well prepared for this test and they represented club and county to the best of their abilities. The BU13 team qualified for this event, following their second placing at the provincial event. Myles Hewlett set off with the lead group, at a blistering pace, over the very testing 2.5km. A really powerful finish earned Myles a well deserved 5th place finish, which was also good enough to have Myles leading the Leinster province to gold in the provincial contest. Cosmo Hewlett, Eoin Shannon, Ben Myers, Sean Lennon and Finn Kelly were the next Striders across the line and secured a 6th place finish for Striders, in the club event and 7th place for Wexford in the county event.
The U15 boys Aidan Shannon, Adam O’Connor and Owen Lennon all qualified to represent Wexford at the national event. Aidan was first Strider home, with another impressive run, against older opposition. Adam and Owen also performed very well and all scored for the Wexford team that finished 9th in the county event. The day finished on a high, with Aedan Rogers completing a top twenty finish in the BU19 event over 6km, which also earned Aedan a place on the Leinster gold medal winning team, in the provincial event. Grace Costello and James Boland also qualified to compete, following their impressive showing in the Leinster event, but unfortunately missed out due to illness.
A special mention to Claragh Keane (DMP), Joe Byrne (SBR), who both won individual medals and to all the other Wexford athletes who all performed really well, at this high level.
