Abbey AC
16 Jan 2010
Abbey athletes turned in some fine performances at the Moira XC on Saturday 16 January 2010, with Gladys Ganiel O'Neill winning the women's race and Owen Carleton claiming third in the men's.
Gladys led nearly from the start, gradually pulling away and posting a time of 17.23 on the three-mile route. North Belfast's Louise Smyth (17.54) edged North Down's Stephanie Hambling (18.00) for second.
In the men's race, Owen bravely chased St Malachy's Michael McKillop for most of the four-mile circuit. McKillop hung on for an impressive victory in 19.55, while City of Derry's Declan Reid (20.10) managed to outlast Owen (20.13) for the second position.
Abbey also got a solid run from Simon Taylor, who clocked 20.51 to take the sixth position. Jason McMinn followed him home in 32nd (24.02).
In the veterans' competition, Eddie Bell was fifth in the over-45 category while Jim McKeown was 11th among over-40s.
Competitors had a mild day for the event, and although portions of the course were mucky from heavy rains the night before, there was good running in parts.