Sunday 12 February 2023 22:00
Young athletes from the Lurgan area have topped the leaderboard at the latest round of the Athletics NI Primary School Cross Country League, sponsored by Flahavan’s which took place at Palace Stables, Armagh on Friday 3 February.
Finishing first place in the girls’ race was Gemma Marsden, a pupil at St Francis Primary School, Lurgan followed by Emma Rankin, from Maralin Village Primary School in second place and Lucia McMullen from Kings Park Primary School, Lurgan finishing in third place.
In the boys’ race, Aaron Campbell from Gaelscoil Phadraig Naofa, Crossamaglen gained the top spot, whilst Ciaran Smyth from St Francis Primary School, Lurgan finished in second place and Brodie Hull from Kings Park Primary School, Lurgan finished in third position.
The winning athletes are now in full training mode for the final which takes place on Friday 3 March 2023 at Mallusk Playing Fields. Following the final, the top 20 girls and top 20 boys will be invited to join Flahavan’s Athletics Northern Ireland Junior Endurance Squad. The accolade includes participating in 9 training sessions over 12 months to support the personal development of talented young athletes.
The League, which is committed to encouraging young people to have an active and healthy lifestyle, was launched in October 2022 by Flahavan’s and Athletics NI ambassador and award-winning athlete, Nick Griggs.
Starting off his career as a young athlete himself, Nick holds many U18 and U20 Irish records for middle distance events, breaking the European U20 indoor mile record in February 2022 and claiming gold at the 2021 U20 European 3000m championships. Nick also won Turin's U20 European Cross-Country Silver medal in December 2022.
To learn more about Flahavan’s full range of oat-based products and how you can fuel your run with tasty recipes, keep up to date by following @Flahavans on Facebook and Instagram.