Training
The annual inter-regional competition for juniors aged 14 to 18 was hosted this year by NWOA and our tiny squad was as enthusiastic as always. Once again all of the team were members of LVO and they worked hard coming up to the event participating in coaching sessions on Slievenagore and Carnawaddy; and Euan, Ewan and Cillian also attended the Czech O Camp over the summer. Once again James qualified for the JROS summer tour, this time to Deeside, so the team was as well prepared as they could be.
Competition
The individual race was on Torver Back Common a mixed area of steep forested hillside and open fell above. We got to watch the seniors finishing up the steep run-in before our event. Our top place went to James who came 13th at M16, an excellent result for a first-year 16 at this very competitive class. Euan and Jack were only 3 minutes apart, in 23rd and 24th places respectively, and with Euan giving Matthew a bit of a tow into the finish, we had 4 strong results.
At M14 we had another 3 very young runners, Cillian and Ewan both first year M14 ran steady races and Aran who has just turned 12 coped brilliantly with the challenge and demonstrated his determination and ability. We have high hopes for this threesome for next year.
Sam has just moved up to M18 this year and gave us a good steady run, demonstrating his fitness and endurance in taking on the extra distance and physicality.
The main take-home is that each of our runners was happy that they had performed to their best and while the courses were challenging and mistakes were made, they all enjoyed the terrain and the experience.
Relay
The sand dunes at Haverrig were fast and courses were tricky particularly at the start. We had only 2 teams – James, Euan and Sam; and Euan, Ewan and Jack (running up to M18). Matthew and Aran formed a non-competitive ad-hoc team with an M18 from another squad. This year, for the first time there was a prize for any team who managed no mis-punches over the entire weekend. Sadly, despite my last-minute encouragement this was not to be and we managed to bomb out of both relays!
Results
Sooo, while we came last again – 12th out of 12 regions, our results were actually very encouraging! We had no girls’ team so we scored no points on the women’s individual or relay. But our boys’ team came 9th overall – and achieved that with only 8 runners out of a possible team of 12. Even after the relay, in which we scored zero, the men were still 10thoverall. I am personally delighted by this performance and the boys should all be proud of themselves for achieving it.
Social
We had a ball! Some dietary advice may be necessary to optimise our potential for next year. There were swings, tree-climbing, music, singing?, cards and probably a lot more that I didn’t see! The minibus borrowed from Lisburn and Castlereagh County Council (LCCC) was great and allowed the whole team to travel together.
Finally, I have to thank Michael Kennedy for coming with us, doing all the driving, sleeping (?) on the hall floor with 100 boys, helping out over the course of the weekend and generally being good company and keeping me sane.
Steph Pruzina, NIOA Junior Squad Manager