Christie destroys a quality field

Athletics/Irish Intercounty Cross Country Championships: On a day that Irish cross country running shifted firmly towards the future, it was fitting that the only repeat winner of the National Intercounty championships was in the junior men.

There Mark Christie reinforced his position as a truly exciting prospect by destroying arguably the most competitive junior field in many years.

Yesterday's event also produced two winners crowning their careers at a more advanced stage. Vinny Mulvey won the senior men's race after several years of trying, as did Maria McCambridge in the senior women's race.

It was Christie, though, who truly lit up the grounds of St Augustine's College in Dungarvan with his determined and yet elegant running. A fine winter's day helped make the going fast, but his turn of pace over the second half of the six-kilometre race was unmatched. The Mullingar athlete won by 31 seconds from Andrew Ledwith of Meath, and even that margin of victory seemed almost effortless.

A year ago Christie finished sixth in the European championships, and in two weeks will head to Heringsdorf in Germany hoping to go even better. His last race in the junior ranks promises to be his best.

"I'll go out there and give it my best shot," said Christie, now a student at Dublin City University.

The top three finishers in each of the four races are guaranteed places on the Irish team for the European championships, to be announced today. Yet it seems the top six will make up the teams, with the possible exception of Sonia O'Sullivan, who may, depending on fitness, be offered a place.

Mulvey and McCambridge are fully committed to the trip to Germany. Mulvey returns to his American base today, but is already looking forward to mixing it with the best in Europe. The 26-year-old from Raheny was in danger of becoming another Irish athlete lost in the abyss of the post American-scholarship system, but throughout the hard times, his talent remained.

"I'm delighted to win this," said Mulvey, possibly the smallest runner in the field, but whose surge just after six kilometres ultimately secured his win. "I didn't feel great when I went away, but I really wanted to win this one."

He was clocked at 30 minutes, nine seconds for the 10k course (which was clearly short) and became the first new champion since 1995, when Séamus Power won the first of nine successive titles. Power was forced out of yesterday's race with a back injury.

Mulvey's surge took him away from a leading trio that, almost from the gun, had broken clear. He left Gary Murray of Donegal and Mark Kenneally of Dublin in chase, with Murray proving the strongest. Kenneally was the favourite to win the title, his expression of disappointment at the finish clearly suggesting his race hadn't gone to plan.

Mulvey also led Dublin to an all-too-easy win in the team race, meaning that Dublin retained all four titles. And despite spending over six years in America, mostly at Iona College in New York, he's lost none of his Dublin accent. "It's hard to know how the lads are running here when you're away," he added. "And I was quite surprised at how well Gary Murray ran. But I'm looking forward to the Europeans now because I definitely feel I'm in the best shape of my life."

For McCambridge, winning the senior women's title was doubly rewarding. Like Mulvey, she had her share of silver and bronze medals in national cross country. She'd also come down with the flu late in the week and almost didn't run. "I just took two days off, and rested as much as I could," she said, "because I desperately wanted to run here. And this caps a great year, a dream year really. So I'm gunning for the Europeans now, and my goal is to finish in the top 10."

Those concerns about fitness forced McCambridge to adopt cautious tactics, and she allowed her Dublin team-mate Jolene Byrne to take the early advantage. Shortly into the final lap McCambridge made her move, and won by five seconds in 16:51. Wicklow's Deirdre Byrne took third in 17:32.

The junior women's race was memorable purely for the finishing speed of Roseanne Galligan of Kildare, who swept past the long-standing leader Linda Byrne. Another name for the future.