Clonliffe magnificent 5th in Europe

An absolutely superb performance by Clonliffe’s Men in the European Club Cross Country Championships in Carceres, Spain, on Sunday the 5th of February led by a magnificent display by Killian Lonergan, taking 10th place, placed the Club 5th in Europe.

There was a huge crowd of some 10,000 spectators in attendance at the course in the Spanish City to witness the cream of European long distance runners in action. Clonliffe of course had sent a very strong team and Captain Joe Cooper was in Buoyant form before the race“hoping for a top 6 position”.

The boys did Joe and the Club proud with an absolutely tremendous performance by Killian Lonergan to finish 10th place in a time of 30:16Mark Kenneallywas next in 24th place in a time of 31:03, closely followed by Cian McLoughlin in 26th in 31:07 with Gary O’Hanlon being the fourth scorer in 32nd place in a time of 31:29. Our fifth athlete was Colm Rooney in 56th place in a time of 32:57 and 6th was Aidan Bailey in 62nd place in 33:30.

The tight packing of the lads propelled Clonliffe up the leader board to finish a magnificent 5th place, some three places better than last year.

The individual winner was Zersenay Tadesse of CA Adidas from Spain in a time of 29:18 from his team mate Jose Rios 29:26 and 3rd was Drissel Himer of Olympique de Marseille in a time of 29:40.

The winning team were CA Adidas from Spain retaining its crown and winning the European title for the sixth time with an unbelievable total of 14 points, their scoring runners being 1st, 2nd, 5th and 6th.

The full team result was:

1. CA Adidas – 14 Pts.

2. Grupo Desportivo Da Conforlimpa – 28 Pts.

3. Olympique de Marseille – 53 Pts.

4. If Sparta Copenhagen – 84 Pts.

5. Clonliffe Harriers – 92 Pts.

6. Istanbul Buyuksehir Belediye S – 114 Pts.

7. AK Kormeriz – 130 Pts.

8. RFC Liegeois – 132 Pts.

9. SK Vidar – 154 Pts.

10. Salford Harriers – 196 Pts.

11. Sport Club Lieftal – 197 Pts.

12. Club d’Atletisne Valls d’Andorra – 211 Pts.

13. Prinz Hendrik – 212 Pts.

14. Inter Sport Moldova – 215 Pts.

15. CA Balvaux – 244 Pts.

Stunning performances – roll on February 25th.