Dromara CC enjoy success at Ulster CX Championship
This the Ulster Cyclocross Championships had to be rescheduled due to the passing of Leo McKenna, one of the founder members of Omagh Wheelers. The new date was arranged for the 5th January and Omagh Wheelers put on a brilliant well organised Ulster Championships.
The weather as always this time of year is unpredictable but even though the rain held off on the day the course was pretty slick. The course has a bit of everything from steep hills, tricky descents, long straights and a decent off-camber to keep everyone entertained.
Dromara CC has always had great success at the Ulster Champs and this was no exception. Aoife Kellett was first out for Dromara CC with her new club kit in the Under 10s girls race. On the first lap, it was nip and tuck between all the girls but on the second lap, Aoife hit the front. Clodagh Quigley from Foyle CC was the only girl who could keep up with Aoife’s pace. She would attempt to hunt her down but with a final lap push from Aoife, the Gold Medal would be hers.
In the Senior Ladies Race, Andra Hamilton who has been improving with every race took to the start line. In a very competitive race, she was able to hold her own on this technical course. Niamh McKiverigan from Scott Racing would take an early lead but Andra would dig deep to hold on to her second place and claim her well deserved silver medal.
For the Dromara CC team, the last race would be the M40s and M50-60’s race. Barry Kellett, Paul Hamilton, Brian Kellett, and Richard Cowan would compete in the M40’s. Derek Graham and Mike Barton would be in the M50’s race.
The race would take off at breakneck speed and it was Alan Bingham from Newry Wheelers that would be the thorn in Barry Kellett’s side. From the third lap, Alan would start to eke out an ever-increasing lead. With Barry on full chase mode he needed to be careful of Paul McCarter who was ready to pounce should Barry or Alan make a mistake. As the laps flew by it was Alan that would claim the victory and a tremendous effort from Barry Kellett to claim his Silver Medal.
Behind those three Paul Hamilton put in a great race managing to take a top 10 finish (10th), Brian Kellett took 19th and Richard Cowan 21st.
In the M50-60’s race Derek Graham had an exceptional race and was having a great battle with Chris McCann from Banbridge CC to see who would get on to the last spot on the podium. With only a couple of laps to go Chris made a small gap on Derek and managed to hold on to that gap to claim the 3rd spot. It was a great effort from Derek taking 4th place. Mike Barton would prove he is still able to hold his own and would take 11th place beating quite a few of the youngsters.
Dromara CC didn’t have any representatives in the final race of the day but congratulations to the new Ulster Cyclo-Cross Chris McGlinchey.
Finally a big shout out to all the volunteers from Omagh Wheelers who worked tirelessly to create an awesome course and to the Belgium Project for letting me use their photos. Next up is the Irish Nationals held at Enniscrone, County Sligo.
