Quirke leads the way as Douglas retain title

LAST year’s winner Craig Murphy did not compete but Douglas CS kept the senior boys’ individual title thanks to an impressive performance from Richard Quirke at the South Munster Schools cross-country championships hosted by Midleton CBS yesterday.

Murphy will be on international duty at Hannut this weekend but coach Stephen Macklin was able to send out a strong team to retain both the individual and team titles in the senior boys’ race which developed into a contest between Quirke, his schoolmate, David O’Keeffe, and Philip O’Neill (Midleton CBS) going into the final lap.

In the end, O’Neill turned a remarkable performance to split the Douglas boys and claim the silver medal with another Midleton CBS athlete, Donogh Wall, fourth, ahead of two Douglas CS athletes, Craig Harrington and Alan O’Brien.