BY MATTHEW WILSON
CAOLAN MCFADDEN is looking forward to testing himself against Europe’s finest this weekend as he prepares for a trip to Portugal for the European Cross Country Championships.
It’s been a busy schedule for the Cranford AC athlete, competing to qualify for the upcoming European Championships before a successful outing at the National Cross Country Championships on Sunday.
McFadden made the journey to Dublin to participate in the event and came away with the Under 19 title, crossing the line in a time of 17 minutes and eight seconds.
The course on Sunday was described as challenging by McFadden and having only recovered from a rolled ankle, it makes his achievement all the more impressive.
“It was a really challenging course, I wasn’t expecting it to be as mucky as it was. I raced five weeks ago in the Autumn Open and I came fourth in the Under 20 Mens.
“That was where I was at in terms of trying to qualify for the Europeans. I rolled my ankle in that race about 2k from the finish line so that wasn’t ideal.
“I was around two weeks out of training just trying to recover. I was trying to take it handy on Sunday and just tried to get the win. It was a good race and my coach wanted me to do it, to get an extra race in to test my ankle and make sure that everything is grand to get a bit more confidence.”
It’s been a successful couple of years for the Cranford AC athlete, who excels on both cross country and track surfaces.
McFadden has secured the Under 19 cross country title at both provincial and national level as well as gold in the Under 19 800m, where he set a new championship record, this term alone.
The Loreto Milford student paid credit to Eamonn Giles and the coaches at Cranford AC, who have dedicated a lot of time to the underage ranks at the club to produce the results that they are enjoying.
“That was actually my final juvenile coach on Sunday. A lot of credit goes to my coach, Eamonn, and all of Cranford AC because we’ve had a successful career in the juvenile ages, starting just after COVID in the Under 15s when I really got kicked off by winning the Nationals.
“It’s been great and hopefully we can carry that on now into the Junior category and in the Seniors.”
McFadden is currently in his final year of secondary school, studying for his Leaving Certificate this summer.
Upon completion, he has earned himself a scholarship in the United States where he will attend Villanova University, one of the most prominent sports colleges in the US.
It opens the door for the Cranford AC athlete to compete at NCAA level against many of America’s best young athletes and it’s an opportunity that the 18-year-old is looking forward to.
“I have the Leaving Certificate now in June and then I’ll be heading out to Villanova in August time. That’s definitely something I’m looking forward to, to carry on my athletic and academic career.
“It was a hard decision to stay in Ireland or go to America. The decision in the end came down to the opportunities that you’ll get in America. It’s kind of the place that you need to be if you want to try and become a professional runner which would be my dream.
“Marcus O’Sullivan is the coach as well who has a really good background, he’s a three-time Indoor World Champion for 1500m. I got a visit out there during Easter to look at the campus and I really loved it.
“All of the team have a great relationship. They have the craic as well as being focused on athletics so it was great to see that.”
Just seven days on from his national triumph at Abbotstown, McFadden will take to the course once again but this time in Portugal for the European Cross Country Championships.
Having watched the event for many years in the past, it’s a major that the Cranford AC athlete has targeted and he’s delighted to have been successful in his bid to qualify this term.
“One of the major championships that I wanted to target was the European Cross Country Championships. I’ve been watching it for a long time, I remember watching Darragh McElhinney battling it out for gold, he got silver down in Dublin a few years ago.
“Ever since that I really wanted to qualify for the European Cross Country Championships. Last year I came sixth, I narrowly missed out and the year before that I was really young but I came seventh so to get it this year, especially with my ankle as I didn’t know if I’d be fit or not, was great.
“Hopefully I can go out there on Sunday now and give it my best.”
With Europe’s finest young athletes making the trip to Lagos in Portugal for this weekend’s event, the competition will certainly be fierce.
McFadden has conducted a bit of research on the athletes amongst the field on Sunday and he expressed that it’s a great chance to line up and battle against them.
“I was just looking at the competition earlier and the competition is tough. There’s a 13:31 5k guy from Belgium and a 3:29 1500m athlete from Norway.
“They’re nearly professionals at this stage so it’s just great to get the opportunity to line up against them and give it a go.”
