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A Tally of five Gold medals and four Silver, one Bronze and two ribbons was the amazing acheivement of local Special Olympics horse riding team, Saddle and Reins Equestrian Club and their head coach Wendy McCrea when they competed recently at the Special Olympic Regional Advancement Equestrian Competition in Colleraine. The club is based at Oakwood Riding School, Benagh, just outside Newry.
Mayor John McArdle made his way out to Wendy's riding School in Newry to congratulate the eleven athletes and many more aspiring athletes who take part in Special Olympics horse riding.
This is a new Sport for Special Olympic Athletes in our area and head coach Wendy McCrea has done tremendous work to bring the athletes to the high standard that they achieved at the Colleraine Competition.
The Medal Tally was a massive 10 gold, 7 silver, 1 bronze, 1x4th ribbon and 1x6th ribbon.
Top score of the day went to Gary Hanratty who scored 93 and came second in his section, which shows the level of competition. Best on the day with Gold medals for both competitions equitation and working trails were Dearbhail Savage and Meabh Robb followed closely by Peadar Connolly who got a gold and silver, as did Jill Connery, Aisling Thornton, Helen Murphy and Dessie McAllister. Rebecca Devlin got Silver and Bronze Rois Eireann Bogue got silver.
The Chairman Mr Bernard Robb congratulated everyone involved in developing the athletes and Club especially Wendy who has given Special Olympics a home on the Benagh Road Newry where everyone is welcome.
The Mayor said “I am delighted to meet the people supporting and the Saddle and Reins Club, it is great to see young people with special needs showing off their talents in such a good and healthy way - Congratulations Team Saddle and Reins!"
Equitation
Jill Connery 1st Place –CS division 2 (41)
Dearbhail Savage 1st Place –CS division 3 (53)
Peadar Connolly 2nd Place Division 4 (53)
Rois Eireann Bogue 5th Place Division 4 (48)
Meabh Robb 1st Place CI Division 5 (54)
Aisling Thornton 1st Place CI Division 6 (52)
Helen Murphy 2nd Place Div 9 BS (46)
Desmond McAllister 2nd Place BS Division 10 (54)
Gary Hanratty 1st Place BI Division 11 (65)
Rebecca Devlin 2nd Place BI (63)
Aoife Kearney 6th Place BI Division 11 (52)
5 Gold medals 3 Silver and 1 6th ribbon.
Working Trails
Peadar Connolly 1st Place CS Division 3 (75)
Jill Connery 2nd Place CS Division 3 (69)
Dearbhail Savage 1st Place Division 4 (75)
Division 4 (72)
Meabh Robb 1st Place CI Division 5 (74)
Aislinn Thornton 2nd Place CI Division 5 (73)
Helen Murphy 1st Place BS Division 6 (77)
Desmond McAllister 1st Place BS Division 8 (84)
Garry Hanratty 2nd Place BI Division 9 (93)
Rebecca Devlin 3rd Place BI Division 9 (91)
Aoife Kearney 4th Place BI division 9 (90)
