Even in the torrential June downpour the magnificent sprint hurdling class of Sarah Lavin again shone on day one of the National Track and Field Championships at the Morton Stadium in Santry, the Limerick flyer defying the conditions to clock the fastest time in the event history.
The running track was in some parts more like a shallow swimming pool, utterly treacherous for sprint hurdling, yet Lavin looked totally undaunted as she lined up for the 10-woman straight final and then powered to the win in 12.79 seconds.
With that Lavin took down the championship record of 12.95 which had stood to Derval O’Rourke for the last 19 years. Another measure of that run came in it being just .02 off the Paris Olympic qualifying time, which Lavin has already secured multiple times.
“Yeah, to be .02 of that Olympic standard in these conditions, that’s a good sign,” Lavin said. “There was a bit a delay at that start as well, but that’s life, the important thing was to stay calm.”
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It also makes it now a 16th national title in all, her ninth outdoors, with six more indoors over the 60m hurdles, plus the 100m flat also won last year.
Lavin will back on the track on Sunday to defend that 100m title, with a certain Rhasidat Adeleke standing in her way. Last year Lavin also improved the Irish 100m record to 11.27, and while Adeleke’s legal best of 11.31 was set in 2021, she also ran that wind-assisted 10.84 in Texas in April. If conditions are right on Sunday, the 11-second barrier might well be broken.
Molly Scott from Carlow, racing her first hurdles final in four years, also ran well in the rain to take second in 13.64, the St Laurence O’Toole AC athlete also planning on a sprint double.
Just how treacherous those conditions were shown in the next race, the men’s 110m hurdles, when Adam Nolan looked certain of victory, only to crash into the final hurdle and effectively slip over the line, as veteran Ger O’Donnell took the win in 14.20.
Nolan slid home in 14.37, the 20-year-old from Carlow contesting his first senior final, although afterwards he was thankful for the conditions. “I might have been a bit too aggressive, and excited, coming into that last hurdle,” said Nolan, “but thank God it was raining, helped me slide over the line. If it was sunny I’d have stopped dead.”
Conditions had improved considerably by the time of the last track final, and Brian Fay lapped that up to win the men’s 5,000m in sensation style, running a stunning 53-second last lap to open considerable daylight on long-time leader Efrem Gidey.
The Raheny runner, already qualified for Paris in the event, was well satisfied with his winning effort of 13:43.61, with Gidey was second in 13:52.50, with Fay also presented with the first Tom O’Riordan Memorial Cup, presented by Donore Harriers.
Ciara Mageean had already decided to skip the championships. Sharlene Mawdsley also scratched from the 200m heats due to a minor injury, Andrew Coscoran also withdrawing from the men’s 1,500m with a respiratory infection. Both of those athletes are understandably cautious not to impact on their Olympic preparations.
Phil Healy didn’t let the rain upset her either, as she dominated the 200m final with another powerful run, winning in 23.42, ahead of Alana Ryan from Sli Cualann in Wicklow, who clocked 24.25
“I’d liked to have gone a little quicker, but can’t say no to that, another national title,” Healy said. Conditions obviously not ideal, but good to execute a run like that in the rain.”
The men’s 400m final on Sunday is now poised to be a classic, especially with mixed relay spots on the line for Paris. Chris O’Donnell, seeking a record sixth 400m title in seven years, won the first heat in 47.97, before three more athletes in contention won their heats marginally faster. Callum Baird ran 47.50, Cillin Greene won his heat in 47.47, before Jack Raftery won his in 47.32.
Sophie Becker won her 400m heat in 53.56, looking utterly composed. But she won’t have it all her own way, her team-mate from the 4x400m relay which win silver at the European Championships in Rome, Lauren Cadden, also looking smooth when winning her heat in 53.63
Sarah Healy, last year’s 1,500m champion after a terrific duel with Sophie O’Sullivan, moved down to the 800 and won her heat in 2:04.28. Louise Shanahan also booked her place in the final, winning her heat in 2:09.55
Mark English, who this month broke the Irish 800m record twice within four days, taking it down to 1:44.69, then 1:44.53, also cruised through his 800m heat, and looks unstoppable as the Donegal doctor seeks yet another title.
O’Sullivan came out later in the 1,500m heats, taking the gun-to-tape win in 4:26.21, the fastest of the qualifiers in a race where visibility may have been an issue in the rain.
Even in the absence of Coscoran, the men’s 1,500m is still set up as a classic championship showdown, defending champion Cathal Doyle of Clonliffe Harriers easing his way through his heat, as did Luke McCann from UCD AC, winning in 3:56.03
Both athletes are sitting just inside the qualification quota from Paris, and the extra points which come with winning this title may well prove the decisive factor in keeping them there. Looking hungry too was Darragh McElhinney, the fastest qualifier with his 3:53.45. That final promises some fireworks.
Mark Smyth of Raheny won his eighth national 200m, between indoors and out, clocking a season best of 20.70, well clear of Robert McDonnell from Galway City Harriers, who won silver in 21.17.
In the field, Sarah Buggy extended her exceptional winning streak in the triple jump, leaping to another title with a best of 12.72m. Dave Cussen of Old Abbey AC won an exciting high jump, clearing 2.10m on his first attempt, enough to seal gold.
Kate O’Connor, currently within the Paris qualifying quota in the heptathlon, won the javelin first, throwing a best of 48.73, then came back for the shot, winning silver there with a best throw of 13.87, that title going to Ciara Sheehy with her best of 14.20m
Eric Favors won another shot title in 18.85m, and earlier, Kate Veale won her ninth title in the 5,000m walk, while in the men’s 10km event, Oisín Lane from Mullingar Harriers improved his best to 40:25.99
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