ATHLETICS: Several Irish athletes this past weekend began the chase for qualifying times for next month's World Indoor Championships, though only Alistair Cragg succeeded, with an outstanding victory over 3,000 metres at the Boston Indoor Games.
Cragg's time of seven minutes 45.22 seconds was a significant improvement on his previous best and almost 10 seconds inside the required time for the World Championships, which take place in Birmingham in mid-March.
He also had the satisfaction of beating the Olympic 1,500-metre champion, Noah Ngeny of Kenya, who took second in 7:46.21.
For his first race of the season it was the perfect start for Cragg, who is still a student at the University of Arkansas and is coached by Mayo-born John McDonnell. His time also improved the long-standing American collegiate record and underlines his clear potential for a major breakthrough at international level soon.
Ngeny held the better position over the closing laps before Cragg surged ahead in the final 500 metres, leaving several more experienced runners in his wake, including Russia's Vyacheslav Shabunin and Kenya's Martin Keino.
It now seems certain that Cragg will aim for the World Indoor Championships, which would mark only his second ever appearance for Ireland since declaring from South Africa two years ago.
There was a little less joy for three other Irish runners in Boston.
Daniel Caulfield came desperately close to achieving the qualifying time over 800 metres when finishing third in 1:48.62. The required time for Birmingham is 1:48.25.
Still it was an encouraging run for a man returning from several months of injury. Victory there went to Otukile Lekote in 1:48.07.
Geraldine Hendricken was treating the 1,500 metres as a break from training, and her lack of sharpness clearly showed as she came home ninth in 4:19.25. But the pace up front was remarkable, the winner, Regina Jacobs, eventually setting a world indoor record, 3:59.98.
That earned the 39-year-old Jacobs a $25,000 bonus and already establishes her as the clear favourite for the world indoor title. Hendricken, however, is more likely to target the world cross-country later in March.
Sinead Delahunty-Evans also struggled a little in the 3,000 metres, finishing ninth in 9:12.27 and some ways off the winner, Meseret Defar of Ethiopia, who clocked 8:57.22.
Gareth Turnbull posted 14th and 8:08.97 - some 23 seconds behind Cragg - in the men's 3,000 metres.
