A Weekend of Wins, PBs and Qualification Standards for Irish Senior Indoor Athletes

The Irish indoor season continued to gather pace over a busy weekend of senior and junior competition, with athletes in action across Belgium, Scotland, the United States and mainland Europe. From personal bests and national records to qualification standards and outright victories, it was another strong few days on the boards for Irish representation.

IFAM Gent

Saturday’s action began in Belgium at IFAM Gent, where Molly Scott doubled up across the sprints and hurdles. In the women’s 60 metres, Scott placed second in her heat in 7.46 before finishing sixth in the final with a season’s best of 7.43. She was also in action in the women’s 60 metre hurdles, advancing from her heat with a second place finish in 8.48 before being listed as a DNS for the final.

Scottish Athletics EAP Indoor International

There was a productive afternoon for Irish athletes at the Scottish Athletics EAP Indoor International. Lauren Callaghan claimed victory in the women’s long jump, producing a personal best leap of 6.40 metres to take first place.

Orla Comerford took first place in the women’s para 60 metres in 7.69, while Ciara Neville continued her strong indoor form by winning her heat of the women’s 60 metres in 7.31 before placing third in the final in a personal best 7.28, achieving the Athletics Ireland B standard.

Mollie O’Reilly also progressed to the final, finishing third in her heat with a personal best of 7.41 before lining up again later in the day.

The standout performance of the meet came from Bori Akinola, who impressed throughout the men’s 60 metres. Representing UCD, Akinola won his semi final in 6.66 before powering to victory in the final in 6.59, a personal best that secures qualification for the World Indoor Championships in Poland this March.

Watch Bori's Torun qualifying win below: 

In the middle distance events, Niamh Carr finished second in the women’s mile in a new personal best of 4:40.81. 

John Thomas Terrier Classic

The John Thomas Terrier Classic in Boston again featured a strong Irish senior contingent. NCAA athlete performances from this meeting were covered separately in the earlier report, but the senior/non NCAA athletes delivered several notable results.

Friday’s programme saw Danielle Donegan finish tenth in the women’s 5000 metres in 16:06.12.

Saturday brought a series of high quality men’s distance races. In the mile, Lughaidh Mallon finished third in his heat and 19th overall in a personal best 3:56.34, setting a new Northern Ireland mile record. James Dunne placed 14th overall in 3:55.28, a national lead for the season.

The men’s 3000 metres produced a decisive win for Darragh McElhinney, who took first place in 7:38.96, a personal best by almost a full second and sufficient to achieve the Athletics Ireland B standard for the World Indoor Championships. Jack O’Leary finished eighth in the same race in 7:42.57. 

See Darragh's in the link below:

Over 5000 metres, Nick Griggs placed fourth in 13:19.90, setting a new Irish under 23 and Northern Ireland record. Brian Fay followed in sixth in 13:21.68, with James Gormley seventh in 13:26.24 and Callum Morgan seventh in his heat in 13:31.47.

You can watch the 5000m race below:

Tallinn Indoor Meet

Sunday’s action included the Tallinn Indoor Meet, where Anna McCauley competed in the pentathlon. McCauley finished sixth overall with a new personal best total of 4333 points.

Meeting de l’Eure

At the Meeting de l’Eure, Jodie McCann lined up in the women’s mile, finishing ninth in a personal best of 4:38.66.

Millrose Games

Rounding out the weekend was the Millrose Games in New York, which saw another excellent performance from Andrew Coscoran. He finished fifth in an absolutely stacked Wanamaker Mile in 3:49.54, narrowly outside his own national record. His 1500 metre split of 3:33.55 secured his second qualification standard for the World Indoor Championships, adding the 1500 metres to the 3000 metres event he will contest in Toruń.

You can rewatch Andrew's race in the link below (Embedding is disabled for this video):

Watch here

In the field events, Eric Favors placed sixth in the men’s shot put with a best throw of 19.64 metres.

With the indoor season now fully up and running, Irish senior and junior athletes continue to set early markers across Europe and the United States. Qualification standards, national records and a growing list of personal bests point to a busy and competitive few weeks ahead with nationals coming into the horizon soon.

Image: Courtesy of Flotrack