Irish distance running is experiencing something of a revival in recent times, and it was evident again over the past weekend. Biggest improvement was achieved by Breandan O’Neill (Dundrum South Dublin AC) who competed in one of the 5,000m races at the Payton Jordan meet in California. Content to stay near the back of the field for the first half of the race, he then made steady progress to put himself close to the leaders with a lap to go to finish fifth in a time of 13:41.36, a huge improvement on his previous best of 14:10.61 achieved in Manchester in 2009. His time puts him within sight of the European championships qualifying standard of 13:38.00.

After significant progress in the steeplechase, Tomas Cotter (Dunleer AC) turned his attention to the 1,500m at a meet in Kansas, which he won by a huge margin. His time for this ‘solo’ effort was 3:48.09 to improve on his previous best of 3:51.89 from 2010.

Jake Byrne (Mullingar AC), who is just out of junior ranks, as well as being in his first year at Iona College, has been making steady progress all year. At the Penn Relays he was second in one of the 5,000m races in a time of 14:01.99 to improve on the 14:11.41 he set indoors in March.

Orla Drumm (UCC AC) was another in action at Payton Jordan where she finished fifth in one of the 1,500m races. Her time of 4:13.27 was an improvement on her previous best of 4:14:08 achieved last year.

Joe Sweeney (Dundrum South Dublin AC) clocked 28:45.17 in the 10,000m, a big improvement on the 30:49.30 from 2007.

Clubmate Charlotte Ffrench O’Carroll was a convincing winner of one of the 3,000m races at the Drake Relays in a time of 9:20.72, to improve on the 9:29.58 set indoors last year.

Craig Murphy (Togher AC) made his debut over 10,000m at Penn to finish third in a time of 29:37.55.

Penn Relays
College Men’s 10,000m Championship
1 Pardon Ndhlovu N.C.-Pembroke 29:31.58
2 Eddie Novara SUNY/Geneseo 29:32.75
3 Craig Murphy Iona 29:37.55
4 Scott Anderson Edinboro 29:41.31
5 Ryan Hopkins Davidson 29:49.01

College Women’s 10,000m Championship
1 Ari Fisher Toledo 34:41.55
2 Jessie Petersen Syracuse 35:25.78
3 Meghan Lutz La Salle 35:27.27
4 Patricia Barry Stony Brook 35:35.45
5 Helene DeLone Indiana 35:38.17

College Men’s 5000m Championship
1 Zachary Mayhew Indiana 13:53.94
2 Jake Byrne Iona 14:01.99
3 Tecumseh Adams Central Michigan 14:02.59
4 MacLean O’Donnell Texas A&M 14:03.88
5 Kevin Burnett Texas A&M 14:04.28

College Women’s 3000m Championship
1 Charlotte Ffrench O’Carroll Providence 9:20.72
2 Emily Shearer Cornell 9:25.95
3 Katie Kellner Cornell 9:26.46
4 Liv Westphal Boston College 9:26.57
5 Melissa Chapman Yale 9:29.05

Drake Relays, Des Moines, Iowa

Men 5000 Meter Run Univ/Col
1 Anthony Rotich FR Texas-El Paso 13:57.09
2 Laban Sialo SR Central Missouri 13:58.75
3 Andrew Larsen SO Minnesota 14:09.71
4 Marcus Paulson FR Minnesota 14:17.77
5 Elkana Rotich JR Texas-El Paso 14:19.90
6 Dan Kremske SR Illinois 14:20.84
7 David Flynn SR Arkansas 14:24.19

Track-It Buster Invitational - Wichita, KS
Men 1500 Meter
1 Cotter, Tomas JR Wichita Stat 3:48.09
2 Martinez-Garcia, Robbie FR Wichita Stat 3:57.09
3 Rackers, Tim FR Tulsa 3:57.83

Grand View Viking Classic Women Des Moines, IA
Shot Put
1 Lekiesha McKnight, Jr, Nwest Missouri State 14.16m
2 Britlyn Sieck, Jr, Wartburg College 14.05m
3 Sarah Hoffmann, Sr, Wartburg College 13.77m
7 Fiona Moloney, So, Nwest Missouri State 12.49m
(11.99, F, 12.19, 12.49, F, F)

Discus Throw
Round 1, Flight 1
1 Jena Krebs, Fr, Northwestern (Iowa) 39.35mq
2 Rachael Andresen, Sr, Wartburg College 36.00mq
3 Colleen Frank, So, Grand View 33.23m
4 Fiona Moloney, So, Nwest Missouri State 32.51m

Bellarmine Classic Louisville, Ky.
1500m #1
1. Finn, Michelle SR-4 Western Kentucky 4:29.63
2. Musk, Angela JR-3 Bellarmine 4:30.95
3. Frith, Emily FR-1 Bellarmine 4:39.25

5000m #1
1. Reddin, Anna FR-1 Western Kentucky 17:53.75
2. Briggs, Ariel JR-3 Louisville 17:56.99
3. Riedling, Allison SO-2 Western Kentucky 18:39.95

Payton Jordan Cardinal - Stanford, California

Women 10000 Meter Run Kim McDonald
1 Betsy Saina Unattached 31:15.97
2 Amy Hastings Brooks 31:19.87
3 Fionnuala Britton Ireland 31:29.22
4 Julia Bleasdale Melbourne Tr 31:29.57
5 Janet Cherobon-Baw Unattached 31:33.50
Flotrack Race Video

Women 5000 Meter Run Section 2
1 Megan Brown Brooks 15:33.42
2 Kathy Kroeger Stanford 15:33.76
3 Nicole Aish Unattached 15:33.95
14 Hazel Murphy Unattached 16:02.31

Women 1500 Meter Run Section 2
1 Lauren Johnson Nike 4:11.22
2 Lauren Bonds adidas Ralei 4:11.93
3 Cory McGee Florida 4:12.61
4 Melissa Salerno New Balance 4:12.82
5 Orla Drumm Unattached 4:13.27
6 Kristen Gillespie Arkansas 4:13.33
7 Jillian Smith Michigan 4:13.94
8 Morgane Gay Virginia 4:15.04
Flotrack Race Video

Men 10000 Meter Run Kim McDonald
1 480 Cameron Levins Southern Uta 27:27.96
2 400 Sam Chelanga OTC 27:29.82
3 541 Chris Derrick Stanford 27:31.38
– 25 Alistair Cragg adidas DNF

Men 10000 Meter Run Section 2
1 Josphat Boit Mammoth TC 28:11.75
2 liam adams Unattached 28:11.76
3 James Strang Unattached 28:12.03
25 Joe Sweeney Ireland 28:45.17
26 Jonny Mellor adidas 28:51.81

Men 5000 Meter Run Section 2
1 Jake Hurysz Unattached 13:38.59
2 Kevin Williams Oklahoma 13:39.87
3 Kenyon Neuman Nike 13:40.38
4 William Mulherin Virginia Tec 13:41.06
5 Breandan O’Neill Florida Stat 13:41.56
6 Elliot Krause Wisconsin 13:42.38
7 matthew tebo Boulder Trac 13:43.05
Flotrack Race Video

Biding their time at the back end of a huge lead pack, Fout and O Neill sat back between 10th and 15th place until the pace began to quicken over the final 1600 meters. They began to work their way up the pecking order over the next two laps. O Neill made a big play to stay with the front runners over the final 600 meters, a decision that paid huge dividends.
The ACC 10,000-meter champion, in his first season with the Seminoles, rode his finishing surge to a fifth-place finish in 13:41.56. Not only did the Sandymount, Ireland native shatter his previous career-best by nearly 30 seconds, he registered the second-fastest time in Florida State history.
“It was a great night for our guys,” FSU coach Bob Braman said. “Breandan ran the second-fastest time in school history and Mike was close to his lifetime best, and that’s coming off a brutal ACC double.”

Men 5000 Meter Run Section 1
1 Lopez Lomong Nike Otc 13:11.63
2 Kevin Chelimo OTC 13:14.57
3 Matt Tegenkamp Nike Otc 13:15.00
17 Mark Christie Ireland 13:37.32
18 Chris Barnicle New Balance 13:42.46

Men 1500 Meter Run Section 3
1 Austin Mudd Wisconsin 3:40.87
2 Elliott Heath Unattached 3:41.55
3 Billy Nelson New Balance 3:41.57
4 Ross Proudfoot Speed River 3:41.86
5 Ryan McNiff Adidas Team 3:42.19
6 Chris Walizer Virginia Tec 3:42.61
7 Darren McBrearty Dcu/Letterke 3:42.92
8 David Forrester Florida Stat 3:44.67

Steve Scott Invitational UC Irvine
Men 100 Meter Dash
Section 1 Wind: 1.7
1 Andy Robertson Team England 10.31
2 Dominique Hubert Grand Canyon 10.35
3 Ryan Scott Unattached 10.48
4 Paul Hession Ireland 10.59
5 De’Shawn Waters Double Pillar 10.71

Section 2 Wind: 1.4
1 Steven Colvert Crusaders AC 10.45
2 Confidence Lawson Unattached 10.52
3 Jordan Taylor Cal St. Bakersfield 10.64

Men 200 Meter Dash
Section 1 Wind: 0.2
1 Chris Clarke Loughborough 20.65
2 Steven Colvert Crusaders AC 20.89
3 Paul Hession Ireland 21.05
4 Mike Mitchell South Bay TC 21.10
5 Jordan Taylor Cal St. Bakersfield 21.54

Section 3 Wind: 1.0
1 David Carcamo Cal St. Los Angeles 21.57
2 Deon Kent A1A 21.79
3 Brian Murphy Crusaders 22.03
4 Othro Marsh Unattached 22.13

2012 Yale Springtime Invitational Yale
Women 400m
Finals: Heat #1
1 Rodriquez, Natasya SO-2 St. John’s 58.32
2 O Connor, Mary JR-3 Stony Brook 58.89
3 Watts, Ivy FR-1 New Haven 59.11