The rain stopped and the sun shone for part of the evening as upwards of 200 athletes from all parts of the country came to Morton Stadium for the Dublin championships which have been incorporated into the graded meeting series
Competition Secretary Owen McLoughlin responded to a request from Paul McKee to add a 400 metres to the programme and it set the tone for what was an absorbing evening’s track and field. Running in lane 4 Paul McKee got away to a brisk start as he overhauled some of those outside him down the back straight. European Championships bound Jason Harvey eschewing the hurdles for the flat in lane 8 looked like he might be on his way to victory. But 34 year old McKee was battling his way down the straight to come home with a seasonal best of 47.60.
Paul was very happy with his victory and his 47.60 the third fastest by an Irishman this year only Brian Gregan and Brian Murphy have run faster. The performance came a bit late for consideration for inclusion in the Helsinki bound squad which is a pity as the Belfast mans gritability would add to a relatively inexperienced squad. There were a number of p.b.’s from McKee’s training group who found themselves following the coach home in the race.
Menapians David Hynes continued his good season with 21.48 win in the 200 ahead of Chris Russell’s 21.64 with Jamie Davis third in 21.99. DSD’s Claire Bergin won the Women’s 200 in 24.43 ahead of the youthful Clare McCarthy of Mid Sutton A.C. who was winning her clubs first ever medal at senior level. She displayed her versatility by taking the bronze medal in the javelin later.
With sprinting setting the standard it was up to the 1500 metres runners to continue and they did not disappoint. Fedhlim Kelly on his third appearance on the track on the evening took the field along with an opening lap of 58secs reaching 800 in 1m58 with John Travers and John Coghlan close at hand. The other pace maker Dermot McDermott was having difficulty keeping in contact and Coghlan lead through 1200 in 3 minutes with Travers challenge evaporating. Michael Mulhare and Mark Hanrahan were figuring near the front for the first time.
A relatively smooth win for the MSB man John Coghlan saw him clock 3m44.36 with Mulhare holding off Hanrahan for second. This was the fastest 1500 metres run in Ireland this year and quite a few athletes revised their diary entries with new p.b.’s.
Letterkenny’s Ciaran Doherty dominated the 3000 metres with an impressive 8m31.81 ahead of a string running Simon Ryan with liam Tremble third.
James McCabe of Dunboyne achieved a World Junior “B” Standard in the Hammer with 68.14 Thomas Furlong of DMP had the best effort with the 7.25 implement of 59.31. Ferrybank’s Cara Kennedy won the women’s with 56.04. Zoe Brown cleared 4 metres to win the women’s Pole Vault.
Full results on www.dublinathletics.com
