More records on an exciting second day at the Odyssey - Detailed results added

Day 2 of the Woodie’s DIY Irish indoor championships continued where they left off on Saturday with more exciting performances at the Odyssey in Belfast.

The women’s 1,500m final was a thriller with the youthful Ciara Mageean taking on the field with a bold display of front running. With three laps to go Rose Anne Galligan looked an ominous threat as the pair edged away from the field. Mageean continued her front running and Galligan looked poised to strike at any time.

On the last lap Galligan closed ever so slightly, and as they entered the short final straight the gold medal remained up for grabs. As the line approached Galligan made one final drive for the line, but it was Mageean who dipped on the line to retain her title by just two hundredths of a second with a time of 4:20.88 in a new Junior Record.

Kieran Kelly set a new Irish record when he threw 18.30m in the first round of the shot. More was to follow when he then smashed that record with a putt of 18.84m in the next round, and ended the competition with throws of 18.69m and 18.60m. Sean Breathnach was second with 15.45m.

The men’s 1,500m saw another stadium record when Neil Speight from Belgrave Harriers showed himself to be in a class of his own to win unchallenged in 3:43.31.

Derval O’Rourke clocked 8.17 in the first of two heats of the 60m hurdles to book her place for the European indoor championships.

The value of these indoor championships to athletes continues to be evidenced as more and more PB’s are recorded. The women’s triple jump was won by Mary McLoone who continues to be in top form this indoor season so far. She jumped 12.75m in the third round, and then bettered that with a leap of 12.80m in the last round for a new championship best performance.

In second place was Caoimhe King who jumped 12.20m in the first round to better her own Irish junior record set just a few weeks ago in Nenagh.

American Eric Mitchum won the 60m hurdles in 7.74, another new stadium record.

The women’s 60m saw American Brianna Glenn continue her tremendous weekend with a superb win in 7.31, a new All Comers Record. Behind her Niamh Whelan made a huge impact by finishing second to claim the Irish title in a time of 7.50, with Ailis McSweeney third in 7.54.

Paul Hession ran three rounds of the 60m and improved his time in each of them, 6.82, 6.76, and 6.71. However, that last time was not good enough to win the race as American Josh Norman ran an excellent race to win in 6.62. Hession is happy to concentrate on his speed work as part of his 200m build-up.

GB runner Robbie Schofield won the 800m comfortably, leading from a long way out. Behind Joe Warne came late to pass Eoin Everard near the line for the Irish title.

English runners finished 1-2 in the 400m, with Richard Strachan passing Nick Leavy in the closing stages to win in 47.69.

The women’s 60m hurdles final saw Derval O’Rourke improve her season’s best time to 8.10, to finish second behind GB athlete Gemma Bennett who won in 8.08.

Marian Andrews, drawn in lane four in the final of the 400m, put in a power house of an effort to lead all the way to win in 54.20, with Brona Furlong chasing her home in 54.60.

Olympic 400m champion Christine Ohoruogu had to give way to the two Ferrybank sprinters in the 200m final. While Niamh Whelan led coming into the finish straight from Ohoruogu, it was Kelly Proper who finished fastest of all in lane four to drive past them to claim her second title of the championships in a time of 24.10.

Laura Crowe put in a brave effort to lead the 800m for much of the race, but was passed in the last 100m by Leigh Lennon in the last 100m to win in a time of 2:09.57.

Christopher Crowley cleared 2.15m last weekend and repeated the effort to win the high jump to show that he is in top form right now.

Richard Corcoran set the pace from the gun in the 3,000m, and by halfway had just Mark Hanrahan for company. From there to the finish Corcoran steadily increased his lead, although Hanrahan did close on the last lap, but by then it was too late. The winner’s time of 8:10.30 was a new PB by nine seconds, a week after cutting it by 5 seconds.

Another big PB came when David Donegan won the pole vault with a best of 4.83m, just shy of the Irish record held by John Hallissey of 5.02m.

Detailed Results

Woodie’s DIY Irish Indoor Championships