Once again Penn Relays was a memorable experience. Irish athletes and coaches made major contributions to the highlights especially in the Championship of America Distance Relays. In glorious weather a record 114,191 spectators revelled in the 4 day athletics carnival. The attendance on Saturday was approx 49,700! Feature event from the Irish point of view was the 4 X 1 mile relay where Arkansas coached by Mayo’s John Mc Donnell triumphed in 16.14.92. Meath’s Colin Costello ran the first leg for Arkansas in 4:08.1. Iona coached by Dublin’s Mick Byrne was a close second in 16:15.40. Tallaght’s Sean Connolly ran the second leg in 4:05.09. Providence coached by Waterford’s Ray Treacy were fourth in 16:22.87. Mullingar’s Martin Fagan was hugely impressive running the second leg in 4:00.4 In the Distance Medley Relay (DMR -1200, 400, 800, 1600) Arkansas were second with Colin Costello leading off in 2:59.7. Providence were 4th with Martin Fagan running 3:58 on the 1600m leg. The Irish girls were equally impressive. Sligo’s Mary Cullen ran a 4:15.2 leg on the 4X1500 relay, the fastest of the day! Wicklow’s Roisin Mc Gettigan had a gun to tape win in the Olympic Development 5000m in 16:20.64. Iona’s Michelle Gallagher was 5th in the College 3k in 9:48.27. Cork’s Jamie Mc McCarthy (14:34.32; 3:52.67; 1:53.47 in April) had the baton knocked from his hand in the 120 leg in the DMR while leading off for Coastal Carolina. Dublin’s; Richard Corcoran ( 14:48.58;3:52.14 in April) races in big East Conference this weekend after missing out in Penn when Villanova withdrew their 4X1 mile team to concentrate on the 4X800m ( 2nd in 7:19.06). Clare’s Marie Davenport had an outstanding run in the 10k in Stanford finishing 4th in 32:44.38 (European qualifying time s 33:20.00). Cork’s Sean Conroy who missed the indoor season through injury ran 3:49 at Mt. Sack California. Meath’s’ Andrew Ledwith (Iona) is injured (heel spur) as is Dublin’s Richie Yeates (shins).Richie is a freshman in Providence College. Wicklow’s Brian Farrell (Stony Brook), coached by Wexford’s Andy Ronan is red shirted, as is Mc Neese’s Cork man Alan Foolkes.
