Phil Healy, Stephen Scullion, Thomas Barr and Siofra Cleirigh Buttner were in action overseas, while Emma Mitchell was among the winners at the Northern Ireland and Ulster Championships.
Phil Healy of Bandon AC can do nothing wrong at the moment and on Saturday (June 9), she improved her 400m best to 52.19 at the AtletiCA Geneve meet in Switzerland, where she finished just one hundredth of a second behind Maria Benedicta Chigbou of Italy, who clocked 52.18.
In the 200m, Healy ran a personal best 23.17, finishing second in her race behind Ashleigh Nelson of Great Britain who ran 22.94.
Only last Wednesday in Santry, Healy had not only set a new Irish 100m record of 11.28, but an hour later, ran 52.63 for 400m at a Dublin Graded Meet. She now has European Championships A standard times for the100m, 200m and 400m and faces the dilemma of which to chose.
Doubling up over 200m and 400m is out of the question since the finals of both these events are scheduled for the same evening, along with the 4 x 400m final.
Also in the 400m series of races, Cliodhna Manning of Kilkenny City Harriers ran a personal best 53.15, which is inside the European Championships B standard of 53.40, while in the 800m, Alanna Lally of UCD finished second in 2:04.79.
UCD’s Sarah Lavin won her 100m hurdles in 13.63, with Lily An O’Hora of Dooneen AC sixth in 14.01, while Nessa Millet of St Abban’s won her 400m hurdles race in 59.22. In the long jump, Sarah McCarthy of Mid-Sutton was fourth with 5.84m; Saragh Buggy of St Abban’s was third in the triple jump with 13.29m.
In the men’s 400m series, Grange’s Chris O’Donnell, representing Loughborough Students, ran a time of 46.99, putting him top of the current Irish rankings and not too far off the European Championships B standard of 46.70. In the same race, Luke Lennon Ford of Clonliffe Harriers finished fifth in 47.68; O’Donnell had finished second.
At the Mary Peters Track in Belfast on Saturday (June 9), Aaron Sexton of North Down won the 100m in 10.69 at the Northern Ireland and Ulster Open Senior Championships. Paralympic superstar Jason Smyth of Derry Track Cub was second in 10.69 and Israel Olatunde of Dundealgan AC third in 10.83.
In the women’s 100m final, Lauren Roy from City of Lisburn was an emphatic winner in 12.04. Second was Leah Moore of Clonliffe Harriers in 12.31.
Winning the women’s 200m in 24.75 was Davicia Patterson of Beechmount Harriers.
Emma Mitchell of Queen’s AC raced away with women’s 1500m in 4:17.93; Rachel Gibson of North Down was second in 4:28.03. Winning the men’s 1500m in 3:57.90 was Neil Johnston of Springwell AC.
Winning the men’s 400m in 47.03 was Theo Campbell of Birchfield Harriers. Craig Newell of Ballymena and Antrim was second in a season’s best 47.36 and Andrew Mellon of Queens AC third in 47.59, also a season’s best.
Over 5000m, Conor Bradley of City of Derry Spartans just made it home first in 14:57.59 with Conor Duffy of Glaslough Harriers a fraction behind for second in 14:57.85 and Christopher Madden of City of Lisburn third in 15:58.77.
Winning the women’s race was Jessica Craig of North Down in 17:12.84, with Irish marathon champion Laura Graham of Mourne Runners second in 17:16.13.
Over 800m, Conall Kirk of Annadale Striders won the men’s race in 1:50.72 with City of Lisburn’s Kelly Neely first in the women’s race in 2:13.15.
Ben Reynolds of North Down won the men’s 100m hurdles in 14.19, while in the field, Adam McMullen of Crusaders AC won the long jump with 7.79m, Barry Pender of St Abban’s was a clear winner of the high jump with 2.10m and Brendan O’Donnell of Lifford Strabane AC won the U20 hammer with a throw of 65.19m.
Stephen Scullion was comfortably inside the European Championships A standard of 28:45 when finishing fifth in the 10,000m in personal-best 28:36.05 at the Portland Track Festival in the USA. The race was won by Kevin Lewis of Team USA in 28:32.06.
Siofra Cleirigh Buttner finished fourth in the 800m in a time of 2:05.73 at the NCAA Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday (June 9).
It was a tactical race and the Dundrum South Dublin athlete had a marginal lead at 400m, which she went through in 1:00.99. The winner was Sammy Watson of Texas A&M in 2:04.21. Cleirigh Buttner had qualified as a fastest loser from the heats in 2:03.11.
Siofra Cleirigh Buttner finishes 4th in the final of the 800m at #NCAATF in 2:05.73! It's our best outdoor finish in the 800 meters in 23 years!! #NovaNation https://t.co/FDOAghcEt2 pic.twitter.com/0XDYpjCaQ4
— Villanova Track & XC (@NovaTrackXC) June 9, 2018
A small group of Irish athletes were competing in the Flanders Cup meet in Belgium on Saturday. In the men’s 3000m, Conor Dooney of Raheny Shamrock finished second in 8:20.25.
Winning a separate 3000m race was DSD’s Patrick MacGabhann in 8:26.85. Sarah Murray of Fingallians was second in the women’s 100m in 11.83 after running 11.81 in her heat.
In the supporting programme at the Bislett Games Diamond League in Oslo on Thursday evening (June 7), Zak Curran finished second in the 800m in 1:45.75. Race winner was Thomas Arne Roth of Norway in 1:45.77.
A last minute dash to Oslo for the Bislett Games when a lane in the Diamond League 400m hurdles opened up proved worthwhile for Thomas Barr when he ran a season’s best 49.53. Race winner was Abderrahman Samba of Qatar in 47.60.
Barr will run the 200m and the 4 x 400m in Berne on Saturday (June 16) with his next 400m hurdles race scheduled for Slovakia on June 29.
Roads
Tom and Dena Hogan made it a family double at the Wexford Marathon on Sunday (June 10). Tom was first home in 2:41:10 while Dena was first woman in 3:13.17.
Peter Somba of Dunboyne AC returned to winning ways with victory in the Patrick Bell 5km hosted by Bohermeen AC in Co Meath on Friday evening (June 8).
Only five days earlier he had finished seventh in the Cork City Marathon in 2:33:00, but he still managed a time of 15:16 in Bohermeen. Paddy Hamilton of Slieve Gullion Runners was second in 15:21, and Darragh Rennicks of the host club third in 15:29.
The first woman was Maria McCambridge of DSD in 17:12. Jane Bandila of Dunboyne AC was second in 17.44 and Aine O’Reilly of Mullingar Harriers third in 18.08.
Winners of the Glenmore 10-Mile in Co Louth were Declan Power of Clonliffe Harriers in 57:29 and Nicola Flanagan of Blayney Rockets in 68:19.