special to irishrunner.com by Tim O'Dowd

Four Irish athletes competed in the NCAA Division I Track and Field Championships held at the Randal Tyson Centre on the campus of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas on 9th - 10th March 2007.

The first Irish athlete to compete was University of Notre Dame's Thomas Chamney in the men's 800-metre event. Chamney, 22, competed in the 2007 European Indoor Athletics Championships held the weekend before in Birmingham, England. Chamney, who competes for Crusaders AC in Ireland, placed second in his opening round race in Birmingham (1.55.58) and fifth in his semifinal race in 1.50.48.

Chamney, from Clonmel, Co Tipperary, placed sixth in both the 2006 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor NCAA Track and Field Championships. He ran 1.48.50 at the Indoor Championships on 11th March in Fayetteville, Arkansas and 1.47.64 in Sacramento, California on 10th June at the Outdoor Championships.

Chamney entered the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships with personal best times of 1.47.82 (3rd February 2007, South Bend, Indiana) and 1.46.82 (1st July 2006, Oordegem, Belgium) for Indoor and Outdoor track respectively.

Chamney is also the reigning Irish National 800m Outdoor Champion with his 1.48.71 at Santry in Dublin on 23rd July 2006.

Chamney competed in the first of two qualifying heats at the NCAA Indoor Championships where he placed 3rd in 1.49.06 advancing to Saturday's final as a fastest loser. The second section was slower and Chamney entered the 800m final with the third fastest time from the qualifying heats.

In the final, Chamney was never in the lead but in contention for most of the race. He passed the first 200-metre lap in 26.4 seconds and was sitting sixth in the eight man field. The Notre Dame senior moved up to fifth at the 400-metre mark (54.1) and remained there through 600 metres (1.22.4) before being passed on the final bend ending up 8th in 1.50.74.

The second Irish athlete to compete was Colin Costello, a sophomore at the host school University of Arkansas. Costello (Julianstown, Co Meath) qualified for the NCAA meet at the Arkansas Last Chance meeting held the week before the Championships on 2nd March where he ran a personal best time of 4.01.35.

The University of Arkansas contributed to the report on the unfortunate events which surrounded Costello's experience in the qualifying heat of the mile at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships. Costello, 20, making his first NCAA Championships appearance, led his heat of the mile prelims with 300 metres to go. Approaching the last turn, Costello tried to make a move and tripped. When he fell, the official assigned to watch the check point put his yellow flag up indicating a violation had occurred.

After review, Costello and David Nightingale of Princeton were advanced to the final after the officials ruled that they had been impeded. There was an appeal against Costello and Nightingale advancing but the official who made the original ruling did not change his decision.

The issue then went to the NCAA Games Committee and the Committee reviewed the film. After review, the Committee ruled that Costello was not impeded and therefore would not advance to the finals. Also decided was that Nightingale of Princeton was impeded by Costello's fall and would advance. Costello, who competes for Star of the Sea AC in Ireland, will be setting his sights on qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships at the Mid-East Regional meeting in late May where the 1,500m Standard is 3.47.80.

The third Irish athlete and only woman to compete at this year's NCAA Indoor Championships was Rose-Anne Galligan, a freshman at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Galligan ran the opening 1,200m leg in the Distance Medley Relay (1200m, 400m, 800m, 1600m). Galligan, 19, handed the baton to teammate Latonya Loche in the lead after running a brilliant 3.23.7 split. Loche passed the baton to Leslie Treherne who in turn handed off to the anchor leg, Sarah Bowman. Bowman, a sophomore from Warrenton, Virginia placed 6th in the mile in 4.47.14. The Lady Volunteers ended up 2nd in 11.05.92 behind event winner, the University of North Carolina which set an American record of 10.59.46. The eight points earned by their second place finish helped Tennessee place third in the team competition.

It was Galligan's fourth 1,200m leg on the Lady Vols Distance Medley Relay during the indoor campaign of her inaugural season. Her dazzling leg (3.23.7) at NCAA's is 67.9 400m pace or 4.14.7 1,500m pace. After running the mile at the Southeast Conference Championships on 25th February, Galligan ran 3.30.1 for the opening 1,200m distance on Tennessee's victorious squad which ran 11.24.35. On the same Arkansas track as NCAA's, Galligan ran 3.28.4 leading off her team to another win in 11.11.32 at the Tyson Invitational on 10th February. Her first effort of the season was an impressive 3.29.2 which was good enough for second place (11.14.01) behind the Villanova Wildcat team.

After an admittedly poor collegiate cross country season, which was in part due to adjusting to the American collegiate system and her third coach in as many years; Galligan was the top Irish finisher in the European Cross Country Championships. She placed 12th overall in the Women's Junior race in San Giorgio su Legnano, Italy in December 2006. That race, along with being back on the track gave Galligan a great deal of confidence for the indoor campaign.

Galligan's 2007 indoor seasonal best times were 2.09.45 (800m), 4.46.32 (mile) and 9.50.83 (3,000m).

Galligan, who competes for Newbridge AC in Ireland, holds the Irish Junior Indoor record with her 9.28.67 set in Sheffield, England on 12th February 2005.

The last Irish athlete to race at the Championships was Martin Fagan. Fagan was competing in his final race as a collegian for Providence College. Fagan entered the meet with impressive 2007 personal bests including 13.55.02 (5,000m) and 7.55.06 in the 3,000 metres. Fagan, 23, placed second in the 10,000m at the 2006 Outdoor NCAA Championships in 28.41.41 in Sacramento on 8th June.

The men's 3,000m was the penultimate event at the NCAA Championships with only the 4 x 400m relay left to contest. The University of Wisconsin was embroiled with Florida State University, the reigning Outdoor team champion for the team title. Wisconsin senior Chris Solinsky, who won the 5,000m on Friday needed to grab as many points as possible in the 3k to put pressure on FSU in the relay.

To insure an honest pace, Solinsky's sophomore teammate Stuart Eagon escorted the field early on. Fagan, from Mullingar, was in contact for the most of the race running a pace close to his best time.

Northern Arizona University sophomore Lopez Lomong (Kimotong, Sudan), along with Solinsky, pulled away from the pack after passing the 2-kilometre mark. Their definitive move left Fagan and four other runners battling for the bronze medal. Lomong pulled away to victory (7.49.74) with Solinsky's heavy legs betraying him on the final lap. Solinksy finished second in 7.51.69 scoring eight points and all but assuring the Wisconsin Badgers would win the team trophy.

Fagan placed 6th in 7.57.88, less than three tics off his best time and a place on the rostrum for third place.