compiled T. Patrick O'Dowd
Paddy McGrath photo by Ricky Simms
Daniel Caulfield (Dublin City Harrier) ran 4.02.41 for sixth in the mile at the Princeton Invitational held in Princeton, New Jersey as part of the USATF Golden Spike Series. Kenyan, Leonard Mucheru won the race in 3.53.64. Caulfield qualified for the Lisbon Indoor Championships when he set the Irish record in the indoor 800m (1.47.21). Paddy McGrath won the hammer with a meet record throw of 72.64m better than his last year's best throw of 70.82 and ranking him 2nd (77.49m, West Point, NY USA, 26th June 1999) and 8th with this mark on the All Time Irish list. In the 1,500m, Dubliner Aidan Walsh (Fairleigh Dickinson University) placed eighth in 3.50.39 qualifying for this weekend's IC4A championships.
Crusaders Peter Coghlan ran 13.56 (+0.5) to place second in the 110m hurdles, a Grand Prix event at the IAAF Grand Prix meeting held in Osaka, Japan, on 12th May.
Ann Marie Larkin (UCD) edged Freda Davoren (UCC) in a thrilling 1,500m race at the GV Ryan - Louis Vandendries Meeting sponsored by Crusaders AC held in Santry on 13th May. The Tullamore native ran 4.17.6 to Davoren's 4.17.7 - both women set personal bests. Maria McCambridge (DSD) finished third in 4.19.9. Larkin's time was well inside the standard (4.20.00) for the European Under 23 Championships slated for 10-16 July in Amsterdam. In the 100m, Sydney Olympian Ciara Sheehy (DCH) had an easy win in 11.98 (0.0) while on the men's side Mark Howard (Fingallians) won the 100m 10.78 (-0.4) into a headwind and the 200m 21.20 (+3.1). Howard was named to Irish Team in the 100m at the upcoming Riga International scheduled for 2nd June. Derval O'Rourke ran a seasonal best time of 14.34 winning the 100m hurdles. Maura Prendiville (UCC) won the 800m in 2.10.10 and Deirdre Ryan (Dundrum-South Dublin) won the high jump in 1.76m. Ian Neely (Ballymena & Antrim) won the 400m hurdles in a fine early season time of 53.99. The Clonliffe Harriers won the team honours with 271 points and DSD close behind with 268.
Fresh off her Irish record in the hammer, Nicola Coffey (Navan AC), a graduate student competing for St. John's University won the hammer (52.74m) and placed eighth in the shot putt (12.14m) at the 2001 Metropolitan Outdoor Track Championships held on 12th May in New Haven, Connecticut.
Barry Egan (Co. Tipperary) ran 4.05.06 in his qualifying race and 4.08.35 to place twelfth in the 1,500m final at the 2001 Conference USA Championships held in Tampa, Florida 10-12 May. He also ran 15.12.82 in the 5,000m for eleventh.
Providence College's Róisín McGettigan (Co. Wicklow) ran 10.20.99 to eclipse her Irish record in the 3,000m steeplechase at the State University of New York at Albany Spring Classic on 12th May. Her old mark of 10.24.35 was set at the Big East Championships on 5th May. McGettigan narrowly missed the NCAA Championship automatic qualifying time of 10:20.00. Presently, she is ranked 14th and will most likely qualify for the championships which will be held in Eugene, Oregon from 30th May through 2nd June. The only other Irish woman under the 11-minute barrier (10:59.89) is Olga Cronin (East Cork) who competes for Western Kentucky University.
