HIGHLIGHTS: Abdel Laadjel set a new Irish indoor Under 20 record in the NCAA BIG EAST 5,000m. Louis O’Loughlin won a 1,500m silver and Lara O’Byrne breaks 9 seconds in the 60m Hurdles at the NATIONAL SENIOR INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS. Anne Gormley took team bronze in W50+ Race Walk at the EUROPEAN MASTERS INDOOR ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS in Portugal.

 
Abdel Laadjel continues to impress in the United States. In the prestigious BIG EAST INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS at Chicago, Illinois last Friday evening the Donore Harriers athlete finished 7th in the 5,000m final with a time of 14.12.73. His time set a new national record for the event, replacing Daragh McIlhenny’s mark of 14.13.67 set at the Athlone Arena in February 2019. Representing Providence University, Laadjel ran a smart race by starting conservatively in a field of 25 and then using his strength and endurance base to gain to 7th. Indeed, he narrowly lost out on 6th place in a sprint to the line. Laadjel commented afterwards: “Happy with that! It’s a good improvement and a step forward. Happy to sneak an Irish record also”. The high calibre race was won by Simon Bedard (13.43.04) ahead of Irishman Barry Keane (13.43.81) – both representing the Butler University team.

Louis O’Loughlin was the club’s only medallist in the weekend’s NATIONAL SENIOR INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS at the National Indoor Arena in Dublin 15. He handily qualified to the final by winning Heat 3 of the 1,500m on Saturday with a time of 4.04.54. Sunday’s final was a different matter! Pre-race favourite and Irish senior international Luke McCann of UCD AC (3.45.14) took command of the race from the start opening a widening gap on the field to win comfortably. O’Loughlin (3.54.74) settled near the front of the chasing group, before unleashing his trademark kick over the final 300 metres to take the runners-up spot ahead of Kevin McGrath (3.55.41) of Bohermeen AC. O’Loughlin, who now has his training programme set by Lee Van Haeften, is beginning to show a maturity at senior level. “He ran a smart race today. Hopefully a confidence booster. Now he needs a good block of training ahead of the more serious summer championship races” commented Van Haeften afterwards.
Lara O’Byrne was delighted to break the 9-seconds barrier for the first time when qualifying in 4th position in Heat 1 of the 60m Hurdles on Saturday morning. Her new PB time of 8.96 augurs well for the rest of the season when she returns to compete in the multi-discipline events. In the afternoon final she placed 7th of 8 in a time of 9.00.
Alex Clarkin qualified to the final of the 60m Hurdles with 2nd place in Heat 2 in a time of 8.41. However, Clarkin took a fall prior to the actual race. He fell into the first barrier when attempting to stop after the race was called back when Iarlaith Golding of St. Colman’s South Mayo AC was eliminated. He grazed both knees but ran the race and qualified. To add to his day of woes, he pulled a hamstring in the warm-up for the final and didn’t make the start-line. It was a real shame, as an in-form Clarkin would have been in contention for a podium place.
Daragh Fitzgibbon (8.31.47) put in a solid effort in the final of the Men’s 3,000m. He raced mid-order in a competitive field before crossing the line in 12th position.
The club had two other competitors on the day. David Campbell (24.22) placed 4th in Heat 6 of the Men’s 200m and Caoimhe Mackey (1.00.54) was 4th in Heat 3 of the Women’s 400m. Both failed to progress to the finals.
On Day 2 of the championships Daragh McAuley (7.48) came 7th in Heat 7 of the 60m sprint failing to qualify. Lara O’Byrne was hoping to get a 2nd PB in the championships but failed to make a clearance of 1.65m in the High Jump. She had to settle for 9th place with a second attempt 1.60m clearance. Several of the club’s top athletes did not compete in the championships due to injury including John Travers, Jack Raftery and Aoife Lynch. Aoife, however, attended at the championships as Athletics Ireland presented World silver medals to the Irish 4 x 200m Relay Team who took second place in the World Athletics Relays last year. Aoife ran the opening leg with her national teammates Kate Doherty, Sarah Quinn and Sophie Becker doing the rest. It should be noted that Aoife was recently nominated and approved as a representative on the newly formed Athlete Commission established by Athletics Ireland. Part of the role of the new group will be ensure strong international athlete advocacy and to act as a voice for international athletes. We wish Aoife ‘all the best’ in her new role.

Anne Gormley and Tony Kynes were in action at the EUROPEAN MASTERS INDOOR ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS at Braga in Portugal last week. On the opening morning of the championships (20.02.2022) Gormley placed 31st in the 8km cross-country race for women aged 55+. She was back in competition on the penultimate day of the week-long programme in her more favoured 5km Race Walk event. She competed well to finish in 36th place in the W50+ class in a time of 39.07. Competing against strong teams from France, Spain and Portugal the Irish team of Sinead McConnell, Maggie H O’Connor and Anne Gormley took home well-deserved bronze medals. On Day 4 of the championships Kynes came 7th in the M65 3,000m with a time of 11.55.91. Two days later he raced 7th in the final of the M65 1,500m in 5.30.65. This was Tony’s first time to represent Ireland and he did so with distinction.

The latest edition of the BUSINESS HOUSE CROSS-COUNTRY SERIES was hosted by the Central Bank of Ireland at Wesley College in Dundrum on Saturday morning. There were 4 Donore Harriers members in a field of 157 finishers. First home after completing the 4-mile flat, meandering course was Emmet O’Briain (24.11) in 19th place. He was followed by Deirdre McCanna (25.56) who placed 41st overall and was the 2nd female finisher. The other club competitors were Tom Fagan (27.29) in 66th and Ian Redican (28.24) in 77th.

In the DULEEK & DISTRICT McNALLY’S 5KM ROAD RACE on Sunday Ruth Chambers (23.07) was 7th woman finisher when placing 75th overall in a field of 275.

In this week’s PARKRUN 5km races juvenile member Dylan McKenna was first home at Waterstown. Other results below.

Results in brief:
EUROPEAN MASTERS INDOOR ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS at Braga, Portugal Day 1 (20.02.2022)
W55 8km XC: 31st Anne Gormley (47.37). 33 finishers
Day 4 (23.02.2022)
M65 3,000m FINAL: 7th Tony Kynes (11.55.91)
Day 6 (25.02.2022)
M65 1,500m FINAL: 7th Tony Kynes (5.30.65)
Day 7 (26.02.2022)
W50+ 5km Walk: 36th Anne Gormley (39.07). 38 finishers
TEAM: 3rd Ireland <Sinead McConnell, Maggie H O’Connor, Anne Gormley>
BIG EAST INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS at the Gately Park Centre in Chicago IL, USA (25.02.2022)
MEN’S ‘A’ FINAL: 7th Abdel Laadjel (Providence Uni) 14.12.73 (PB & Nat Ind U20 record). 25 finishers
NATIONAL INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS Day 1 at NIA (26.02.2022)
MEN’S 200m Heat 6: 4th David Campbell (24.22)
MEN’S 3,000m A FINAL: 12th Daragh Fitzgibbon (8.31.47)
WOMEN’S 60m HURDLES HEAT 1: 4th Lara O’Byrne (8.96 PB) qualified to final
MEN’S 60m HURDLES HEAT 2: 2nd Alex Clarkin (8.41) qualified to final
MEN’S 1,500m HEAT 3: 1st Louis O’Loughlin (4.04.54)
WOMEN’S 400m HEAT 3: 4th Caoimhe Mackey (1.00.54)
WOMEN’S 60m HURDLES FINAL: 7th Lara O’Byrne (9.00)
MEN’S 60m HURDLES FINAL: DNS Alex Clarkin (injured)
BHAA CENTRAL BANK OF IRELAND CROSS-COUNTRY RACE at Wesley College, Dundrum (26.02.2022)
4 MILE XC: 19th Emmet O’Briain M45 (24.11), 41st & 2nd woman Deirdre McCanna WS (25.56), 66th Tom Fagan M50 (27.29), 77th Ian Redican M45 (28.24)
159 finishers
NATIONAL INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS Day 2 at NIA (27.02.2022)
MEN’S 60m HEAT 7: 7th Daragh McAuley (7.48)
MEN’S 1,500m FINAL: 2nd Louis O’Loughlin (3.54.74 PB)
WOMEN’S HIGH JUMP: 9th Lara O’Byrne (1.60m)
DULEEK & DISTRICT McNALLY’S 5KM ROAD RACE (27.02.2022)
75th& 7th senior woman Ruth Chambers (23.07)
274 finishers
PARKRUNS 5km (19.02.2022)
CASTLETOWN: 9th & 2nd woman Ruby Kelly W18-19 (22.16)
MALAHIDE: 113th Angela O’Dea W40 (25.43)
MARLAY: 9th Patrick Moriarty M45 (19.32)
POPPINTREE: 79th Eilish Joyce W40 (32.58)
SPORTS CAMPUS IRELAND: 10th Paul Nunan M45 (23.47)
WATERSTOWN: 1st Dylan McKenna M15-17 (20.00), 4th Lucas Collender M11-14 (20.50 PB), 9th Joe Kinsella M15-17 (24.40), 14th Katie Delaney W15-17 (27.49)