In-form Hession fifth in Lucerne

PAUL HESSION may have lost his winning streak but he maintained his form in Lucerne last night where he finished fifth in the 200m in 20.75 secs.

It should have been an ideal night for sprinting – no wind – but heavy downpours that upset the timing and caused a 40-minute delay in the programme resulted in a wet track.

Hession lined up in Lane 4 – inside Wallace Spearmon who had finished fourth in the 100m earlier (10.26 secs) – and he had the American in his sights at the crown of the bend.

Spearmon, who was disqualified for a lane infringement in the final of the 200m at last year’s Olympic Games, launched his attack off the bend and rocketed away from the field to win in 20.31 secs.

Hession was involved in a blanket finish behind him. Two other Americans, Chris Dykes, 20.56 secs, and Kelly Willie, 20.74 secs, took second and third places in the photo finish while Mark Schneeberger of Switzerland snatched fourth from Hession with both men on the same time.

Deirdre Byrne (DSD) finished third in the women’s 1,500 in 4:10. 35 while the other Irish athlete in the field, Kelly McNeice, who was in fourth position going into the final bend, finished sixth in 4:12.39.

The race was won by Lisa Dobriskey (Great Britain) in 4:08.35 from Morgen Uceny (USA), 4:09.95.

Michelle Carey finished fourth in the 400m hurdles in 56.63 secs. The race was won by Angela Morosanu. Her winning time was 54.82 secs. Jana Pittman-Rawlinson (Australia) was second in 55.34 secs with Muizat Ajoke-Odumoso (Nigeria) third in 55.59 secs.

David Campbell, who ran a personal best at 1:45.69 at the Golden League meeting in Oslo, finished fifth in the 800m in 1:47.23. The race was won by Fabiano Pecanha of Brazil in 1:46.01.

Meanwhile Ireland will have a strong representation at the U23 European Track and Field Championships which begin today in Lithuania. Potential medallists include David McCarthy, 5000m (West Waterford AC) and multi-talented Kelly Proper, Long Jump (Ferrybank AC).

McCarthy is the fastest of the 5000m entrants with a seasonal best 13:42.11 set in Walnut, California but the Waterford man can expect a strong challenge from Turkish record holder Selim Bayrak; SPAR European Cross Country U23 champion Andrea Lalli of Italy, Spain’s European junior silver medallist Mohamed Elbendir and the Ukraine’s Maksym Kryvonis.

Proper will need to jump a new Irish record to make the podium at these Championships with the top five 6.60m-plus jumpers in Europe all entered.

The 2006 World Junior silver Anika Leipold from Germany leads the lists with 6.67m, closely followed by Nastassia Mironchyk of Belarus and Russia’s Yekaterina Malysheva both on 6.65m.

Proper has however displayed that she has championship temperament setting a new Irish Record of 6.59m to qualify for the final at the Senior European Indoor Championships in Turin in March this year.

Double Paralympic Gold Medalist, Jason Smyth of City of Derry AC, will be aiming for a place in the final following his record breaking run in 100m of 10.42 when winning the U23 national title in Tullamore. Brian Gregan (Tallaght AC) competes in the 400m.

There is a strong women’s 4x100m relay team of Claire Brady (Celbridge AC), Louise Kiernan (Fingallians AC), Amy Foster (North Down AC) and Proper. All four achieved the individual qualifying standard for the 100m.