Ó Lionáird eyes colleges gold

HIS sensational victory in last Saturday’s South Regional Cross-Country Championships in Hoover, Alabama will send Corkman Ciarán Ó Lionáird into Monday’s NCAAs among the medal favourites.

Ó Lionáird, a final year student at Florida State University, had a string of Kenyans behind him when he set a new PB for 10k at 30:03.34 — he had a PB for 8k two weeks earlier in the Conference meet — to claim his first major victory since going to the US on an athletic scholarship.

With a big number of African runners in the field, his Region is probably the most difficult to win but he insisted that it felt easy for him.