O’Donoghue’s record leap
That was well inside the old stadium record held by Belgian sprinter Sammy Thomas of 6.84 secs set in March 1993. Gary Ryan holds the Irish record at 6.73 secs.
The 23 year old Leevale sprinter had run a new personal best at 6.85 seconds in his heat a short time earlier.
“I must admit I would have settled for the new PB from the heats but I felt there was more there,” he said.
“I have to be delighted with that because it is my first race of the season and it is pretty exciting. To set a stadium record is all I could hope for right now.” He puts it all down to a change in his training under new coach, John Stacey, in Limerick.
“So much has changed in my training and I have gone through a long injury-free stretch. Last year I went to the national indoor championships in Belfast with problems. This year I have been able to avoid injury and I am feeling much stronger as well.
He’s back in Nenagh next weekend for the AAI Indoor Games and then goes to Cardiff for the international.
Ailish McSweeney (Leevale) completed her expected double yesterday also. She was very impressive in winning the 60m title in a smart 7.57 secs.
Her relatively slow time in the 200m was explained by the discovery that the race had set off from the wrong start line. From lane 4 she had to run some six metres further that she should have.
“I was thrilled with my 60m,” she said. “I know I ran well and that I will run better over the coming weeks.”
She expects to be named at both 60m and 200m when the teams for Cardiff are selected today and has asked to be left out of the relay squad as she wants to fly directly to Glasgow for the Scottish indoor championships the following day.
Liam Reale of Limerick, home from Providence College for the festive season, also has his sights on the European Under-23 championships.
With the qualifying standard for both 800m and 1,500m under his belt, he highlighted his prospects by winning both senior titles and hinted afterwards that he will probably contest the 1,500m.
For much of yesterday’s 1,500m a major shock seemed on the cards. The junior and senior races were combined and Irish schools intermediate champion, Ciarain O Lionaird (Leevale) was in contention right up the final bend, when Reale eventually shook him off.
However, the Cork teenager, who was in Limerick on Saturday for the Olympic Council’s European Youth Olympics coaching session, rallied again and there was little or nothing between the pair on the line.
He was rewarded with the junior title and a short time earlier his Leevale clubmate, John Shine, running indoors for the first time, claimed a notable scalp when he led all the way to beat another schools star, Brian Markham (Ennis Track Club) for the 800m title.
Robert Heffernan got the New Year off to the perfect start when he won the 5,000m walk title yesterday after a long trip the previous day, when he returned from a two-week training camp in Poland with his coach, triple Olympic champion, Robert Korzeniowski.
“It was pretty intensive and included Kyropherapy sessions which took the body down to as low as minus 120 degrees for up to three and a half minutes,” he said.
He will go to train in Spain with Fernandez and take in a 10k there before heading to Mexico for the Grand Prix in Tijuana. He finished sixth there last year and achieved his Olympic qualifying standard.
Derek Duff (Leevale) made his return to competitive athletics after a two year absence through injury and won the 60m very impressively in 7.13 secs.
In the junior women’s shot putt Sonia Kennedy (Ferrybank) inflicted a rare defeat on Kathleen Fitzgerald with her final throw which resulted in a new personal best of 11.26m.
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