Lavin splashes to championship record in soggy Santry

On the first day of the 123.ie National Athletics Championships, it would have seemed that fast times and long throws were out of the question.

At the Morton Stadium in Santry the relentless drizzly rain poured down for the entire competition.

Temperatures sat at a modest 13 degrees, making conditions less than ideal. Water was bouncing off the blue Morton Stadium track, with athletes in blocks almost kneeling in puddles of water.

Despite weather not being in her favour Sarah Lavin added a 12th outdoor title to her locker, winning the women’s 100m hurdles in a new championship record of 12.79, taking 0.16 off Derval O’Rourke’s 2005 mark of 12.95.

To put this performance in perspective she ran 12.73 in her season opener in Qatar in perfect conditions and which was an impressive mark at the time. The Emerald AC athlete has certainly bounced back ahead of the Paris Games.

Lavin is also entered in the 100m, for which she is the defending champion and national record holder. That event takes place on Sunday.

Molly Scott finished second, equalling her season’s best time of 13.64 which she set in Malta at the start of this month. Kate Doherty from Dundrum South Dublin was third in 13.67.

In the women’s 200m there was a late withdrawal from European gold medallist Sharlene Mawdsley.

Given the miserable weather conditions it may be too much of a risk in the month leading up the her first Olympics.

Phil Healy was the eventual winner. She ran a good bend and put further daylight between her and the rest of the field on the home straight. Alana Ryan had a late charge and claimed silver.

Healy crossed the line with the time 22.44 flashing on the clock but it was corrected to 23.42. Aoife Lynch made a return to the national podium claiming bronze in 24.40.

In the men’s half lap event, Mark Smyth streaked away with the title in 20.70. Smyth ran a season’s best in the heat of 20.77 and followed this with another season’s best in the final, which is close to his personal best of 20.64.

This year’s national indoor 200m champion and Tokyo Olympian Rob McDonnell made his debut for the season following injury woes. The Galway man finished second Behind Smyth from the inside lane, running 21.17. There was a tight finish for third but Darragh Murphy got the nod, claiming his first senior medal in 21.29.

The wind has been move favourable for the sprints in comparison to previous years with +1.5m/s recorded in the men’s 200m offering some help to the sprinters in the Morton stadium.

Kate Veale bounced back from Olympic disappointment winning the women’s 5000m walk in 21:57.42, from Aisling Lane of Mullingar Harriers. Veale put on a dominant display winning by more than 400m.

Eric Favours added to the stars in action, claiming his third outdoor national title in the men’s shot put. The national record holder managed a throw of 18.85m in the circle. Favours is currently ranked 29th on the road to Paris rankings, with 32 being selected for the Paris Games, the Raheny Shamrock athlete will have to wait until Wednesday to see if he has done enough to punch his ticket to Paris.

The podium completed with Jack Kelly taking silver in 16.67m and Callum Keating of North Cork A.C. securing bronze with a 14.20m put.

Ciara Sheehy claimed her first national senior title in a competitive women’s shot put with a distance of 14.20m in her fifth round throw.

Kate O’Connor who could well be on her way to Paris for the heptathlon after a season’s best performance in the event in Germany last week. O’Connor had a quick turnaround from winning the javelin to claiming silver in the shot put. Sarah Fajer of Nenagh Olympic took third.

In the jumps pit, Saragh Buggy claimed a 25th national title with 12.72m in the women’s triple jump. Buggy took the win from Daphni Doulapsti-Teeuwen of Raheny Shamrock by 12 centimetres.

Also in the field events, David Cussen claimed the high jump national title from 15-year-old Conor Penney.

Cussen cleared 2.10m on his first attempt after passing on 2.05m. Penney cleared 2.05m on his first attempt but at three failures at the next height.

Heats were held for the middle-distance finals that will take place on Sunday. Mark English qualified safely in the men’s 800m. Having also entered the 400m, there was some surprise at his choice of event given the weather conditions.

Paris hopefuls Cathal Doyle and Luke McCann both qualified for the much anticipated 1500m final. Andrew Coscoran was a non-starter in either of his entered events.

One of the most exciting races in last year’s championships was the women’s 1500m where Sarah Healy and Sophie O’Sullivan went head-to-head. Healy narrowly claimed victory. There will be no re-match in 2024 as Healy won her heat of the 800m in impressive style, leading from gun to tape in a time of 2:04.28.

This was some five seconds quicker than any other qualifier. O’Sullivan won the first heat of the women’s 1500m in a similar fashion in a time of 4:26.21. Tokyo Olympian Louise Shanahan has also safely qualified for the 800m final.

There was little drama in the 400m heats. All the favourites on the men’s side, Chris O’Donnell, Callum Baird, Jack Raftery and Cillín Greene won their heats, the fastest qualifier to the final is David Ryan with a time of 47.15.

Tension is already building ahead of the decider of three spots on the mixed 4x400m relay at the Olympic Games.

Sophie Becker was the fastest qualifier in the women’s 400m, in 53.65. Becker is one of the athletes that needs to run a fast time on Sunday to secure vital points towards her Road to Paris rankings.

Watch the 123.ie National Athletics Championships on Sunday from 12.45pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.