22nd
July 08JOY FOR TOM AND ELAINE
BUT TEARS FOR JASON
Tom Carey joined a very exclusive
band of Northwest athletes when he won the 400 metres Hurdles
title at the National Senior Track and Field Championships in
Santry Stadium, Dublin However, it would not be correct to let
Carey’s victory make you believe that all was well in senior
athletics locally because the statistics simply would not back
up the assertion.
Apart from Elaine McCaffrey’s silver in the
400m and Jason Smyth, fourth in the 200m, no other local athlete
came within the proverbial beagle’s gowl of a podium finish.
Carey, whose relations live in Prehen and Greysteel,
was rewarded for making the long journey from his Southampton
base with his first national senior crown.
Drawn in lane eight, the City of Derry athlete
was first to rise but after several clumsy hurdles on the back
straight was overhauled by Dubliner Jonathon Miller several
lanes inside.
But Carey is made of stern stuff and the City
athlete dug deep around the final bend. It was nip and tuck
between the pair down the homestraight but in the end Carey’s
strength saw him home with a metre to spare.
The real surprise came when the time was announced
with the Derry exile clocking a personal best of 52.03 seconds
despite the unfavourable conditions.
Elaine McCaffrey brought the only other medal
back to the City when she paced herself perfectly to come through
in the final 100 metres to take second place in a creditable
55.48 seconds.
While there was joy for Carey and McCaffrey,
there was only despondency for Jason Smyth. He will never have
a better chance of landing an Irish 200m title with three of
the top athletes in the country missing from the event.
He started smartly and was very much in contention
when the field evened up after coming out of the bend. Normally
the Eglinton sprinter can pick up speed at this point but on
this occasion he failed to cope with the change of pace and
ended up a close but disappointed fourth.
China was very much on the mind of everyone
at the meeting with those already assured of their place on
the plane able to enjoy a final domestic appearance before their
departure for Beijing.
For others it was last opportunity to make
the Olympic qualifying standard with the Irish deadline for
performances twenty four hours later.
Paul Hession from Athenry showed again why
he is Ireland’s fastest man with a Championship Best performance
of 10.26 seconds to win the 100 metres by a massive six metres.
Former World Indoor champion Derval O’Rourke
was also a comfortable winner of the 100 metres hurdles in a
legal 13.04 seconds.
And Corkman Robbie Heffernan who finished sixth
in the 20K at last year’s World Championships opened the meeting
with a national 10,000m track record of 38:27.57.
Nineteen-year-old Amy Foster was the top Northern
performer winning the 100 metres in a wind-aided 11.54 seconds
after setting a legal personal best of 11.59 in the morning’s
heats.
Her North Down clubmate Anna Massey surprised
even herself by getting out to beyond sixteen metres to win
the Shot Putt with a best effort of 16.20m.
Highlights of the first day’s action had been
a double for another Beijing-bound athlete, Eileen O’Keefe,
in her specialist Hammer event with a throw of 72.75m and followed
by a win in the Discus with a 46.44m effort.
Donegal athlete Mary McLoone led a clean sweep
of the medals by Northern athletes in the women’s Triple Jump
despite recording only one mark of 11.71m.
Ballymena & Antrim’s Zoe Brown picked up
her first national senior title since opting to compete for
Ireland in winning the Pole Vault with a clearance of 3.85m.
Ballycastle girl Clare Wilkinson took second as well as picking
up a bronze medal in the High Jump.
However, the most gutsy performance from Waterside
Half Marathon Champion Joe McAlister’s storming last few laps
in the 10,000m to take third after looking totally out of contention
at halfway.
.Malcolm
