Sharlene Mawdsley confirms her class with a thrilling win at National Track and Field Championships
The match-up pitted the raw speed of Lavin – the second fastest Irishwoman in history over 100m – against the formidable speed endurance of Mawdsley, who stepped down from her specialist 400m distance.
Lavin ran a strong bend and turned for home just in front, but over the latter half Mawdsley's strength told as she powered past, clocking 23.55 into a stiff, 2.6m/s headwind. Lavin hit the line second with 23.80 and Lauren Roy just behind in third with 23.88.
'I'm really happy,' said Mawdsley. 'Sarah came out [well] and sometimes I get really tight when someone comes up on me, but I've been training this year with girls who've been beating me all around, so I was really happy to come away with the win. I'm in a weird transition [in training] at the moment so I wanted to go down to the 200m and have a bit of fun.'
Marcus Lawler was a hugely impressive winner of the men's 200m, the Carlow native, who runs for Clonliffe AC, blasting to victory in 20.66 (0.4m/s), a long way clear of Darragh McConville (21.41) and Adam Murphy (21.51).
'I'm delighted with the run,' said Lawler. 'It's pretty decent in terms of the overall season. I got out very well and wanted to attack the first 50, I came into the straight really well and from that point, it was about trying to hold it as best I could.'
The men's 800m heats offered an intriguing insight into what's to come on Sunday evening, with Mark English and Cian McPhillips set to duel for the national title. English is enjoying a breakthrough season at the age of 32, having run the five quickest times of his career over 800m, highlighted by his national record of 1:43.92.
He will seek his 10th national outdoor title and will toe the line as favourite, but he will face a stiff test from 23-year-old McPhillips, who is seeking his first national outdoor title, having smashed his lifetime best to recently win at the Morton Games in 1:44.19.
Both coasted to victory in their respective 800m heats, with English turning on the jets in notable fashion over the last 100m to clock 1:48.92 and McPhillips running well within himself to coast home in 1:52.58. 'It's going to be great, it should be a good fight,' said McPhillips. 'I'm looking forward to it.'
There should be another thrilling duel in the men's 1500m final where Andrew Coscoran and Cathal Doyle look to hold all the aces, with both coasting through their heats on Saturday.
Paris Olympian Eric Favors proved a class apart in the men's shot put, the Raheny athlete taking gold with a best of 19.58m while his clubmate Niamh Fogarty took the women's shot put with 14.29m.
Farranfore's David Kenny was an impressive winner of the men's 10,000m race walk, clocking 39:39.93, while Kate Veale of West Waterford racked up another title in the women's 5000m race walk, clocking 23:46.46.
Abbie Sheridan of St Peter's claimed victory in the women's 3000m steeplechase in 10:05.72, while the men's title was won in fine style by Finley Daly of Sligo in 8:59.04.
Darragh Fahy of Loughrea took the men's triple jump with 13.91m, Aoife O'Sullivan of Liscarroll took the women's high jump with 1.75m, while Raheny's Daphni Doulaptsi Teeuwen inflicted a rare defeat on Saragh Buggy in the women's triple jump, taking gold with 13.05m to Buggy's 12.74m. Conor Penney of Craughwell took the men's high jump with 2.10m, while Conor Cusack of Lake District took the men's javelin with 75.42m.
UCD's quartet of Ella Duane, Molly Hourihan, Anna Lalor and Rhianna McCarthy took the women's 4x100m in 48.40, while Tallaght's team of Simon Essuman, David Aigboboh, Joseph Finnegan Murphy and Joseph Ojewumi took the men's 4x100m in 41.66.
Sunday's action will be live streamed on the Athletics Ireland YouTube channel, with live coverage on RTÉ Two from 5-7.30pm. Day tickets cost €15, while U-16s go free.
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