Latest news with #IrishChampionships
Irish Times
3 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
Seán Doggett sets 400m record to take gold at Schools Track and Field Championships
Every year since 1916, the Irish Schools Track and Field Championships have produced some standout results, oftentimes markers of international success, and Seán Doggett was among those to grab the spotlight in Tullamore this weekend. The two-day event, where over 1,000 athletes qualified from 392 schools across the country, saw championship records broken in several events, none more impressively so than Doggett's 47.22 seconds in the senior boys 400 metres. Despite windy conditions, the 18-year-old smashed the previous mark of 47.66 set by Brian Gregan in 2008. For Doggett, a student at Coláiste an Éachréidh in Athenry, it also continued his impressive rise in the event, which he only started racing in 2023. Last year, he became the youngest Irish athlete to compete in a senior European Championships, featuring in the men's 4x400m relay in Rome. Doggett, co-coached by his father Stephen, was one of the runaway winners at the weekend, beating Christopher Lynch (Belvedere College) who was second in 49.29, with Conor McDonagh (St Attractas CS, Tubbercurry) third in 50.5. READ MORE Maria Zakharenko (Avondale CC) also stamped her authority on the senior girls 400m race to take the title in 55.58. Ben Skyes (Grosvenor GS, Belfast) on his way to winning the intermediate boys 100m event. Photograph: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile In the senior boys 100m event, Belvedere College's Cillian Doherty took the top spot in 10.86, with Elena O' Sullivan (Regina Mundi, Cork) winning the senior girls race in 11.96. Ben Skyes from Grosvenor GS, Belfast took the intermediate boys 100m title in 10.72, equalling the championship record. European Under-18 medallist Joe Burke from Our Lady's Templemore showed his class in the senior boys 200m, securing gold in 21.52. The senior boys 1,500m was won by Lorcan Benjacar (Ard Scoil Rís) in 3:58.12, and in the intermediate girls 3,000m, Emma Hickey from St Mary's, New Ross (9:28.14) and Freya Renton from Sacred Heart, Westport (9:33.87) both ran under the previous championship record of 9:49.82. Renton then flipped the tables on Hickey to take the 1,500m title in 4:30.59. In the field, Michael Kent from Good Counsel College, New Ross also cleared a new championship record of 4.55m in the senior boys pole vault, with European Under-18 gold medallist Thomas Williams (Coláiste Dún an Rí, Kingscourt) dominating the senior boys hammer with a best of 62.30m. One of the long-standing records to survive the weekend was John Treacy's senior boys 5,000m mark of 14:17.0, set in 1974, with Cillian Gleeson from Coláiste Chiaráin, Leixlip giving it a good rattle to win in 14:19.66. Faye Mannion (Coláiste Muire, Clare) and Freya Bateman (Mount Mercy, Cork) who took first and second respectively in the intermediate girls 800m event. Photograph: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile Meanwhile Sharlene Mawdsley is in line for the biggest pay-day of her career after finishing fifth with a season best of 51.12 in the 400m event at the third Grand Slam Track meeting in Philadelphia. Victory went to Marileidy Paulino from the Dominican Republic in 49.12, the Olympic and World champion already having claimed the Grand Slam title in Miami, worth $100,000. Salwa Eid Naser from Bahrain originally finished second, but was disqualified for a lane infringement. Mawdsley will also run the 200m event on Sunday evening, where the combined placings decide the Grand Slam prizes, fifth place still worth $20,000. Sophie O'Sullivan has also qualified for the NCAA Track and Field Championships, winning her regional 1,500m in 4:08.21, in what is her last season at the University of Washington. Mark English will also look to continue his good form at the Palio Città della Quercia meeting in Italy on Monday, two days after he improved his own Irish 800m record to 1:44.34 to win the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Bydgoszcz, Poland on Friday.
BBC News
14-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
McSharry secures her place at the World Championships
Olympic bronze medallist Mona McSharry secured her place at the World Championships in Singapore in July by winning the 100m breaststroke final at the Irish Championships in her return to competitive racing for the first time since the Paris Games last summer, the Sligo swimmer was pushed all the way to the wall by Enniskillen's Ellie time of 1:06.87 was well outside of her best, while McCartney was just one-tenth of a second behind and the same length of time outside of qualifying for the worlds. 'That might have been what I needed' "It's exciting. It wouldn't be as fun if I was just out there by myself, so I definitely love a little bit of a push," McSharry said after her victory."Honestly, that might have been what I needed, was a little bit of a race just to kind of get me over the line."McSharry has just recently returned to training after fulfilling her dream of winning an Olympic medal."I was honestly a little bit worried coming into it," she added."I'm just back and it's not an easy time to do, to qualify for Worlds."I never try and take that for granted and I knew I was going to be kind of restarting in a sense and trying to build my way back up."It's definitely a good starting point, my first couple of races since the Olympics, so we're just kind of getting a feel for it again." McCartney 'honoured' to race McSharry McCartney is one of the up and coming hopes for Ulster and Irish swimming. She chalked up two golds and a bronze at the 2023 Youth Commonwealth Games and the 20-year-old has qualifying times for both the European under-23s and World University Games this race her favourite event, the 200m breaststroke, later in the championships."It's my first time under that 1:07 mark. I only went under 1:09 this year so it's a big drop for me," she said."Going that fast and having such a tight race against Mona, it's always an honour to race her so it gives me good confidence for the 200m hopefully."She also has one eye on the Commonwealth Games next year."Glasgow would be great. I didn't get to go to Birmingham so it's always an honour to represent Northern Ireland."You don't get many opportunities, and I have such a fond memory of going to the Commonwealth Youth Games, so if I were to be able to go to Glasgow it would be an honour to represent Northern Ireland again." Wiffen and Shortt continue to impress Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen continued his good form taking the 400m freestyle title to add to the 800m he won on swam a Championship record and World Championships qualification time of 3:46.87 and now looks forward to the 1500m freestyle on Wednesday."It was tough, coming into this I thought I was going to be quite fast in the 400m," admitted Wiffen."I'm disappointed, to be honest. I've got to drop seven seconds to be within the top of the world for the LA Olympics."I think it's pretty doable. I'm just going to get back training, I think that's what it's showing me, in this racing I'm not as fit as I thought."Eighteen-year-old John Shortt from Galway continued his incredible week with an outstanding swim in the 200m backstroke semi-final. The National Centre Limerick swimmer smashed his Irish Senior and Junior record, the Championship record and was under the qualification time for the World Championships. His time of 1:56.61 ranks him sixth in the world this year.
