MARK SMYTH (RAHENY Shamrock AC) and Sharlene Mawdsley (Newport AC) starred in their respective sprint 200m finals on day one of the Irish national senior indoor championships at Abbottstown today. 

Smyth had impressed in the earlier heats, and in the absence of Robert O’Donnell (Galway City Harriers) – who pulled out after his 20.97 in the morning’s heats – Smyth never looked like being beaten as he rounded the final bend ahead of Olympian Marcus Lawler, who settled for second place in 21.17.

Mawdsley was just as impressive throughout her rounds of the 200m today, setting a personal best in the morning’s heat (23.61) before going on to better that time in the final to cross in 23.50PB which moved her up one place to sixth on the Irish all-time list indoors.

The men’s 3000m final did not disappoint, with Darragh McElhinney (UCD AC) delivering a stunning sub-25-second final 200 meters to claim the men’s 3000m title in a championship-record time of 7.49.18. 

McElhinney sat in the slipstream of the eventual second place finisher Nick Griggs (Mid Ulster AC) for much of the race, with the pair stretching clear of the field over the opening laps. Ultimately it was McElhinney’s final kick that sealed the title, with Griggs staying on for silver in 7.55.75.

Sarah Lavin (Emerald AC) continued her consistent start to 2023 to take the women’s 60m hurdles title in 8.03, while Matthew Behan (Crisaders AC) bounced back to retain the men’s title in 8.10.

Olympian David Kenny (Farronfore Main Valley) claimed the men’s 5k walk title in 19.11.43, while Kate Veale (West Waterford AC) took the women’s 3k walk with an indoor PB of 14.40.46

Mark English (1.52.88) and Nadia Power (2.13.28) safely negotiated the heats of today’s 800 meters, while Phil Healy (Bandon AC) and Sophie Becker (Raheny Shamrock) set up a mouth-watering 400m decider for tomorrow as they safely advanced to the 400m final, set for 1.35pm Sunday.

Full results here.