Conditions were pretty much ideal for the Cork City Sports this year. The wet weather that was present in the morning had well cleared by evening time and the wind had dropped to a gentle breeze. A fair size crowd were on hand to watch the event with the stand area being pretty full with the ground area less so. While it was maybe not as busy as last year, it was certainly a lot busier than the weekend event of previous years.
The best thing about the Cork City Sports is of course that it's live. You get to notice things that you won't see on TV and you get a different perspective on the speeds that the athletes are running. Watching and having the noise of a crowd does of course makes for it's own unique atmosphere which adds to the event, something that's hard to convey on TV. The biggest problem of course is that there's no action replay! ;o)
If there was one disappointment on the night then it was that some more of the big names in Irish athletics were not in attendance. I know from looking at a multitude of websites on sports that athletics is very much a minority interest. Other than the odd occasion when an Irish athlete wins a medal at a major championships, Irish athletics can be largely ignored. There was no better example of this recently when there was no coverage by RTE of the European Athletics 1st League in Dublin yet Portugese TV thought it important enough to provide a live feed on their website. The likes of the Cork City Sports and the Morton Games in Dublin are a great way for Irish athletes to connect with the general public and they deserve all the support that they can get.
Here are a selection of the results from the evening...
In the mens 100m, one performance to note here was Marcus Lawler. Just 18 years old and having just finished his Leaving Cert exams this year, he is already the 6th fastest Irish man ever on the record books. One to watch for the future.
Men 100 Metre Sprint
Name Year Team Finals Wind
1 Akani Simbine 93 South Africa 10.48 -0.3
2 Judah Simpson 92 England 10.55 -0.3
3 Marcus Lawler 95 Ireland 10.58 -0.3
4 Dean Power 96 Ireland 11.16 -0.3
5 Michael Hynes 89 Ireland 11.20 -0.3
In the mens mile, both Paul Robinson from Kildare and David McCarthy from Waterford ran under the 4 minute barrier. For 22 year old Paul Robinson who runs with St.Coca's AC, it was a new personal best time having broken his previous best of 3:58.47 set in Dublin in July 2012.
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| David McCarthy of West Waterford AC and Paul Robinson of St.Coca's AC in the mens mile race. Pic. Gearóid O Laoi |
Men 1 Mile Run
Name Year Team Finals
1 Cameron Page 91 Australia 3:54.77
2 Jordan McNamara 87 USA 3:55.76
3 Garrett Heath 85 USA 3:55.91
4 Paul Robinson 91 Ireland 3:56.18
5 Ben Blackenship 88 USA 3:56.66
6 David McCarthy 88 Ireland 3:57.85
7 Jerry Motsau 90 South Africa 4:00.58
8 Eoin Everard 86 Ireland 4:03.68
9 Emanuel Rolim 93 Portugal 4:05.07
10 Brett Robinson 91 Australia 4:06.32
11 Sean Tobin 94 Ireland 4:06.66
12 Will Lear 85 USA 4:07.21
Men 3000 Metre Run
Name Year Team Finals
1 Collis Birmingham 84 Australia 7:47.97
2 Hassan Mead 89 USA 7:52.00
3 Elroy Gelant 86 South Africa 7:54.97
4 Andy Vernon 86 England 7:55.88
5 Philip Pfieger 90 Germany 7:57.25
6 Clement Bleistein 90 Germany 8:00.56
7 Shane Quinn 92 Ireland 8:04.81
8 John Coghlan 88 Ireland 8:09.22
9 James McCarthy 84 Ireland 8:23.88
10 Gary Thornton 79 Ireland 8:24.17
11 Carl Smith 90 England 8:24.75
12 James Grufferty Ireland 8:33.92
13 Joe Townsend 89 England 8:37.76
14 Dave Fitzmaurice 90 Ireland 8:39.27
15 Cillian O'Leary 80 Ireland 8:40.31
16 Michael Carmody Ireland 8:41.74
17 Thomas Maunsell Ireland 9:09.65
In the mens 3,000m walk, Rob Heffernan of Togher AC set a new Irish record for the distance.
3000 Metre Race Walk
Name Year Team Finals
1 Robert Heffernan 78 Ireland 11:11.94
2 Wayne Snyman 85 South Africa 11:34.60
3 Brendan Boyce 86 Ireland 11:36.98
4 Colin Griffin 82 Ireland 11:51.39
5 Evan Lynch Ireland 12:37.63
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| David Cussen of Old Abbey AC...Pic. Athletics Ireland |
In the mens High Jump, 17 year old David Cussen from Old Abbey AC in Cork finished in 5th place overall. He cleared 1.90, 1.95 and 2.00 metres on his first attempt. With the bar raised to 2.05m, he cleared it on his 3rd attempt, just one cm short of his personal best of 2.06m. When the bar was raised to 2.10 metres, David failed on the first two attempts but cleared it on his last and final jump setting a new personal best in the process. This moves him up to joint 15th highest Irish man ever and he is still only 17.
In the womens 100m sprint, two of the big Irish names went out due to false starts.
Women 100 Metre Sprint
Name Year Team Finals Wind H#
1 Jessica Young 87 USA 11.43 1.0 1
2 Bianca Williams 93 England 11.50 1.0 1
3 Cleo VanBuren 86 USA 11.57 1.0 1
4 Louise Bloor 85 Scotland 11.58 1.0 1
5 Catherine McManus 92 Ireland 11.81 0.2 2
6 Phil Healy 94 Ireland 11.91 1.0 1
7 Kelly Fogarty 89 USA 11.97 1.0 1
8 Sarah Murray 93 Ireland 12.16 0.2 2
9 Louise Holmes 92 Ireland 12.23 0.2 2
10 Fiona Morrisson 88 New Zealand 12.24 0.2 2
-- Kelly Proper 88 Ireland DQ 1.0 1
-- Ailis McSweeney 83 Ireland DQ 1.0 1
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| Laura Crowe #56 at the start of the womens 800m...Pic. Gearoid O Laoi |
In the womens 800m, Laura Crowe of An Riocht AC ran 2:02.90, just 0.21 seconds outside her personal best time of 2:02.69 set in Oslo in mid March. The Irish record for this event is 2:00.69 set by Sonia O'Sullivan in Russia in 1994.
Women 800 Metre Run
Name Year Team Finals
1 Heather Kaapf 87 USA 2:01.56
2 Phoebie Wright 88 USA 2:01.91
3 Angie Smit 91 New Zealand 2:02.01
4 Laura Crowe 87 Ireland 2:02.90
5 Emma Jackson 88 England 2:03.76
6 Zoe Buckman 88 Australia 2:05.98
7 Clare McSweeney 87 Ireland 2:07.71
8 Selma Kajan 91 Australia 2:08.62
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| Sarah Lavin...sets a new personal best in the 100m hurdles...Pic. Doug Minihane |
In the womens 100 metre hurdles, Sarah Lavin set of new personal best time of 13.36 seconds. At just 19 years old, she maintains her position as the third fastest Irish woman ever. Only Derval O'Rourke and Susan Smith have run faster....12.65 and 13.12 seconds respectively.
Women 100 Metre Hurdles
Name Year Team Finals Wind
1 Kristi Castlin 88 USA 12.84 -0.5
2 Chelsea Carrier-Eades 89 USA 13.09 -0.5
3 Serita Solomon 90 England 13.21 -0.5
4 Sarah Lavin 94 Ireland 13.36 -0.5
5 Fiona Morrison 88 New Zealand 13.51 -0.5
6 Sandra Lawler 90 Ireland 14.19 -0.5
-- Gemma Bennett 84 England DQ -0.5
Results...The full results can be seen HERE
Photos...
1) Doug Minihane has a gallery of photos taken from the ground area
HERE
2) John Quigley of Eagle AC has a small gallery of photos taken from the stand
HERE
3) Gearóid O Laoi has a huge gallery of over 1000+ photos
HERE
4) Sportsfile have a small number of commercial photos
HERE
