In a sport of razor-thin margins, this was about as close as it could get.
Day two of the National Track & Field Championships at Santry served up a race for the ages in the 100m women’s final. A trademark start for St. Laurence O’Toole’s Molly Scott had everyone convinced – cameras included on first look – that the Carlow native had done enough to take the 100m sprint title.
In the end, however, after a blistering display of her own, it was Rhasidat Adeleke who would take top honours by sheer virtue a well-timed dip at the finish line in a time of 11.68 seconds, just one-hundredth of a second ahead of Scott’s 11.69.
Considering an injury-interrupted few weeks for Scott, along with being in lectures at King’s Inn to finish out her first year of legal studies earlier on Sunday morning, that’s some serious going for the 23-year-old.
Gold for Barr
In the men’s 400m hurdles, Ferrybank AC’s Thomas Barr collected his 10th national title with a 50.37 finish in windy conditions on Sunday evening.
It turned out to be a Kilkenny-Carlow one-two with St. Laurence O’Toole’s Jack Mitchell following Barring to silver in a time of 51.64, Thomas Pitkin of Clonliffe Harriers taking the bronze.
Clonliffe teammate and Carlow native Marcus Lawler claimed silver in the men’s 400m in a time of 47.94, trailing North Sligo’s Chris O’Donnell as he secured a fourth national title in five years in a time of 46.82.
In the women’s 400m, Kilkenny City Harriers Cliodhna Manning picked up the bronze with a 53.05 at Morton Stadium behind Phil Healy (52.48) and Sophie Becker (52.34)
