DCU Athletics had a narrow victory over Cardiff University Athletics in their recent dual match held at Morton Stadium on Friday April 1st.
Despite the horrific weather conditions there was some very strong races and performances by both teams as the Outdoor season got up and running in style.
A total of twelve events took place over an hour and a half of quality athletics.
The Mixed 3000m kicked off the programme, with Cardiff having the first five athletes across the line. Tom Luton, Callum Campion and Tom Hughes were the podium placers. Ruth Kennedy of DCU was the first female athlete in a time of 11.16.
The traditional 400m was replaced by a 300m race for this meet and DCU’s Caoimhe Cronin and Club Chairman Shane Monagle were the victors in their respective races. Cronin clocked a time of 41.71s, while Monagle ran 35.39s to narrowly hold off Cardiff’s Jonathan Knox and fellow DCU athlete Jed Walshe.
Next up was the Women’s 1000m. This was another very close encounter with Emily Lowery of Cardiff finishing just three seconds clear of DCU’s Kelly Breen. Cardiff’s Anabel Pozniak finished in 3rd.
Cardiff also took the spoils in the Men’s 1000m race, with Sam Tyas taking the win. Darren O’Dwyer of DCU was 2nd, while James Meiklejohn of Cardiff came 3rd.
DCU dominated in the 100m races with Jennifer Hanrahan and Mark Smyth winning. Hanrahan held off fellow DCU athlete Niamh O’Neill, with Cardiff’s Ellie Kiff coming 3rd.
There was a DCU 1-2-3 in the Men’s race with the aforementioned Smyth running a very impressive 10.61s season opener to finish ahead of teammates Michael Farrelly and Charles Okafor.
The final action on the track was the Mixed Distance Medley Relay with athletes running 400m, 800m, 1200m and a Mile. The Cardiff team of Emily Lowery, Jonathan Knox, Ellie Kiff and Sam Tyas had a comfortable victory ahead of DCU’s A team of Aine Burke, Jed Walshe, Letizia Gamberi and European Cross Country medallist Keelan Kilrehill. DCU B were 3rd with Kelly Breen, Darren O’Dwyer, Corrine Kenny and Aaron Brennan on the team.
In the field events Aoibhinn McMahon had over one metre to spare on her nearest rival, fellow DCU athlete Niamh McCorry in the Women’s Shot Put. DCU decathlete Jack Forde eased to victory in the Men’s competition, throwing over 11m.
Jennifer Hanrahan picked up her second victory of the day jumping 4.17m to win the Women’s Long Jump, while guest athlete Cillian Griffin of IT Carlow won the Men’s competition jumping 6.81m. Jordan Knight and Jack Forde of DCU were 2nd and 3rd respectively.
The overall standings saw DCU finish on 48 points while Cardiff scoring 40 points, meaning DCU took a narrow victory. The event was a new concept and ran smoothly throughout and perhaps it will not be the last time that DCU and Morton Stadium holds an International University competition.
