Westmeath's Cormac Dalton Continues Good Form On US Collegiate Scene

Wednesday, 16 February 2022 at 09:36

Mullingar Harriers also performed strongly at the recent AAI Indoor Games.

Former Mullingar Harrier Cormac Dalton has continued his good form on the collegiate scene in the USA.

After an excellent cross country season with the University of Tulsa, he moved indoors to compete over 3,000m at the Windy City Invite in Chicago last Saturday, placing fifth in 7 minutes 59.73 seconds, a time that puts him in the Irish indoor top 10-times for this season so far.

Tulsa’s and Cormac's attention now turns to the American Athletic Conference Indoor Championships at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Alabama at the end of February.

Meanwhile, The AAI Indoor Games were held at the National Indoor Arena in Abbottstown last Saturday and Mullingar Harriers was well represented with four athletes in action.

Colin D Smith was in the 800m and raced aggressively to stay in contact in what was a very fast race from the gun, and came home in 1 minute 53.15 seconds, a bit off his best for the distance but can progress further throughout the indoor season.

Better suited and more focused on the longer 5k and 10k distance, Jamie Battle raced in the 3,000m which was a very competitive and fast race from the start.

Jamie went with the pace and settled well for a long time but in the closing stages the effort began to take its toll and he had to ease off but still finished a very good fifth in 8:19.24, not far off his best time over the distance last year, so he’s coming into form.

In the second race, Lorcan Mullen finished in 9:29.61 but it’s early in the season and he can look forward to improving his time with more races.

Shauna Leydon competed in the 400m where she finished second in her race in 61.43 seconds, a bit slower than her last race over the distance three weeks ago, but it’s still a new event for her and as her confidence grows in the event, a more aggressive opening lap will see her dip well under 60 seconds.