At the 123.ie National Senior Indoor Championships in National Indoor Arena, two Waterford athletes progressed to the semi-finals of the 400 metres on Saturday, February 28.
Eoin Kenny won his heat in 48.82 seconds, while Ellis McHugh (Ferrybank) finished second in her heat in 57.19. In the semi-finals later that day, Kenny placed second in his race in 48.18 to qualify for Sunday’s final. McHugh narrowly missed out on a place in the final.
Also on Saturday, Callum Hurley (Ferrybank) won his 800 metres heat in 1:55.26 to automatically qualify for Sunday’s final. Luke Savage (Waterford AC) did not progress. Petra Igwe (Ferrybank) and Caoimhe Murphy (Tramore) competed in the 60 metres hurdles but did not advance.
Day Two Success
Day Two of the championships on March 1 began in perfect fashion for Waterford. Kate Veale (West Waterford) claimed her ninth National Indoor 3,000m Walk title, winning comfortably in 13:50.48. Aisling Lane (Mullingar Harriers) was second in 14:07.13, followed by Ciara Wilson (Dundrum South Dublin) in 14:21.79. Méabh O’Connor (Waterford AC) finished ninth of the 16 competitors in 15:58.11.
In the men’s 400m final, Eoin Kenny placed fifth in 50.37, outside his personal best of 48 seconds. Taiwo Aderini (Waterford AC) finished ninth in the long jump with a best effort of 6.29m.
Waterford’s second medal of the championships came courtesy of Callum Hurley, who produced a lifetime best of 1:48.37 to claim silver in the 800 metres final, just behind Cillian Kirwan (Raheny, Dublin), who won in 1:47.68.
Lucy Holmes, formerly of West Waterford and now competing with Dublin City Harriers, won the 1,500 metres in 4:31.10.
Congratulations to all Waterford athletes who competed over the weekend.
FINTAN WALSH
