Mooney creates history as Tullamore shines at nationals

Two members of Tullamore Harriers Club are new champions of Ireland.

Over the course of last weekend, both Madison Mooney and Ally Duffy claimed gold medals at the 123.ie National Senior Track & Field Championships in Morton Stadium, Dublin.

Mooney captured a first ever national senior title with a superb win in the 800m final having qualified comfortably in Saturday's heats. In a closely-fought race, Mooney was in fifth position going into the final lap but she surged clear in the closing stages in a winning time of 2:04.38, finishing just 0.21 seconds ahead of national leader Emma Moore. Defending champion Alex O'Neill took the bronze medal.

This was not only a fantastic personal achievement for Madison, but also a proud day for Tullamore Harriers, as she became the first athlete in the club's history to claim a national senior title at the National Senior Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Earlier on Sunday, the exciting Ally Duffy maintaind her sparkling form by winning the U20 3,000m title. Ally has enjoyed success in a variety of distances this track season from 800m through to the 1,500m, as well as at 2,000m steeplechase distances.

She led the race out hard and completed the first kilometre in 3:20. With blustery conditions and a big lead, inevitably the pace dipped a bit, but Ally went on to achieve a new PB of 10:08.43.

Recently, Ally, also represented Ireland at the Girls' 2,000m steeplechase at the European Athletics U18 Championships in Rieti.

Elsewhere, Tullamore Harriers was represented with distinction by many other athletes. In the women's 100m, Alisha Maher ran 12.57, while Rachel Keane recorded 12.69, with both athletes performing strongly in a highly competitive championship field.

In the men's 100m, Dolapo Kush impressed by finishing third in his heat in 10.96 to progress to the semi-finals. He followed that with another excellent performance, clocking 11.03 to finish ninth overall, narrowly missing out on a place in the final. Dean Power (11.32) and Billy Corrigan (11.33) also produced strong performances in this event.

Corrigan also competed in the 200m, recording 22.72, while Aaron Keane delivered a run of 47.57 in the 400m.

Over the longer distances, Michael Murphy finished eleventh in the highly competitive senior men's 5,000m, recording 14:35.50, while Barry Mooney placed tenth in the 5,000m 'C' race with a time of 17:36.85.

In the field events, Joseph Mulligan produced an excellent performance to finish fourth in the Senior Men's Weight for Height (56lbs). Joseph recorded a best throw of 3m, narrowly missing out on a podium position.