National gold for Michelle Lannon & Colin Duffy as Lucas misses out in fourth

There was gold on the double for Leitrim clubs at the weekend when Carrick AC’s Michelle Lannon and North Leitrim AC’s Colin Duffy both claimed victories at national championships but in two very different disciplines.

Michelle took gold in the National 5 mile road race while Colin won gold in the discus to reflect the variety of athletics. There was also disappointment for Lucas Lyons as the Dromahair youngster finished fourth in the U18 3,000m.

Michelle Lannon finished 16th woman overall in the Biofreeze Irish Runner 5 Mile race in the Phoenix Park last Sunday in a time of 31.50. Incorporating the Athletics Ireland National Championship, the Boyle woman won the W50 title by over a minute to add to her growing collection of national titles.

On Sunday, North Leitrim AC’s Colin Duffy produced a remarkable series of throws to win the U18 Discus at the 123.ie Athletics Ireland Juvenile Championship. His best throw of 50.81m came in the last round but Colin actually registered the three best distances of the competition in a dominant performance.

It was a remarkable show of fortitude from the North Leitrim thrower who unfortunately registered no mark at the Connacht Championships earlier in the month but he rebounded with an opening round throw of 46.90m, better than the second placed 45.79m. He also threw 50.58m and 44.23m - a distance which would have claimed the bronze medal!

Unfortunately, there was disappointment for the talented Lucas Lyons who missed out on a medal in the U18 3,000m. With the event run over two races, Lucas finished third in the second heat in a time of 8.48.80 behind Lorcan Forde Dunne (8.36.62) and Conor McGuirk 8.45.28.

The first heat, however, was won by Max Murphy in 8.42.48 to knock the North Leitrim AC athlete, who has run a time of 8.27.8 in Belfast in recent weeks, out of the medals.

Sarah Mulvaney Kelly also had a degree of misfortune in the U17 400m as her time of 60.70 was the eighth fastest overall in the three heats but the North Leitrim runner was third in the second of three heats, missing out on the final by 0.05 of a second.

The first heat saw the fourth placed athlete grab the last qualifying spot on time with a clocking of 60.65 while the second placed athlete in heat three clocked 60.92.

Kevin English, now competing for Longford AC, finished 14th overall in the U14 Boys 80m on Saturday, clocking a time of 10.64 seconds as he finished fifth in his heat.