A Great days Athletics		Sonia o Sullivan in contemplative mood.

In spite of the heavy rain that fell on Sunday, the second day of the Woodie’s DIY track and field championships, the entire meet must rank as one of the best staged in Ireland for many years.

From the minute the meet started at noon on Saturday it was non stop action. Eileen O’Keeffe’s new Irish hammer record with her first throw of the competition was a thrilling experience for the handful of spectators in the stadium. The re-action of her fellow competitors was one of unbridled joy as they all hugged the champion.

And, having caught the attention of spectators, Eileen produced a series of throws that were simply exhibition stuff.

Asked what happened since her Irish record in the European Cup at the end of June and yesterday Eileen revealed that she is on leave of absence from her job since the start of June and the effects of that are just now kicking in.

After such an incredible opening to the championships the venue was buzzing for the rest of the day. No doubt Paul Hession could feel it as he stormed down the track to smash his week old Irish 200m record. More exhibition stuff.

On Sunday, just before the rains came, we were treated to a superb contest in the men’s pole vault, described by some commentators as without doubt the best domestic pole vault competition ever held in Ireland.

 Irish junior record holder, with a best of 4.70m, Anthony McCreery entered the competition at 4.50m, clearing at the first attempt. He also cleared first time at 4.60m, the point where arch rival David Donegan entered the competition. He knocked the bar with his first two attempts before opting to have the bar at 4.70m for his third effort. Things went much better here as he cleared in style.

Both cleared 4.80m, a new Irish record, at the first attempt. McCreery coasted over 4.90m at his first attempt, but Donegan didn’t make it and opted to have his final attempts at 5.00m, a height that both found beyond them on this occasion. The Irish senior pole vault of 5.00m is now under threat and that should fall sooner rather than later.

Well done to Kelly Proper for returning on her own a day early from the European junior championships to win the long jump. Alistair Cragg, who raced in Belgium on Saturday night, was unable as a result to race on Sunday at our national championships. Well done also to Martin Fagan who clocked 13:43.83, just over a second outside his PB, in the same race as Cragg. He was back in action on Sunday and ran a super confident race to win a closely contested 5,000m.

Almost every event had it’s talking points, drama and excitement and we can now look forward to more positive performances by Irish athletes over the coming weeks, culminating in the World Student Games and the World Championships.