AFTER an indifferent start to the season, Kerry O'flaherty finally got it right at the IfAM meeting in Oordegem, Holland when she clipped almost four seconds off her own Northern Ireland record for the 3000m steeplechase. The Newcastle woman's 9:52.94s clocking was also well inside the Commonwealth Games standard making her the 11th Northern Ireland athlete to qualify for Glasgow.
Saturday night's race was probably the last opportunity for O'flaherty to achieve the standard and the pressure on her was heightened by the fact she had injured herself on a faulty water jump barrier at the same venue last year.
As a consequence she missed most of the 2013 season. But everything came together on this occasion, with the 32-year-old Down star lapping the track consistently in just under 79 seconds.
She just missed out on fourth place on the run to the line as Charlotta fougberg claimed a new Swedish national record of 9:34.61s in winning the race.
"I am delighted with last night's result," enthused O'flaherty. "Training had been going well and we all believed that a sub 9:55sperformance was there. Given the experience of four years ago [when she controversially missed out on selection for the Delhi Commonwealth Games] there was a lot of pressure on with time running out."
Over 50 Irish athletes were in action in Oordegem with Waterford man thomas Barr smashing tom McGuirk's 18-year-old Irish record in the 400m hurdles.
Barr broke the tape in 49.61s for one of three Irish wins at the meeting, taking 12 hundredths of a second off the Irish-American's record. The mark was also a qualification time for the european Athletics Championships in Zurich this August. Belfast's Jason Harvey had his best time of the season in sixth place behind Barr with a 51.13s mark.
Derry City sprinter Jason Smyth missed out on possibly his final opportunity to get the Commonwealth standard of 10.30s seconds in the 100m with a 10.58s timing in fifth place.
Dubliner Steven Colvert took fourth in the same time as Smyth before winning the 200m in an
impressive 20.95s.
Mark english made his seasonal outdoor debut a winning one with a 1:46.39s in the 800m. It was also the Letterkenny man's first competition since reportedly parting company with long-term coach teresa McDaid.
Meanwhile, freddy Keron Stuk became the first man to win both Derry and Belfast marathons in the same year since Paul Craig in 1983 when he was a runaway winner of yesterday's Walled City Marathon. The Kenyan's 2:25:44s timing saw him home and hosed over 15 minutes before 48-year-old Buncrana schoolteacher Pauric McKinney crossed the finish line in 2:41:34s. City of Derry Spartan James Crampsey bagged local bragging rights with a strong run for third in 2:43:45s. The women's race followed a similar pattern with Donore Harrier Anne Curley leading from gun to tape to win in 2:57:51s. That was almost 10 minutes faster than Marina Campbell who claimed the runner-up spot in 3:08:17s ahead of Claire McGuigan who had a conservative run for third in 3:11:17s. Christy McMonagle claimed an Irish record for over 70s with an impressive 3:28:22s clocking.
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