AAI Games Castleisland

There were some very competitive sprints races in Castleisland last Sunday 16th, with a host of familiar sprinters making the trip to Kerry for the 2010 AAI Games.

Niamh Whelan won a very close 100m in 11.79, recording the same time as her Ferrybank teammate Kelly Proper in second. Joan Healy (Bandon AC) was third in 11.92. This was the only Grade 2 event of the day giving Whelan 10 more points to add to her commanding lead in the League Table. She now stands on 30 points, Proper is 2nd with 14 points and Healy 3rd at present with 11.

The 200m was also a very close race with Kelly Proper first from Niamh Whelan in second and Claire Brady (Celbridge AC) in third.

Claire Bergin (DSD AC) finished strongly to take the Women's 400m, ahead of Jessie Barr (Ferrbank AC) in 2nd and Joan Healy 3rd.

In the Men's, Dean Adams (Ballymena & Antrim) won the 100m in 10.75 ahead of David O’Shea (Dooneen AC) in 10.79 and Patrick Phelan (DSD AC) third in 10.89.

Gordon Kennedys (Tullamore Harriers AC) won the 200m in 21.7 ahead of his teammate Eoin Hannon with 21.95. Brian Murphy (UCC AC) was third in 21.98. Kennedy finished 4rth in the 100m later in the day and with his current form and speed over the shorter distances, one can only anticipate good things for his first 400m of the outdoor season.

A strong headwind down the back straight made things difficult in the 4oom, with David McCarthy (Le Cheile AC) proving the strongest to win in 48.26. This was a fantastic performance considering he also won the 800m in 1.52.03only an hour previously. Brian Murphy was a close second in 48.36, with Nick Hogan (DSD AC) third in 49.06.

The updated League Tables can be found in the menu to the right-hand side of the screen.

Videos from Crusaders Grand Prix

100m Men
200m Men
400m Men

Race Series League Tables

The Race Series League Tables are up and back-dated to include results from the Leevale Sports, IUAA Champ’s, Munster Champ’s and Crusaders Grand Prix.

Darragh Graham and Dean Adams are currently joint top in the 100m, Graham with the advantage of having raced only twice to Adams’ three races. Graham’s strong recent form in winning what were classed ‘Grade 2’ races in the IUAA and Leevale Sports means he scored a maximum 10 points in both those races. (See post on Race Series – Scoring for more info)

The Men’s 200m is a close affair with Christopher Russel on 11 points, just ahead of Graham and Colvert tied on 10 points.

In the Men’s 400m Kieran Kelly leads with 13 points, with Brian Murphy’s win on Saturdays ‘Grade 2’ race awarding him 10 points to enter the table in second.

The Women’s 100m and 200m are led by Ferrybank’s Niamh Whelan, whose busy and successful opening to the season puts her way ahead of her rivals.

Brona Furlong is the only athlete so far to score points in the 400m, her 56.35 run in the IUAA Champs inside the threshold to score on the league table.

Remember, only athlete’s Top 5 performances count in the league, so with a busy season ahead there is plenty of time to make up ground.

Attention turns to Kerry next with the AAI Games in Castleisland this coming Sunday 16th may.

Ogundele, Colvert, Murphy in winning form at Cru’ Grand Prix

Strong winds played their part in a action packed evening at the Crusaders Grand Prix on Saturday in Irishtown.

Celbridge AC’s Seye Ogundele won the 100m in emphatic style in 10.50sec, with Dean Adams (Ballymena & Antrim) second in 10.57 and Steven Colvert (Crusaders) third in 10.62. Unfortunately a +3.8 wind speed meant that their times were illegal, but it certainly bodes well for races to come.

Steven Colvert put in an impessive performance to finish very strongly and win the 200m in 21.45s. David Hynes is in good form and he took second in 21.62, followed by Christopher Russel in 21.76. The +3.1 wind was not a true reflection of the 200m, as the athletes ran much of the bend with the wind on their faces. Colverts display in the 200m is surely only a taste of things to come from the Crusaders Athlete, this being only his second year in Athletics.

The 400m was always going to be tough in the swirling winds and Brian Murphy showed his strength in the last 100m to win in 49.38. No mean feat considering he ran in the 200m only 20 minutes earlier. Second was Kieran Kelly in 49.45, with Billy Ryan third in 50.25.

Race Series - 'Top Ranked Athletes'

A top ranked athlete will be an athlete who was in the Top 10 of the Official Irish Rankings for either 2008 or 2009.

Race Series - Scoring

Races will be categorised based on their quality and competitiveness as follows:

· The Senior Track and Field Championships of Ireland will be the only Category I race.
· All other races will be categorised based on the standard of the athletes in the race.

A Category II race must have 4 Top Ranked athletes. A Category III race will have less than 4 Top Ranked athletes present. A list of Top Ranked athletes can be found elsewhere in this blog.

The scoring system for a Category I, II & III races will be as follows:












Bonus points on offer for achieving a PB:
Cat 1 Race: 3 points
Cat 2 Race: 2 points
Cat 3 Race: 1 point

A maximum of five races per Athlete can be used for scoring purposes. Where an Athlete participates in six or more races, his/her best five scores using the scoring system will be used.



Scoring Thresholds:

Due to the quality and depth in Irish Sprinting, an athlete must beat a certain threshold to score points on the league table:

Mens
100m | 11.14
200m | 22.42
400m | 50.00

Womens
100m | 12.35
200m | 25.35
400m | 57.12

For example in the Mens 100m, you must run sub 11.14 if you want to score points. The thresholds are based on Hungarian Tables to get equivalent times across the 100m, 200m, 400m and also compare to the 20th ranked time in the Irish Top 20 Rankings.


Note: In 2011 it is intended to use the Indoor and Outdoor Irish Racing calendar to feature approximately 10 races as the ‘Irish Sprinters Race Series’. A standard league scoring system across all events would be used, with double points for the nationals. This will favour the athlete who has raced in most of the series and has been a consistent performer.

Race Series - Introduction

There has always been a dearth of races for Irish sprinters and the only time they all seem to come together and race each other is the Nationals in July or August. The Irish Sprinters Race Series hopes to change that by creating a race series using the existing domestic race calendar and bringing the top sprinters together more often racing each other.

Athletes will only score points from their best five races in Ireland and will be awarded points based on finishing positions in these races. This is due to the wide number of races available and to make it fairer for those who miss races due to injury or otherwise.

It is hoped to also organize a Sprints Finale event to finish the sprints season with races for 100m, 200m and 400m. The winner and those in runner-up positions will receive prizes.

The athlete with the most points at the end of the Series will be declared the winner. They will receive a trophy as well as a small prize. There will also be prizes for those in runner-up positions.