Frank and Edel power home to claim National titles

FERMANAGH middle-distance athletes Edel Monaghan and Frank Buchanan tasted success at the weekend as they secured national titles.

With Storm Kathleen making things that bit more difficult at Mary Peters Track in Belfast, it couldn’t stop Monaghan who raced to victory in the Irish University T&F Championships for Trinity University, Dublin.

In her final university race, Monaghan built an early lead in the 3,000m final over the opening two laps and pushed away any competition to end with a finishing time of 9.47 to claim the gold medal.

Buchannan impressed at the Irish underage indoor championships in Athlone, also on Saturday.

After a calm start in the U19 1,500m final, the St. Michael’s student took off in the final 100m and took gold.

St. Michael’s students Jamie Mcdonnell, running for Enniskillen Running Club (ERC) and Ben Warnock, of Monaghan Phoenix competed in the 800m final on Sunday and managed 5th and 7th finishes.

Kate Kelly took part in the U14 girls 800m while St. Michael’s sprinter Jack O’connor picked up an unfortunate injury but will be hoping to get back for next month’s schools’ competitions.

ERC’S Harry Mckenzie claimed victory in the Omagh 5k on Sunday morning with a comfortable win after impressing at the SIAB Internationals in Dublin only a couple of weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Annabelle Mckenzie picked up a second-place finish in the women’s 5k race.

Local endurance athlete, Conan Mccaughey, came in after Gary Hegarty, just 11 seconds behind, in the Omagh Half Marathon with a time of 68:29 as over 3,300 runners completed the marathon.