Kelly and Dixon rocket to gold in Nationals

TALLAGHT athletes, Jack Kelly and Cormac Dixon topped the podium in their respective Under 18 and Under 17 800m finals at the National Juvenile Indoor Championships in AIT Athlone last weekend.

Having qualified through the heats earlier in the day, they both stepped up a gear in the finals later in the afternoon where Dixon was the first into the fray.

Remaining well in touch with the leading athletes until the closing 300m, he broke to the front and maintained that lead for victory in a new personal best time of 2:02.36.

What’s more, that performance saw him add the 800m title to the 1500m gold he won the previous day in a time of 4:10.50.

Jack Kelly adopted a totally different approach to his Under 18 Final, leading the field from the start and over the course of the four-lap contest.

He gradually enlarged the gap before claiming the title with more than four seconds to spare on his nearest rival, and in the process, set a new championship best time of 1:52.38.

Hazel Jordan was also in action on Day Two of the championships, and just missed out on the podium when she finished fourth in the Under 17 800m after a gutsy performance that saw her achieve new PB of 2:21.15.

There was more for the club to celebrate with Sean Aigboboh scooping silver in the Under 18 60m sprint final in a time of 7.09 while Abdullahi Adeleke, younger brother of star sprinter Rhasidat Adeleke, won bronze in the Under 14 60m.

Other athletes who produced sound displays were Mason Mitchell (Under 12), David Aigboboh (Under 19) and Nadislane Kabongo (Under 19) – all of them qualifying for finals along with Jared Murray who finished fifth in his Under 19 1500m decider. Uche Disu clocked 8.40 in the heats of the Under 17 60m.