Mark English leads Donegal medal hopes at Nationals

Mark English is expected to lead the Donegal charge for medals at the 150th anniversary of the National Senior Track and Field Championships.

The 30-year-old Finn Valley AC runner will go under starter’s orders at Morton Stadium on Saturday.

A four-time European medallist and two-time Olympian, English has entered in both his specialised 800m and the 400m.

English is the Irish record holder and defending champion over 800m. English has won eight outdoor 800m and 17 overall including the Indoor Championships.

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The likes of John Fitzsimmons and European Under-20 1500m champion Cian McPhillips are the pretenders to English’s 800m crown.

English is also among the entrants for the 400m. Were the Letterkenny native to attempt a challenge over one lap of the Santry track, he would have to topple North Sligo AC’s Chris O’Donnell, who has a 45.26-second PB from last June.

English’s best 400m time is the 46.56 seconds he clocked in 2014.

The Irish Seniors are the longest running consecutive national senior championships in the world and rising sprint stars Rhasidat Adeleke and Israel Olatunde will be among the leading lights for athletics fans this weekend. Finn Valley AC’s Janine Boyle will be in competition with Adeleke in the 200m.

Tir Chonaill AC’s Conall Mahon has won the triple jump in the past two years and will look to make it a hat-trick this weekend. Mahon jumped to 14.68m to take the gold in 2022, but he had to settle for silver at the indoors earlier this year.

Joseph Gillespie of Finn Valley AC has been progressing well and the Convoy-based triple jumper will look to shake up the medal positions.

Conall Mahon of Tir Chonaill AC. Photo: Sportsfile

Finn Valley AC’s Roisin Flanagan and Nakita Burke from Letterkenny AC will be among those challenging two-time Olympian Michelle Finn in the women’s 5000m. Finn is third in the all-time Irish list over the distance. While Eilish Flanagan will not be lining up, twin sister Roisin and Burke will have high hopes of being among the front-runners.

Reigning shot put champion John Kelly has not entered for a defence of his title. The Finn Valley AC athlete had also won the Irish shot put gold in 2017 and 2020 with a Championship record of 19.25m last year sealing the top spot.

The St Johnston man’s brother James and Gavin McLaughlin - both in the Finn Valley AC vest - are ready for action, but Irish record holder Eric Favors looks set to be too hot to handle.

Sommer Lecky has been back jumping well this summer after an injury-hit period. The Finn Valley AC athlete, a Commonwealth Youth gold and World Under-20 silver medal winner in the past, Lecky had encouraging jumps in Geneva and Belfast of late.

Lecky won the high jump in 2016 and 2022 and will have her old foe Phillippa Rogan (Sli Cualann) - who won the five intervening titles - for company again.

Tir Chonaill AC hurdler Kelly McGrory went 57.22 over the 400m hurdles last year and the Laghey woman will aim to challenge for her fourth gold in the event. Previously, McGrory won in 2016 and 2021.

Adrienne Gallen is no stranger to big days by now. The Lifford-Strabane AC woman will have formidable opposition in the form of Nicola Tuthill and Rachel Akers in the women’s shot put.

Tuthill was a World under-20 finalist last year and threw an Irish Under-23 record on her Irish senior debut at the Team Championships last month while Akers is a former hammer gold medallist in Santry.

Siobhan Doherty of Tir Chonaill AC will be in the women’s 5000m walk, where Kate Veale - with gold in five of the past six stagings - is the queen of the castle.

There could be an intriguing men’s 10,000m walk as Finn Valley AC’s Brendan Boyce and David Kenny of Farranfore Maine Valley get ready to joust. Boyce is more comfortable over the longer distances, but has nevertheless been a regular medal winner at the nationals.

Ellie McCurdy has been catching the eye with some fine javelin throws lately. The Lifford-Strabane AC starlet will go up against the likes of Grace Casey and Katie Moynihan this weekend as she takes to the big stage.

Finn Valley women Lauren Callaghan (long jump) and Bridget McDyer (weight for distance) have medalled previously at national level and are among a strong Donegal presence across both track and field.