Cara Laverty

While there are no World Indoor Tour gold meetings this weekend, it will still be a very big one for Irish athletes, particularly in the USA, where it’s the final big weekend of pre-championship college meetings.

Rhasidat Adeleke is likely to open her season in the USA, Luke McCann will continue his comeback in Germany, and Laura Nicholson will race outdoors in Australia. 

The distance athletes will seek fast times at Boston University, the Sound Invite and elsewhere, collegiate-based sprinters and field eventers compete at Fayetteville and elsewhere, and the marathon men take on Seville.

Domestic action will be in the form of the National League final on Saturday and the National Intermediate and Masters Cross Country on Sunday.

Rhasidat’s return?

Rhasidat Adeleke, who hasn’t raced since July last year, appears on the startlists for two meetings in the US this weekend.

She is down for the 60m at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational in Albuquerque, NM, where she set the current national record for 60m (7.15a) and 200m (22.49a) in 2024, and the 300m at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, AR, a World Indoor Tour silver event. Both races are on Saturday, so she won’t be doing both.

Other Irish athletes scheduled to compete at the Tyson Invitational are Conor Kelly (400m), Elizabeth Ndudi (Long Jump) and Siún Quinn (High Jump).

Distance athletes chasing times in the US

Four Irish athletes are set to compete in the professional races at the Sound Invite in Winston-Salem, NC, which also carries World Indoor Tour silver status. After winning his race in impressive fashion in Boston two weeks ago, Darragh McElhinney will have another crack at the World Indoor qualifying time of 8:33.00

With just two places available, and Andrew Coscoran and Nick Griggs already after securing the standard, the standard is most likely needed. James Gormley, who raced at World Indoors last year, will likely also be chasing the standard.

Ronan McMahon-Staggs will race the Mile, while Hannah Segrave is down to contest the 800m.

A healthy contingent of Irish athletes are also due to compete at the David Hemery Valentine Invite at Boston University. Among them are Jack O’Leary, who would love to add the European 5000m standard (13:08.00) to the one he’s already secured over 10,000m; Abdel Laadjel who is on the 3000m startlist; Maeve O’Neill who has recently made big improvements over 800m and Cillian Kirwan, also 800m.

Other Irish entries include Oisín Lynch, Finn Boyle, Gemma Galvin, Claire Crowley (all 800m), Emmy Thornton (1000m), Louis O'Loughlin, Oisín Ó Gailín, Seán Donoghue, Liam Lyons, Seán Cronin, Cara Laverty, Nicole Dinan (Mile), Jack Fenlon, Charlie O'Donovan, Ava O'Connor, Roisin Treacy (3000m), Ryan McCarthy (3000m, 5000m), Claragh Keane, Grace Richardson (5000m).

Three of the Adams State crew appear to be using the weekend as preparation for upcoming championships as Louis O'Loughlin (800m), Oisín Lynch (Mile) and Ava O'Connor (Mile) are also scheduled to compete at the Harvard Crimson Open and Elite meeting across the weekend.

The men compete at Boston, MA on Friday and down the road in Cambridge, MA on Saturday, and the women are scheduled the other way round (Cambridge on Friday and Boston on Saturday), so such doubles are logistically doable.

Other US collegiate action

Diarmuid O’Connor, who recently broke his own Heptathlon record, is scheduled to compete in the 60m Hurdles and the High Jump at Harvard Crimson on Saturday.

Sean Aigboboh, who had a big breakthrough over 200m last weekend is down to compete over 60m at Howie Ryan on Friday.

The ever-consistent Lucy-May Sleeman is entered for both 60m and 200m at Tiger Paw Invitational across Friday and Saturday.

Victoria Amiadamen, who was Ireland’s fastest over 400m hurdles last season, will compete over 400m at the Jarvis Scott Invit in Lubbock, TX on Friday.

Sixteen more athletes have been added to the TrackAthletes NCAA/NAIA database this week, thanks to the help of Killian Lonergan/Athletics Ireland, which means even more collegiate meetings to follow. Check out the NCAA page for more information, and let us know of any further errors or omissions.

Nicholson Down Under

Larua Nicholson won her first race of the year over the mile in New Zealand three weeks ago, but will face much stiffer opposition as she takes on the Australians over 1500m at the Continental Tour Bronze meeting in Perth on Saturday.

European action

Luke McCann will continue his return to racing over 800m at Erfurt Indoor in Germany on Friday night.

John Kelly (Shot Putt), is among the entries at Aadax Locked-In, a World Indoor Tour Challenger event, in Sweden on Sunday.

Paul O'Donnell, Ryan Creech, William Maunsell and David Mansfield are among the elite entries for the Seville Marathon on Sunday morning.

Closer to home

Michael Alajiki (Triple Jump), Rachel McCann (200m, 400m) and Jenna Breen (400m) are among the entries for the British University Indoor Championships, which take place in Sheffield from Friday to Sunday. As countries are incorrectly assigned to many athletes on the entry system, we may have missed others.

Marcus Lawler (200m), Conor Callinan (Pole Vault), Sam Healy (Long Jump), Eoin Sheridan (Shot Put), Mark Smyth (60m) and Molly Scott (60m Hurdles) are among the athletes named in their teams for the National League Final which will take place in Abbotstown on Saturday.

The indoor season is relentless, and numerous Irish athletes will again be chasing qualification standards, national records and personal bests across the globe.

Much of the attention will be focused on the east coast of the United States where Irish athletes will be competing at both the Millrose Games and the John Thomas Terrier Classic in Boston, but there is also action across Europe and in Ireland.

Irish in action at Millrose Games

The second of this season’s eight World Indoor Tour (WIT) Gold meetings will take place in New York on Sunday, and again there will be a strong Irish presence.

Cian McPhillips, who looked very impressive in his season opener over 600m at the New Balance Grand Prix in Boston last Saturday, will race his first 800m since finishing fourth at the World Championships last September.

The World Indoor standard of 1:45.90 and Mark English’s recent Irish record of 1:44.65 will be among the possible targets, though another win at this level - particularly against three fellow sub 1.43 athletes - will be just as important. Among his opposition are Bryce Hoppel, Donavan Brazier, Ben Pattison and Mohamed Attaoui.

Andrew Coscoran, who finished second in Boston, just missing his own Irish record but securing the World Indoor qualification standard, will race over the mile this weekend. The World 1500m finalist broke Eamon Coughlan’s indoor mile record and Ray Flynn’s overall record when he finished seventh last year.

Eric Favors opened his season with 19.95m on 10th January, and will be looking towards the Athletics Ireland B standard for World Indoors (20.45m).

The Millrose Games features quite a substantial pre-programme, and among the other Irish athletes competing are Margaret Hayden in the Women’s Weight Throw on Saturday and Lucas Lyons in the junior men’s mile. There are also Irish representatives in the 'Fastest Kid in the World' races.

The Irish descend on Boston in expectation of fast times.

The Boston University indoor track has a reputation for producing fast times, and while the strong middle distance fields that reputation attracts can’t guarantee personal bests and national records, they certainly increase the chances.

In addition to all the college students, a number of Irish athletes have just completed a stint of altitude training in Flagstaff, and they appear to be descending on Boston en masse for the John Thomas Terrier Classic on Friday (Women) and Saturday (Men).

Brian Fay, Nick Griggs, Callum Morgan, James Gormley, Dean Casey and Micheál Power are all in the top heat of the men’s 5000m. Griggs already has both the European standard (13:08.00) and the Commonwealth Games consideration standard (13:30.00), but both the national U23 (13:24.17) and senior (13:12.56) indoor records stand danger.

Darragh McElhinney and Jack O’Leary are among those taking on the 3000m. With just two spots available at the World Indoors, and Conscoran and Griggs already having secured the qualification standard (7:33.00) at this distance, a good run from either could cause a potential headache for selectors.

Having paced in Boston last week, James Dunne will be making his competitive return following injury. The Tullamore Harrier had a breakthrough over 1500m early last summer, when he ran 3:35.17. He will be joined in the mile by Lughaidh Mallon, who ran 3:56.09 outdoors last summer, recent U23 1000m record breaker Liam Lyons, and Irish Indoor champion Kevin McGrath. Cillian Kirwan and Conall Rogers will race over 800.

On the women’s side, Danielle Donegan, Anna Gardiner and Niamh O’Mahony will race the 5000m. Jane Buckley is entered for the 3000m, Cara Laverty and Maddy Mooney will race the mile, Gemma Galvin is entered for the 1000m and Maeve O’Neill will run her first 800m of the indoor season, having run 2:41.07 for 1000m in mid-January and 1:28.09 for 600m on this track in early December.

Elsewhere in the US

There are a number of other meetings in the US on Friday and Saturday.

Conor Kelly will race over 200m at the Razorback Invitational. Lucy-May Sleeman (60m and 200m), Elizabeth Ndudi (long jump) and Siun Quinn (high jump) are among the other Irish on the startlists.

Diarmuid O’Connor is entered for the shot put and high jump at the Harvard Invitational after improving his own Irish Heptathlon record last week.

Mark Milner (800m) and Ronan McMahon-Staggs (mile) are among the entries for the Washington Invite and Mile City in Seattle. McMahon-Staggs ran 3:51.85 for the mile on this track - which is longer than 200m, so doesn't count for indoor rankings or qualification - just over a year ago.

Check out our calendar page for details of other meetings where Irish athletes are competing.

European and Irish action

After moving to second on the Irish all-time list for the Pentathlon just two weeks ago, Anna McCauley will compete at the World Combined Events Tour Silver meeting in Tallinn on Sunday. Kate O’Connor broke the Irish record here last year before going on to have a season of dreams which included four championship medals.

Jodie McCann is on the startlist for the mile at the World Indoor Tour Silver Meeting de L’Eure in France on Sunday and Molly Scott (60m, 60m hurdles) is due to race at IFAM Gent Indoors, a WIT bronze event, on Saturday.

A little closer to home, the ScottishAthletics EAP (WIT Challenger) has a large number of athletes competing. Bori Akinola (60m) and Lauren Callaghan (Long Jump), will compete in the disciplines in which they won WIT Bronze meetings last week. Also on the startlists are Eimear Maher (Mile), Ciara Neville, Orla Comerford, Sarah Leahy and Molly O’Reilly (60m) and Rachel McCann. See our event page for full startlists.

Clodagh Walsh (Pole Vault), Michael Kent (Long Jump) and Saragh Buggy (Triple Jump) are all on the startlist for the Loughborough Indoor Open on Sunday. David Onwudiwe (Triple Jump) is entered for the South of England Championships, also on Sunday afternoon.

The Irish domestic action this weekend includes the Leinster Senior Championships on Saturday for which there are some strong fields, and the Munster Senior Championships on Monday.

There will be Irish interest in mid-week meetings in Ostrava, Czechia (World Indoor Tour Gold) and Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium, where some of the top 400m athletes will open their seasons.

*Update since publishing: McPhillips has withdrawn from Millrose Games.

Many of Ireland’s top cross country athletes will be battling for national glory and Euro Cross berths in Templemore, Co Derry, on Sunday, while others will be competing against the best college athletes in the United States on Friday and Saturday.

Even when accounting for athletes whose clubs may have entered them out of hope rather than expectation, both the men’s and women’s fields for Templemore look pretty competitive. The U23 battles within the senior contests should add further spice to the not-to-be-missed races.

Ten in a row, anyone?

Last year’s champion Keelan Kilrehill is the one notable absentee from the men’s entries, meaning that only Darragh McElhinney, the 2022 champion, and Cormac Dalton, the winner in 2023, stand in the way of making it 10 different winners of the men’s National Cross Country title in as many editions.

Neither McElhinney nor Dalton will bow to such a niche statistic when they toe the line on Sunday, and both should be among those contesting the medals.

Among those looking to continue the streak are Nick Griggs, keen to win his first national senior title on any surface; Brian Fay, who, like Dalton, has a Euro Cross Top 10 finish to his name; European 10,000m Cup winner Efrem Gidey; Callum Morgan, who looked sublime when winning the Autumn International in October; and a resurgent Jack O’Leary.

Paul O’Donnell, Pierre Murchan and William Fitzgerald, who have also made the senior men’s team for Euro Cross in recent years, are also entered, as are Tokyo Olympian Stephen Scullion and recent national marathon champion David McGlynn.

Niall Murphy, who had the race of his life to finish second last year, will be back to defend his U23 title, but to do so he will again need to overcome Griggs and Morgan. Cathal O’Reilly, who finished 8th overall last year, is also still under U23 this year.

Wide open women’s race

As in the men’s race, the women’s race has lacked a consistent winner in recent years, with seven different winners in the past seven editions. The two most recent winners - Fiona Everard (2023) and Ann-Marie McGlynn (2024) - will look to change that.

Another previous winner on the startlist is Michelle Finn (2021), one of six Olympians entered, who has missed a year through injury.

Also entered is last year’s runner-up Niamh Allen, who went on to finish 10th in Antalya. Indeed, there’s a chance that all six from last year’s team compete again for places, with Dannielle Donegan, Mary Mulhare and Cheryl Nolan also entered.

Roisin Flanagan and Eilish Flanagan have both made the team on multiple previous occasions, and are also both entered to compete on Sunday.

Jodie McCann, Laura Nicholson and Eimear Maher, all better known as track athletes, will likely be hoping that an Irish mixed relay team is selected after an absence from the last two editions.

The first three in the U20 and Senior races in Derry will gain automatic selection for Lagoa, while the top two in the U23 categories will also be rewarded with Euro Cross selection. The Athletics Ireland selection policy suggests that they will select further athletes, up to a maximum of five in each event (it’s worth noting that the sixth qualifier for both the Senior and U23 men’s teams last year made the scoring three in Antalya!), leaving the door open for some of the athletes racing in the US this weekend to also be selected.

Across the Atlantic…

While the final lineup won’t be confirmed until the race starts, there could be as many as nine Irish athletes competing in the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in Columbia, Missouri, on Saturday.

Abdel Laadjel won the Big Ten Conference title three weeks ago, and helped the Oregon men gain an automatic spot for the ‘big dance’ last Friday. European U23 10,000m champion Anika Thompson helped the Oregon women qualify, and should start on Saturday.

Anna Gardiner, Cara Laverty, Niamh O'Mahony and Jane Buckley will all feature on the Providence team, which finished 2nd at the North East Region qualifier. Gardiner and Laverty were particularly impressive that day, finishing sixth and seventh individually. Gardiner is still an U20 for Euro Cross, while Laverty, like Thompson, is eligible for the U23 race.

Twenty-four-year-old Matthew Neill was also seventh at regionals and is likely to start for Syracuse. Dean Casey (Colorado) and Billy Coogan (Iona) may also run.

Eleven Irish athletes raced last year, with Casey (30th) and Thompson (32nd) the top Irish finishers. Keith Kelly was the last Irish individual winner of this prestigious event back in 2000.

Adams State will again be medal contenders at NCAA Division II Championships in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Saturday. European U23 and World University Games steeplechase finalist Ava O’Connor and Wexford woman Claragh Keane are among their likely starters.

On Friday, Heather Murphy (Montreat), who competed in the 10,000m at the European U23 Championships earlier this year, will be among the Irish racing at the NAIA National Cross Country Championships.

And next...

The Irish team for the European Cross Country Championships is due to be selected by Tuesday, 25th November. The event will take place in Lagoa, Portugal, on 14th December. Selections for the World Cross Country Championships - set for Talahassee, Florida on 10th January - will be made following the continental decider.