Rhasidat Adeleke leads Irish success at NCAA T&F Championships
Ole Mississippi DMR silver medal winning team with Shane Bracken (Swinford AC) on left
The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Track and Field championships took place at the high altitude city of Albuquerque, New Mexico on Friday and Saturday. (March 10,11)
A number of Irish athletes represented their US colleges in track events.
Texas college sophomore, Rhasidat Adeleke qualified on Friday for Saturday’s final of the women’s 400m. The final was split into two heats with four competitors in each, and the event winner based on fastest times.
Adeleke ran 50:45 in winning the first heat – slightly slower than the Irish record of 50.33 she set last month.
In the second heat Britton Wilson of Arkansas finished in 49.48, the second-fastest time in history and the quickest ever in the NCAA, with Adeleke’s 50:45 winning silver ahead of Talitha Diggs 50:49.
It’s a first individual medal in a sprint event for an Irish athlete at the championships.
Brian Fay of Washington College (Dublin Track Club) won silver in the men’s mile on Friday in 4:02.92, behind Joe Waskom – also Washington- in 4:02.68.
He also ran the 5,000m and 3,000m for his college.
Róisin Willis, won the women’s 800m. She is an American international and daughter of Cork-born former Irish International Breda Dennehy-Willis who ran the 10,000 and 5,000m in the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
Roisin Willis won gold medals at the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in the 800m (1:59.13) and the women’s 4x400m relay.
Congratulations also to Swinford AC ‘s Shane Bracken who was part of a four man Distance Medley Relay for Ole Mississippi, placing second in the NCAA competition.
The Distance Medley Relay, consists of 1200m 400m 800m and 1600m run in that order. Shane ran the 1200m leg. The team ran 9:31.63 for the 4,000 (2.5 miles approximately) .
NCAA 2023 results: