Second place for Hession
National champion and record holder Paul Hession claimed a brace of second place finishes at today’s 60th running of the Cork City Sports meeting.
Hession was beaten over his favoured distance of 200 metres by Alonso Edward from Panama, who led off the bend and held off the Athenry man in an exciting finish.
Edward hit the line in 20.89 seconds and Hession timed 21.05, with the wind recorded at -2.7 at the Bishopstown track. Britain’s Luke Fagan, who had earlier edged out Hession in the 100m, was third (21.48).
Olympic silver medallist Nick Willis from New Zealand won the 1500m in a hand-timed three minutes and 40 seconds, ahead of American duo Will Lear and Ben Blankenship.
There was local success in the junior 1500m race where Togher pair Peter Hanrahan and Cullen Lynch made it a Cork 1-2. Hanrahan dipped under the four-minute mark, winning in a time of 3:57.54. Lynch was second in 4:02.32.
Lee Moore from the USA was victorious in the 400m hurdles. He had a winning time of 50.92, with Irish youngsters Paul Byrne and Thomas Barr fighting it out for second and third.
Byrne from Carlow, who has qualified for the European Under-23 Championships, crossed the finish line in 52.07, just ahead of Ferrybank’s Barr (52.45).
Drogheda high jumper Kourosh Foroughi turned in one of the standout performances from an Irish perspective, clearing 2.20 metres for a third place finish.
Trevor Barry from the Bahamas jumped 2.25m to win the event, with fourth-placed Barry Pender (2.15m) the best of the other Irish entrants.
Foroughi’s fourth round jump equalled his personal best set in Budapest last year and qualifies him for the World Student Games, which will take place in Shenzhen in China next month.
Only five years after taking up the event, the 20-year-old Star of the Sea clubman is certainly one to watch. In a fortnight’s time, he will compete in the European Under-23 Championships in the Czech city of Ostrava.
Britain’s Sophie Hitchon was victorious in the hammer, reaching 66.54 metres with her penultimate throw. Clare’s Rachel Ackers was the best-placed Irish competitor - a final round throw of 53.37m was good enough for fourth.
America’s Rebecca Christensen won the high jump with a leap of 1.85m, while Andy Marsh, with a mark of 5.25m, beat his British compatriot Michael Holden to take the pole vault title.
In the other field events, Lithuania’s Povilas Mykolaitis was a long jump winner with 7.91m and in the women’s equivalent, Irish record holder Kelly Proper had a fourth place finish.
Proper jumped to 6.23m with her first attempt, but with an illegal 2.3 wind behind her. American Tianna Madison, who beat Proper in the 100m, was third in the long jump (6.36m), with Slovenia’s Nina Kolaric finishing top of the pile (6.52m).
