Hard to believe, but even though we’re right into the Schools cross country season, the indoor track and field season got underway in Nenagh on Sunday 1st February where day 1 of the Leinster Indoors for junior, senior, masters and selected events for under 16 to 19 years took place.

Mullingar had only a few athletes in action but there was still plenty to cheer about. Master athlete Sean McMullin was in great racing form in the 3,000m race walk where he battled all the way to take silver, and went one better later in the day in the 1,500m to win gold, with a Championship Best Performance.

Brendan Marshall was hoping to jump further than in recent competition, but given the very cold day that it was, winning was more important than distance and he was more than a match for the competition and won the men’s long jump in convincing style with a Championship Best Performance to add yet another Leinster senior title to his growing collection.

Hoping to relive the medal winning successes of last year, there was disappointment for Diarmaid Hyland and David Moran in the under 18 boys 200m, where despite running very well in their respective heats they didn’t advance to the final, with Diarmaid coming closest and being eliminated by only three hundredths of a second. It is still very early in the year and they have plenty of time to improve for days 2 and 3 at the end of February and for the outdoor season.