DCU Athletes at World Relays
DCU sports scholars Aoife Lynch and Sophie Becker were in action for Ireland at the World Athletics Relays in Chorzow, Poland last weekend.
Aoife was part of the 4x100m and 4x200m teams, while Sophie was part of the mixed 4x400m squad and joined Aoife on the 4x200m team.
The 4x200m relay took place on Sunday night, with the DCU girls being joined by Sarah Quinn (St. Colman’s South Mayo AC) and Kate Doherty (DSD AC). Aoife ran a great first leg (24.48s), passing the baton to Kate Doherty. When the baton was passed to Sophie who was running the anchor leg, she began to gain ground on her Polish counterpart who was in the lead. Unfortunately, the Polish athlete held on to take victory, with Sophie running a split of 23.82s to bring the team home in 2nd, setting a phenomenal new National Record in the process of 1.35.93!
Bearing in mind it was both athletes season opener it certainly bodes well for the summer ahead. Its worth noting also that it was Aoife’s first senior international appearance, undoubtedly the first of many to come.
Both Aoife and Sophie were part of our 4x200m team at the last IUAA Indoors in Athlone in Feb 2020.Aoife was a reserve on the 4x100m team which finished 10th overall, missing out on a place in Tokyo by only 0.3s, however they did qualify for the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon next year. Sophie was also a reserve in the Mixed 4x400m, rested due to a recent injury. The team finished 7th overall to qualify for the Olympics after finishing 3rd in their heat in a new National Record of 3.16.34. Chris O’Donnell, Phil Healy, Sharlene Mawdsley and Tom Barr made up the quartet, with Andrew Mellon replacing Barr in the final.
Congratulations Aoife and Sophie from all of us in DCU AC. You did yourselves, your families, college, clubs, and communities proud!
by DCU Athletics PRO - Rory Cassidy