THE IRISH Universities Athletics Association held its annual indoor championships at the National Indoor Arena in Abbotstown last weekend.

The smaller than usual numbers in attendance meant that the super-lively buzz one expects at such a gathering was not as much in evidence as has been the case in the past. Notwithstanding that, this was still a very entertaining and competitive meet.

Jack Forde (DCU) has been showing excellent form in recent weeks with gold medal performances at the national Under-23 championships and victory in heptathlon at the national Senior combined events.

Training and performing at Senior level in combined events requires a mixture of event-specific expertise coupled with a keen and calculating eye to the overall picture.

When it comes to figures, data, logistics and attention to detail, Jack is top of the class.

Last Saturday he romped to an easy win in pentathlon, picking up a personal best in sprint hurdles along the way (8.88 seconds) and clocking a very respectable 2.59 minutes in 1,000m.

As last year, Jack did more than any other to retain the overall men’s title for DCU, by not only winning the pentathlon but gaining valuable points in five individual events: he was second in both high jump and long jump, third in shot put and hurdles, and fourth in a very competitive pole vault, clearing 3.60m and narrowly missing 3.80m.

Pádraig Hore (UCC) was second in shot put, one place and just two centimetres ahead of Jack. He also placed fourth in weight for distance, getting the 16kg weight out to 7.45 metres.

A number of Wexford athletes competed in the distinctive yellow and blue of UCD. Enniscorthy’s Charlotte Stammers, still looking for a return to form, placed fifth in her 200m semi-final (27.60 seconds).

Aisling Kelly (Taghmon) was disappointed with her fourth place in the 60m heats (8.32 seconds). Former Menapians member Róisín O’Reilly was seventh in the 1,500m final (4.49.17 minutes).

It did not take serious number-crunching to decide the overall outcome of the competition. DCU men’s and women’s teams were runaway winners with, in both cases, University of Limerick a long way back in second place and UCD third.

Indeed, apart from finishing behind UL last year in the men’s competition, DCU has enjoyed a decade and a half of overall dominance both indoors and outdoors. When it comes, however, to the varsity road relays, one of the most popular items on the IUAA calendar, UCD and DCU have, in recent years, gotten the better of DCU.

The next big item in the IUAA diary is the inter-varsity track and field championships which takes place at MTU, Cork on April 21-22.

The Athletics Ireland indoor games took place in Athlone on Sunday, with numbers no doubt depleted by the IUAA championships the previous day.

Enniscorthy’s Blánaid Fogarty and Charlotte Stammers were third (25.16 seconds) and fifth (27.84 seconds) in their respective 200 metres heats. Subsequently, Blánaid finished second in the first round of the 60m heats (8.00 seconds), before going on to take a win in the next round (7.91).

Dannan Long (Enniscorthy), moving up from his favoured 200 metres, was second in 400m with a time of 52.09 seconds. Aaron Tierney-Smith, formerly Menapians and now with Clonliffe Harriers, won his 400m heat in 50.54 seconds.

Clodagh Dunbar, another Wexford athlete who has switched to Clonliffe, dipped under the minute mark in her 400 metres heat, running 59.23.

Sara Louise Carr (Menapians), who medalled in weight for distance at the recent national Junior/Under-23 championships, broke her PB four times in taking third place in the same event with a best effort of 5.53m.

Pole vaulter Cara Morrissey (St. Laurence O’Toole) and Aoibhin Ní Dhónaill (St. Abban’s) both cleared 2.80m behind winner Abbie O’Neill of Ballymena and Antrim.

Cara took the runner-up spot on countback. This talented young lady has started the year in fine form and she will be hoping to raise the bar past the three metres mark in the coming months.

Fixtures: February 5, national indoor Master championships, TUS, Athlone; February 8, Leinster Schools cross-country, Santry; February 11, national indoor league final, NIA, Abbotstown; February 12, national Intermediate Masters and Juvenile ‘B’ cross-country championships, Gowran.