Flying Eanna storms to gold as Elise wins relay bronze

It was a productive day for Carrick-on-Shannon AC on Friday in the AIT International Arena in Athlone as Eanna Madden stormed to gold in the Irish Universities Indoor 200m Final while Elise Bruen won her second All-Ireland medal as a member of the UCD 4 x 200m relay squad.

It was great to see three Carrick AC members in action with Cathal McElgunn rounding out the roster in the colours of Athlone IT.

Eanna naturally took the headlines with a new indoor personal best of 21.46 as held off training partner Thomas Barr and Limerick IT's Christopher Sibana to win a very close race with Sligo's Zak Irwin in fourth. 

Eanna set up his victory with a strong 21.88 in the heats, a time that gave him lane six for the final, a factor that would prove crucial in the final. 

Eanna got a good start but as all four of the top contenders came off the top bend close together, Eanna's strength was enough to hold off a fast finishing Barr who had earlier set a new championship best in the 400m.

The time of 21.46 was a new indoor personal best and Eanna followed up with a gold in the relay as his lead leg on the 4 x 200m University of Limerick team of Eanna, Ciaran Elliott, Paul Byrne and Barr were commanding winners.

Update: Eanna's time of 21.46 sees him move into ninth place on the Irish All-time Indoor list, just ahead of Thomas Barr.

Elise Bruen made her debut in the Universities Indoors in the colours of UCD and it was a memorable one as she was a late addition to the event, only getting the nod for the 200m on Monday. 

In her first race of the season, Elise ran 27.22 in the heats before she was drafted in as a late replacement in the relay, running the first leg in a hand time of 27 dead. 

UCD were battling for the bronze all the way through with a storming leg from anchor leg Aisling Drumgoole lifting them into the bronze medal position. It is Elise's second ever All-Ireland medal so well done Elise.

Cathal was in action very early in the 400m, his first heat taking place at 10.40 am. Cathal ran strongly, his time of 53.22 a little slower than his his season's best. Cathal then ran a fantastic second leg for AIT in the relay later that evening, showing great pace and strength.

Well done to Eanna, Elise and Cathal. More photos and videos on the club's Facebook page.