Cathal Doyle dives for victory on dramatic day at National Indoor Championships

There was no shortage of drama and thrilling performances on the second day of the 123.ie National Senior Indoor Championships at the Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena.

Clonliffe’s Cathal Doyle held off Nick Griggs in one of the great championship races in the men’s 1500m, with both athletes diving over the line in the weekend’s most dramatic track finish.

Doyle ultimately got the nod on the clock in a winning time of 3:49.11, with Griggs second in 3:49.15.

Doyle said: "It’s not the first dive I’ve had to do across the line, but it was worth it today. I’m not sure if I would have taken the win without it, I’ve lost on a dive before so I wasn’t taking any chances.

"I knew Nick wasn’t going to be slowing down at the line so I’m delighted I was able to hang on against such a talented athlete".

Carla Sweeney (Rathfarnham W.S.A.F. AC) defended her 1500m title in the women’s race with a from-the-front performance to cross in 4:21.61. Ellie Hartnett 4:24.40 and Lucy Homles (West Waterford AC) 4:25.13 completed the women’s podium.

Louise Shanahan (Leevale AC) regained her 2022 800m title in 2:03.54, breaking Ciara Mageean’s 2016 championship record in the process. Shanahan was challenged by Georgie Hartigan (DSD AC) for much of the race, before a kick from the front sealed the title for the Cork athlete.

The men's 800m race went the way of Cian McPhillips (UCD AC), who claimed his first senior indoor track title in 1:52.79. McPhillips sat patiently for much of the race before unleashing a race-winning-move with 200m to go, which would ultimately see him cross ahead of Dara Donoghue (Lucan Harriers A.C. 1:53.14) and teammate Mark Milner (U.C.D. AC 1:53.18).

The 400m races were just as compelling, headlined by an impressive showing from