Down’s Ciara Mageean broke an Irish indoor record for the second time inside a month at the prestigious Millrose Games in New York on Saturday night.
The UCD athlete ran 4:28:40 to finish sixth in a high class field over a mile, adding to the 4:08:66 she ran in setting an Irish indoor 1500m record earlier in February.
Mageean finished behind winner Shannon Rowbury, who clocked 4:24:39. She has already qualified for the Rio Olympics later this year and according to experts has a real chance of making the 1500m final.
It was a good day for UCD sport on Saturday, with Mark English finishing second in the 800m at the Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix and their Gaelic footballers winning the Sigerson Cup.
Elsewhere at the Millrose Games, Matthew Centrowitz surged to victory with a final-lap burst to win the Wanamaker Mile and defend his title.
Centrowitz, feeling sub-par due to congestion, laid back behind New Zealand rival Nick Willis before charging past on the final lap to win in a meet record 3:50.63 for a 2016 indoor best.
Like Mageean, Ireland’s John Travers also finished sixth in the Wanamaker in a time of 3:58:1.
New Irish Indoor Mile Record @MillroseGames . 2 records in 3 weeks, 2016 is shaping up nicely! #RoadToRio #TeamNB pic.twitter.com/plEwfqJs5W
— Ciara Mageean (@ciaramageean) February 21, 2016
"Caught a little something this week, but still wanted to defend my title." Centrowitz said. "I couldn't attack it like I wish I could have until I had to."
Willis, the 2008 Olympic 1500 metres silver medallist, repeated his runner-up finish to Centrowitz from last year in 3:51.06 for his third second to go with a pair of thirds in Wanamaker bids.
Elite sprinters Allyson Felix and Andre De Grasse also powered to wins at the 109th Millrose Games on Saturday.
Felix and DeGrasse, sprinters with high Olympic expectations, were unhappy with their starts in the 60-metre dashes yet emerged victorious on the fast track.
Four-times Olympic champion and nine-times world champion Felix was taking a break from arduous training in her quest for a rare 200-400m double at the Rio Olympics.
In other strong performances, American Ryan Hill won the 3000m in a 2016 indoor best of 7:38.82, just three-hundredths of a second ahead of American-Somali Hassan Mead.
Betsy Saina of Kenya took nearly 12 seconds off the year's indoor best in the 5000m when she edged American Molly Huddle in 14:57.18.
