Newry-born athlete Kate O’Connor smashed her own Irish pentathlon record in Estonia on Sunday.
Competing at the the World Athletics Combined Events Tour in Tallinn, O’Connor bettered or equalled her five previous personal bests as she achieved 4,683 points to take second place overall.
O’Connor’s total added 287 points to the previous Irish mark she set in 2023 and secured her qualification for the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn in early March.
The Dundalk-based athlete opened up with an 8.37 seconds clocking in the 60m hurdles before going on to produce performances of 1.82m in the high jump, 14.42m in the shot put, 6.16m in the long jump and 2:13 in the 800m.
O’Connor’s long jump leap was also a new Northern Ireland indoor record.
Meanwhile, Ann-Marie McGlynn produced a superb run to finish ninth in the senior women’s race at the European Clubs Cross Country event in Albufeira.
The 44-year-old’s time of 33 minutes and 19 seconds left her a minute and 33 seconds behind individual winner Burundian athlete Francine Niyomukunzi, who was representing Italian club Patria Milano.
McGlynn’s performance also helped Letterkenny AC finish ninth in the team event with Claire McGuigan, their second best finisher in 55th spot.
Candour’s Conall McClean was the top Irish finish in the senior men’s event in 27th place with his club-mates Nick Griggs and Callum Morgan not competing in the Algarve.
North Belfast performed well to finish 11th in the men’s team event with Andrew Milligan in 30th spot, Joseph Lavery 37th, Finn McNally 37th and Conan McCaughey 60th.
Lagan Valley’s Oisin McGloin was the leading Irish finisher in the men’s under-20 race as he was 20th.
In the women’s under-20 event, Clonliffe finished fifth in the team event with their efforts spearheaded by the fifth and eighth places achieved by Emily Bolton and Lorraine O’Connor.
Lagan Valley were also representing Ireland in the women’s under-20 event as Katie Graham, Olivia Morgan and Chloe Young finished in 22nd, 25th and 32nd places respectively.
