The weekend trip to the Mary Peters Track in Belfast proved very successful for IT Sligo Athletics Club with two athletes winning medals at the prestigious Irish Universities Athletics Association National Track & Field Championships.
The star of the show from the Institute’s perspective was Italian Erasmus student Alessandra Feudatari who won one gold and one bronze medal at the championships.
Alessandra is an Italian international who has performed with distinction in the past at the World Junior track & Field championships.
Over the past year, she has trained every day of the week with IT Sligo and the fruits of that labour shone through in Belfast with her winning performance. Alessandra won the 100 metres Hurdles final into a strong headwind with a winning time of 15.10secs beating Lily O Hora of Dublin City University and Emma Mc Cay of University of Ulster.
Alessandra is a third-year Environmental Science student, who is studying on one year Erasmus programme. She is also a current recipient of an IT Sligo Sports Scholarship.
Alessandra followed up her 100m hurdles success with a bronze medal in the 400 Metres Hurdles.
Another sports scholarship recipient, Ben Kiely, won a silver medal in the 400 metres hurdles, finishing second to Thomas Barr (University of Limerick). Running in very windy conditions Ben ran a really gutsy performance to beat fellow Irish International Brandon Array of DCU for second place in a time of 53.63secs. It was an excellent season opener for Ben who is hoping to represent Ireland at the upcoming European U23 championships in Estonia this Summer.
Ben is a current full-time apprenticeship tool making student at IT Sligo. He is a former silver medallist at European Youth level.
A credible mention must also go to Ali Mohammad – a second-year Forensic Science student – who only took up serious athletics in September of last year. Ali managed to make the final of the 800 metres in a top quality field and gained valuable experience.
Ali is a native of Sudan and has shown already that he is one to watch over the next couple of years as he gets stronger and more experienced in the sport.
Photo caption:
IT Sligo athlete Ben Kiely who won a silver medal at the Irish Universities Athletics Association National Track & Field Championships in Belfast.