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2017 Morton Games

Morton Games: McSweyn Sets 5K Record, Domanic Leads College Mile Sweep

Morton Games: McSweyn Sets 5K Record, Domanic Leads College Mile Sweep

Recap of the 2017 Morton Games in Ireland, which featured Stewart McSweyn, Robert Domanic and Alexa Efraimson and big winners.

Jul 12, 2017 by Johanna Gretschel
Morton Games: McSweyn Sets 5K Record, Domanic Leads College Mile Sweep
The 2017 edition of the Morton Games, held annually at Morton Stadium Santry in Dublin, Ireland, lived up to its historic reputation on Wednesday with highlights from Australian Stewart McSweyn, who broke Eamon Coghlon's 37-year-old meet record for 5K; and American sweeps in the 1500m and mile by youngsters Alexa Efraimson and Robert Domanic, a rising senior at Ole Miss, who actually led a collegiate sweep of the top three spots in the evening's marquee event, the Morton Mile.

The 22-year-old McSweyn clocked a 15-second personal best of 13:19.98 to bypass the world standard for 5K by just three seconds and break legendary Irishman Coghlon's meet record by a single second.

He benefitted from the presence of his Melbourne Track Club teammate Collis Birmingham, who kept the field on pace for the worlds standard after pacer Caleb Hoover stepped off the track with 2K to go and about 8:06 on the clock. The 32-year-old veteran quickly hammered the field down to four: himself, McSweyn, Reid Buchanan of the United States and Hiko Tonosa of Ethiopia; but with three laps to go, Tonosa had fallen off pace and Buchanan was also on the way out. When the bell sounded for the final lap, McSweyn saw 12:22 on the clock and surged past Birmingham; he would finish a full nine seconds ahead of his elder training partner.

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"We wanted to get the time for both of us, but I'm glad at least one of us came away with it," Birmingham said after the race. "To be honest, it would be a little unfair if I got it and he didn't. He's a young guy hopefully representing Australia in his first World Championships. And it's about time an Aussie had that [meet] record."

McSweyn said after the race that the crowd's support aided him through the final meters, despite windy conditions at the track.

"[Collis] gave me a good chance to run fast, so I'm glad I delivered," he said after the race. "He definitely made it hard the last third and second laps and I was just like 'hang on, hang on,' and I looked at the clock and thought 'I've just got to break 60 to make the qualifier' and I came around the bend and the crowd just went wild."

Ben Connor of Great Britain took third in 13:29.9. Reid Buchanan was the top American, placing fourth overall in 13:33.46, just six seconds off his PB set in early June.

The middle-distance races were not record-breakers but featured much tighter finishes to the delight of the crowd.

In the men's mile, Ole Miss rising senior Robert Domanic won his second straight mile race in Ireland with a time of 3:55.71. It was hardly a month ago that the 22-year-old broke four minutes for the first time, shattering the mark with a 3:54 behind Peruvian Olympian David Torrence at the Adrian Martinez Classic, and today he proved superior over a class of well-established American professionals.


Blake Haney of the University of Oregon paced the field through 57 at 400m and 1:58 at 800m as Ducks alum Colby Alexander led Kyle Merber, a past champion at the Morton Mile, a fast-rising Domanic, Riley Masters and Peter Callahan. The field passed 1209 meters in 2:58 and Alexander extended his lead to about 10 meters as Merber, Domanic and Masters struggled to catch him.

Domanic moved into the lead with 200m to go as Morgan McDonald of the University of Wisconsin surged to catch him on the curve. The athletes hit the homestretch and it was an exciting head-to-head battle that Domanic would win, 3:55.71 to 3:55.79. Oregon's Sam Prakel came out of nowhere to grab third in 3:56.55, a new personal best.


All three return to the NCAA next year.

Also of note, 19-year-old Drew Hunter placed sixth in 3:56.79, a new personal best. Domanic's Rebels teammate, Sean Tobin of Ireland, broke four minutes for the first time in his career with a 3:58.7 run.

The women's 1500m also featured a young champion in 20-year-old Alexa Efraimson, who won the race only in the final 100m over Melissa Courtney of Great Britain, 4:06.73 to 4:07.02.


"I've never been to Ireland before, so I really wanted to kick off my European racing with a good one today," she said.

Efraimson was calm during the race and tucked herself behind early leader Marta Perez of Spain, who had narrowed the field to three at the bell lap with about 3:03 on the clock, and Courtney also in tow. Courtney took the lead at 200m to go but would not have enough to battle Efraimson to the end.

The men's and women's 800m victories went to the athletes who were more patient in their approach in the windy conditions in Dublin.


Ireland's Ciara Mageean was the first woman in back of the pacer through 400m, but it was Adelle Tracey, the runner-up at the British Athletics National Championships, who had the strongest closer and won in 2:01.53, the ninth-fastest time of her career but still well shy of the elusive two-minute barrier that the 24-year-old has yet to crack.


The men's 800m played out in a similar fashion as American Brannon Kidder led the pack through nearly 700m but faded late as Anthonio Mascoll of Barbados and Kyle Langford of Great Britain challenged him in the final stretch. Langford would walk away with the win in 1:46.98, as American Jesse Garn pulled a Drew Windle and came out of nowhere for second place in 1:47.26.

Just 21 years old, Langford is a star to watch with some pedigree behind him as he won the 2015 European Junior Championships over 800m.


27-year-old Brian Gregan ran with all the pride of Ireland behind him in the stands as he absolutely dominated a 400m field that included the likes of American Manteo Mitchell, part of Team USA's 2012 Olympic gold medalist 4x400m relay. He won in 45.26 to set a new meet record and vastly improve on his best of 45.48 set earlier this month. He defeated the field handily as runner-up Anderson Henriques of Brazil ran 46.51.


The women's 200m saw a match-up between Phil Healy of "Depths of Hell" fame with her memorable 4x400m anchor at last year's Irish university championships, vs. Margaret Adeoye of Great Britain, who owned the fastest PB in the field at 22.8 but whom recently switched her specialty to the 400m.

Healy had the best start but faltered to Adeoye's strength in the final meters as the Brit would win in 23.78. Healy would hang on for second in 23.95, just ahead of a hard-closing Amy Foster, also of Ireland.


The day's elite events began with the men's 400m hurdles, which saw former decathlete Curtis Beach take charge from a middle lane. He was the first to 200m, but you could see the strain enter his stride as the athletes approached the final straightaway and Alfredo Sepulveda of Chile and Cameron French of New Zealand started to gain ground. Sepulveda took the advantage, crossing the finish line in 49.98, the second-fastest time of his career despite less-than-ideal sprint conditions, as Beach held on for second in 50.20 and French was third in 50.55.


The men's 100m featured a photo finish between two Americans as Jeff Demps and Sean McLean both clocked 10.38. Demps was the better starter but McLean was stronger towards the finish and looked as if he had gotten the advantage over the former NFL star before the results displayed Demps as victor.

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