Dublin University Harriers and Athletic Club (DUHAC) men’s and women’s teams have won the virtual distance medley relay, which took place between March 12th and 14th.
Queen’s University Belfast and Dublin City University were the other two universities competing.
A distance medley relay is comprised of four legs: 1200m, 400m, 800m and 1600m.
The triumphant first women’s team included Evelyn Coughlan, Track & Field Captain Rachel Dunne, Eavan McLoughlin, and Harriers Captain Caron Ryan.
Meanwhile the victorious first men’s team included Luke Evans, national 400m hurdles champion Mathew Behan, Jack Byrne and Alan McGinley.
The total time for the women was 13 minutes and 28 seconds. For the men, it was 10 minutes and 32 seconds.
The victories mean that DUHAC has successfully defended their titles in both the women and men’s categories – having won both when the event last took place, back in 2019.
Trinity fielded nine teams of four athletes. DCU and Queen’s competed with five and six teams respectively.
Some of the stand-out performances from DUHAC include Jack Byrne’s two minute 800m leg and first-year Evelyn Coughlan’s time of four minutes and 10 seconds for her 1200m effort.
Both athletes were the fastest of anyone from all the colleges on that leg
Coronavirus restrictions had meant the all-Ireland inter-varsity Road Relay – an event which usually takes place in November – was unable to be held this year.
The road relay would consist of five legs for the Men: one mile, two miles, three miles, two miles, and one mile.
For the Women, it is four legs: one mile,two miles, two miles, one mile.
However, in this year’s Distance Medley Relay, the competition was shortened – in terms of both the number of universities competing, and the distances the competitors ran.
The virtual distance medley relay was originally intended to be an event held between Trinity and Queen’s, before invitations were extended to the other colleges, at which point DCU joined.
On account of the virtual nature of the event, each athlete ran their own leg and measured the distance and time on the Strava app.
DUHAC’s ken’s second team also put on a strong showing, coming third in their category.
