By Paul O’Neill
With his best ever finish on the track being silver over the 10000m distance, Conan Mc Caughey wanted that first track provincial title.
On Saturday, a very small field assembled at the Mary Peters Track for this year’s 10000m Championships. With Scott Rankin in the field, McCaughey was going to be made work for that first title as the Foyle Valley man has been a renowned championship performer down the years.
Rankin took the race to Mc Caughey, but the Fermanagh man was quite relaxed in the first three-quarters of the 25-lap race, sitting in and conserving energy in the breezy conditions at the Upper Malone venue.
With 2 kilometres to go, the Enniskillen native made his move which proved decisive and Rankin could not respond. As the laps wore on McCaughey kept his composure to take the win in 31.18.92 almost 100 metres clear of Rankin who took silver in 31.34.95 with Chris Hutchinson of Annadale Striders taking bronze in a time of 32.49.34.
“This means a lot. Having won the cross country title, it was always on the agenda in the next few years to win a senior track title.
“So, having raced well and got the better of Scott in the final kilometers, that box is now ticked.
“This brings a conclusion to my season and I will take a few down weeks before preparing for the cross country season where the National Seniors in Donegal will be my main target.”
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