There was a sparkling performance from Leevale’s Darren Dinneen, a student at Harvard University, at the American NCAA track and field championships in North Carolina this weekend. Running in the 800m he ran a PB of 1:47.76 in the heats to qualify for the final. The championships were held in glorious weather conditions, some 90 degrees, making it ideal for 800m runners. In the final he went off at a very conservative pace, never really getting into the race as such, but still managed to finish eight, and in the process again reduced his PB to a very respectable 1:47.35, just outside the Olympic qualifying time of 1:46.30 and the ‘B’ standard of 1:47.20. Darren graduates this week and starts work as an investment banker on July 6th. Click Here for a December’99 article in the Harvard Gazette about Darren’s progress to date. The only other Irish runner at the championships was Vinny Mulvey who finished 14th in the 10,000m with a time of 31:19.36. (800m Results).