The middle distance events provided the highlight of the Bupa-sponsored Cork City Sports at the CIT on Saturday. Fittingly, local hero Mark Carroll captured the 1,500m title, fending off the challenges of Australian Craig Mottram and Ugandan Julius Achon in an exciting finish.

Adopted Cork woman Freda Davoren, originally from Causeway in Co Kerry, ensured a memorable 50th anniversary of the meet by storming to one of the best victories of her career in a high quality 1,500m field.

Although the strong wind blew away Carroll's prospects of setting a new Irish record and beating Ray Flynn's nine-year old mark of 3.33.5, the winner was thrilled with his victory in a time of 3.38.76.

"I used the crowd to my advantage. They just got me over the line. I feel very strong at the moment, but I need to do a lot more speed work to get me through the Grand Prix circuit," he said.

Carroll, who holds Irish records at 10,000m, 5,000m and 3,000m, was timed at 2 mins, 42 secs at the bell and ran the last 400 metres in some 56 seconds. The victory meant a lot to Carroll, who punched the air with delight after crossing the line. Carroll heads for Stockholm tomorrow and Oslo on Friday with his confidence boosted.

Davoren followed up victories in Latvia and Dublin recently with a fine tactical run. She was up the front runners throughout and timed her kick to perfection around the final bend to win in 4:15.62, just shading Australian Georgia Clark, who ran in the Sydney Olympics.

"I knew she was coming at me, but the crowd willed me home at the finish. I am thrilled with the victory," she said.

Terry McHugh believes he's well placed to make the qualifying standard of 80.50m in the national championships to earn a place in World Championships in Canada after his second longest throw of the season, just over 77 metres.

Schools' 1,500m champion, Liam Reale from Limerick, was an all-the-way winner in the junior race over the same distance, underlining his standing as one of the most promising athletes in the country.