LOCAL ATHLETES SET FOR EUROPEAN TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
23 June 2017
Eleven local athletes will represent Ireland at this weekend’s European Team Championships in Vaasa, Finland (Friday 23rd – Sunday 25th June 2017).
Newcastle AC Olympian Kerry O’Flaherty (Richard Rodgers) will captain the ladies team and will compete in her favourite 3,000m Steeplechase event. After suffering a calf injury last month, Kerry has returned to action and will be hoping to impress on the international stage once again – the experienced athlete may have one eye on the Gold Coast standard of 9:54.00.
Ben Reynolds (North Down AC / Tom Reynolds) will race over the 110m hurdles, while Amy Foster (City of Lisburn AC / David Reid) will feature in the 100m and 4x100m. Recent 5,000m and 10,000m double record breaker Emma Mitchell (QUB AC / Eamonn Christie) will compete in the 1500m.
Ann-Marie McGlynn (Letterkenny AC / Colin Roberts), who has previously captained the Ireland ladies team to bronze medals (European Cross Country 2014), will line up in the 5,000m - the always impressive Christine McMahon (Ballymena & Antrim AC / Ian Neely) will compete in the 400m hurdles.
Andrew Mellon (Crusaders AC / Brendan McConville) and Christian Robinson (QUB AC / Annie Rose) will form part of strong relay teams, with Andrew going in the 4x400m team and Christian in the 4x100m team.
In the field, Sommer Lecky (Finn Valley AC / Niall Wilkinson), Adam McMullen (Crusaders AC / Alan Kennedy) and Dempsey McGuigan (Finn Valley AC / John Smith), all of whom have Commonwealth Games 2018 nomination standards, will be hoping to continue their recent good form. Sommer will compete in the High Jump, while Adam and Dempsey will feature in the Long Jump and Hammer competitions.
When announcing the squad earlier this month, Athletics Ireland’s Paul McNamara explained: “The European Team Championships is an incredibly important competition for Irish athletics and it is heartening to see so many of our big name competitors embrace the opportunity to contribute points to a team score.
We have an excellent record of fielding our strongest teams at this event and this year is no exception. While in recent editions we have fared very well on the track, we have the potential to make a real impact in the jumps and throws this year also. Youth is a strong characteristic of this year’s squad, with a significant number of Junior’s and U23’s earning their selection across the spectrum of events.”
The full Ireland squad is available here: http://hp.athleticsireland.ie/index.php/11-news/87-european-team-cup-selection
CLICK HERE for timetable of events
CLICK HERE for live streaming
Elsewhere this weekend…
A host of quality athletes from the UK and Ireland will be in action at the Irish Milers Club (IMC) Grand Prix, which will be held at the Mary Peters Track in Belfast (Saturday 24th June 2017). Start lists and a provisional timetable for the event are available here: www.irishmilersclub.org/latest-news-blog
A team of young mountain runners from Northern Ireland will compete at the World Mountain Running Association Youth World Cup in Italy (Saturday 24th June 2017). Tony McCambridge (St Malachy's AC), Tom Magee (Lagan Valley AC), Brendan McKey (St Malachy's HS) and Miceal McCaul (St Colmans) will take on the world's best up and coming mountain running talent at the prestigious competition.