15 Strong Irish Team Set for European U23 Track and Field Championships

Athletics Ireland is delighted to announce the team selected for the European U/23 Championships to be held in Tampere, Finland from the 11-14th July.

Perhaps Irelands best medal hopes lie in the distance events, with three of the five Irish athletes selected ranking 3rd in the European U/23 season lists for their events.

Mark English (UCD AC) is no stranger to major international competition having finished a remarkable 5th place at last year's World Junior Championships and with a personal best of 1:45.77, English will have his eyes on a podium position in Tampere. Paul Robinson (St. Cocos A.C.) leads the Irish charge in the 1,500m alongside Darren McBrearty (Letterkenny A.C.). Robinson has been in scintillating form this season, winning a number of high-profile races and setting a new personal best of 3:37.61 at the Mary Peters International one week ago. Robinson will have his eyes firmly set on a place in the final and bringing home a medal.

McBrearty has also been in the form of his life in the event having clocked an impressive 3:42.50 at the Manchester BMC in June and is currently inside the top 15 in Europe at U/23 level. McBrearty will be looking to improve on this mark again and secure a place in the finals.

Two athletes will line up in the 5,000m for Ireland in Tampere. Following a terrific recent performance at the European Team Championships, Shane Quinn (Ferrybank A.C.) will lead the charge as 3rd ranked European U/23 athlete with his 13:48.90 - a personal best set in April this year - and will be targeting a medal in his championship campaign. He will be joined on the line by Jake Byrne (Mullingar Harriers) who will be hoping to get back to his 2012 form which saw him set a personal best of 14:01.99. Quinn also lines up in the 10,000m, where his 29:30.59 ranks him 6th in the European U/23 season list.

The Irish team will have three representatives in the throws events; Conor McCullough (Crusaders AC) and Aoife Hickey (Kilkenny City Harriers AC) will both contest the hammer while Claire Fitzgerald (Tralee Harriers AC) is set to go in the discus.

McCullough secured selection for championship at the recent national U23 championships in Tullamore where he launched the hammer out to 67.02m to win the title. In order to be competitive in Tampere McCullough will need to replicate his form from 2012 which saw him throw a national U23 record of 75.09m.

Hickey has had a tremendous season so far improving her personal best on almost every occasion during the US collegiate season. Hickey threw her P.B of 61.54m on the 13th of April at the Utah Invitational Meet and will target an improvement on this and possible edge closer to the Irish U23 record of 63.35 held by Olympian Eileen O'Keefe.

Claire Fitzgerald (Tralee Harriers AC) produced the throw of her life at the national U23 Championships to win with 53.01m, this was a big improvement on her previous best of 51.25m. The mark ranks her 16th in Europe at U23 level and comes on the back of a superb week for the talented thrower. Fitzgerald was a key member of the Irish Team at the European Team Championships where she surpassed expectations and finished fifth in the discus event.

In the sprints and sprint hurdles, Ireland will be represented by no less than 7 athletes in Tampere.

In the women's 100m, Catherine McManus (Celtic DCH) will line up against the Europe's best U/23 athletes. McManus' personal best of 11.74 seconds set in 2012 qualified the Dublin athlete for the Championships and her recent form suggests she is ready to break this mark following an impressive 11.77 seconds winning performance in harsh conditions at last weekend's Woodies D.I.Y. National U/23 Championships.

McManus' club mate, Steffi Creaner (Celtic DCH) goes in the women's 200m following a series of impressive performances of late, crowned by a blistering performance that saw her speed home to a new personal best of 23.72 seconds at the AAI Games in Santry on June 9th. This was Creaner's first time to dip under 24 seconds and to do so by such a healthy chunk suggests that she has stepped up to a new level and will look to demonstrate this in Tampere.

In the men's 400m, Ireland will be represented by two athletes, Richard Morrissey (Crusaders A.C.) and Dara Kervick (Carrick-on-Suir A.C.). Morrissey has been in excellent form recently, dipping under the 47 second barrier for the first time one week ago in Newham to record a personal best of 46.86 seconds. The Crusaders man was a member of the victorious 4×400m relay team at the European Team Championships on the 23rd of June this year. Kervick, who ran alongside Morrissey on that same relay team, has also been in the form of his life this season, setting a new personal best of 47.28 seconds at the AAI Games in June. Both athletes will be looking to take further chunks off their best marks in Tampere and make it through the rounds.
Ireland will also be well represented in the 400m Hurdles which sees Gabrielle Coveney (DSD AC), Jason Harvey (Crusaders A.C.) and Thomas Barr (Ferrybank A.C.) lining up in the green vest.

Coveney has displayed impressive consistency with a string of low-59 second performances this summer, capped by a new personal best performance of 59.31 seconds which came in Loughborough on the 19th May. The National U/23 Champion will be hoping to break into sub-59 territory in Tampere and make it through the rounds. Harvey, who has been one of the breakthrough athletes of 2013, set a new personal best of 50.27 seconds in Belgium in June. His performance put him 3rd on the Irish All-Time list and, as he is currently ranked 8th on the European U/23 season's list, Harvey will be eyeing a place in the finals.

Lining up beside him in the green vest is Thomas Barr. Barr who is ranked 2nd on the Irish All-Time list in the event with his 50.06 second performance, was struck down by injury after the indoor season but is beginning to find form again following his victorious season opener at the National U/23's last weekend.