14 Athletes Selected for the European U23 Championships

European Medallist Mark English (UCD AC) will lead a fourteen strong Irish team at the European U23 Track and Field Championships which take place in Tallinn, Estonia from the 9th-12th of July. English ran a season’s best time of 1.45.83 for the 800m in Hengelo on the 24th of May which qualified him for the IAAF World Championships in Beijing in August. He followed this up with a second place finish while representing Ireland at the European Team Championships in Crete on the 21st of June.

Full team available here: Irish U23 Track and Field Team

High Quality Competition

English will face high quality competition in Tallinn with Artur Kuciapski (1.45.21) of Poland and Swedish athlete Andreas Almgren (1.45.59) having gone quicker this season than the UCD medical student. English has proven himself at European level both outdoors last year in Zurich and indoors this year in Prague, the Donegal native will be once again targeting a top position at a championship.

He will be joined in the 800m by fellow UCD athlete Karl Griffin, in his first year as an U23 athlete Griffin has run a personal best of 1.47.39 at the IFAM meeting in Oordegem on the 23rd of May.

Lawler on the Double

Marcus Lawler (St Laurence O’Toole AC) tops the Irish rankings this year over 100m and 200m with times of 10.47 and 20.74 seconds. The Carlow athlete will contest both sprints in Estonia as will Cliodhna Manning (Kilkenny City Harriers AC) in the junior women’s sprints. Lawler is also named in the 4x100m team along with Jonathan Browning (BAAC), Keith Pike (Clonliffe Harriers AC), Eanna Madden (Carrick on Shannon AC) and Kieron Elliott (North Sligo AC).

Phil Healy (Bandon AC) goes in the 100m having run a season’s best time of 11.74, the Cork athlete will also compete in the 4x100m relay along with Manning, Sarah McCarthy (Mid-Sutton AC) and Sarah Lavin (UCD AC).

Lavin rounding Into Shape

After a slow start to the season Sarah Lavin has produced encouraging form at both the European Team Championships and the Juga Gala meeting in Mannheim in recent weeks. Lavin ran a season’s best in Mannheim of 13.45 seconds for the 100m hurdles which ranks her 16th in Europe at U23 level.

McCarthy & McGuigan Represent Ireland in the Field Events

Sarah McCarthy has made a breakthrough this season in the long jump recording a personal best of 6.24m at the IUAA Championships in Belfast on the 11th of April; she goes in that event in Tallinn. Joining McCarthy in the field events is Dempsey McGuigan (Finn Valley AC) who has thrown 66.90m in the hammer this year.

Hargreaves & Dooney Go the Distance

Brandon Hargreaves (Dundrum South Dublin AC) and Kevin Dooney (Raheny Shamrock AC) are named in the 5,000m and 10,000m events in Estonia. Although both athletes are ranked outside the top fifteen in Europe this year over 5,000m, the championship environment is as much about fast times as it is about employing the right racing tactics. Hargreaves has run 29.19.42 for the 10,000m which ranks him seventh on the current European U23 top lists.