The weekend ahead is a busy one with athletes competing in a number of competitions at home and abroad. Updated Tuesday 16/1 European under 23 cross country silver medalist Fionnuala Britton from Sli Chualann heads to Scotland for the Great Edinburgh cross country meet. This is her first competition of 2007 after she missed the meet in Belfast due to her DCU exams. Gary Murray and Mark Kenneally take part in the senior 4k race. The AAI Indoor Games in Nenagh will get the year off the ground for many athletes. Sprinting continues to prosper in Ireland and the sprinters will be under the spotlight once again. Jer O'Donoghue from An Riocht was an interested spectator at the Munster Indoor championships last Sunday and he confidently predicted that he would not be beaten on Sunday. Describing the track in Nenagh as one of the fastest around, he said his winning time would not be slower than 6.9. Munster 60m winner Darren O'Donovan from Leevale pulled up shortly after the line with hamstring trouble and must be considered doubtful for Sunday, leaving clubmates Carl McNamara and Derek Duff to lead the Cork challenge. Junior Ciaran O'Driscoll Collins from Emerald overcame Finbarr Horgan from Clonmel in the last 50m of the junior 400m for an impressive win and both are capable of running faster. Gillian O'Sullivan from Farrranfore Maine Valley and Robert Heffernan from Togher will return for the walks after both were comfortable winners on Sunday last. Elsewhere the Munster senior and junior cross country championships take place in Bilboa, Cappamore, Limerick, while the AAI Underage Combined Events take place in Nenagh on Saturday and the Dublin Masters cross country are also scheduled. Further afield the American collegiate indoor season gets underway in earnest. Right now there are over 20 Irish athletes on scholarship in the States. The list is an impressive one: Richard Yeates @ Providence Richard Corcoran @ Villanova Aoife Cooke @ Arkansas Tech Ciarán Ó'Lionáird @ Michigan University Andrew Ledwith @ Iona College Seán Conroy @ De Paul Chicago Jamie McCarthy @ Coastal Carolina Rose Anne Galligan @ Tennessee Alan Foolkes @ McNeese Daire Bermingham @ Stony Brook Eoin Dunne @ De Paul Chicago Thomas Chamney @ Notre Dame Brian Farrell @ Stony Brook Aisling Maunsell @ Western Kentucky Richard Byrne @ De Paul Chicago Tadgh O'Callaghan @ Yale Aisling Baker @ Iona College Tracey Williams @ Iona College Martin Fagan @ Providence College Breffni Twohig @ Providence College Colin Costello @ Arkansas Laura Huet @ Stony Brook Eimear O'Brien @ Arkansas Tech Ava Hutchinson @ Butler University Cheryl Guiney @ High Point Michelle Gallagher @ Iona College Peter Muldoon @ Virginia Intermont University Erin Kinnear @ South Alabama University And Irish Coaches are a growing breed at US Colleges. John McDonnell @ Arkansas Mick Byrne @ Iona College Ray Treacy @ Providence Michelle Scott @ Western Kentucky Tom Aspell @ Arkansas Tech Brendan Gilroy @ McNeese Peter Dalton @ Milligan College Andy Ronan @ Stony Brook Marcus O'Sullivan @ Villanova Thomas Quaid @ Notre Dame Gavin Kennedy @ de Paul Chicago Joe Byrne @ Southern Illinois Corrections and additions to derodonovan@gmail.com
