Robinson announced as Irish Team Captain for Le Chéile International
This year's Le Chéile International takes place on Saturday 16th June in Leixlip, Co. Kildare, and for the first time will feature the Le Chéile International Team Trophy. This will see Team Ireland take on three international teams, Team GB Blue, Team GB Red, and a World Team, across 11 international events to try to claim the inaugural Team Trophy, sponsored by Athletics Ireland. Following a similar format to the European Team Championships, each team will have two scoring members per event, with results counting towards the overall team score. The competition will finish with a Mixed 4x100m Relay, featuring two male and two female athletes from each team.
Kildare native and middle distance ace, Paul Robinson, has been appointed as Captain of Team Ireland and, with Captain's scores counting double, he will play a crucial role in helping Ireland towards victory, and is looking forward to captaining his country. Each of the Team Captains will also have a Captain's Pick, another star athlete who will score double points, and Robinson feels he has many worthy candidates to choose from. In his own event, the Men's 1500m, Paul will face off against Rowan Axe, who had a breakout season in 2017, lowering his best to 3.38.12, and John Travers who became the first Irishman to run a sub-4 minute indoor mile this winter.
Two other middle distance events will also count towards the Team Trophy. The Women's 800m, sponsored by the Irish Milers Club, will feature Katy Brown (2.02.33) and Elise Vanderelst (2.04.02), while Alanna Lally will fly the Irish flag. And for the first time, the Le Chéile International will feature the Noel Carroll Men's 800m, sponsored by Civil Service Harriers. This promises to be a cracking race, with 2017 Irish Indoor Champion Kieran Kelly (1.47.50) facing tough opposition from James Bowness (1.45.96) and Eliott Crestan (1.47.19).
The sprint events have also attracted top quality opposition for the Irish team, with recently crowned Commonwealth Games Champion, Harry Aikines Aryeetey (10.08), set to star in the 100m sponsored by FloElen Construction, where he will face the winner of the Irish Universities Championship, Travane Morrison (10.50). British Universities Champion, Diani Walker (11.45), will have high hopes in the Kildare County Council Women's 100m, where she will face Ireland's Ciara Neville, fresh from an Irish Junior 4x100m Record on May 26th. Canadian Olympian Carline Muir (51.06) is the leading entry in the Women's 400m ,while in the French Estates Men's 400m, World Indoor Silver Medallist Conrad Williams (45.06) will challenge for the win as he lines up against some of Ireland's top Junior athletes.
The Men's Long Jump will take centre stage in the field events, as British Universities Champion Jack Roach (7.58) takes on 2016 Le Chéile Champion DJ Martin (7.40) and AAI Games winner Shane Howard (7.53). The final event of the day will see the four international teams face off in a Mixed 4x100m Relay, with two male and two female athletes from each team carrying the baton around to hopefully secure Team Trophy glory.
Entries for the Le Chéile International are NOW OPEN through the Irish Milers Club website, www.irishmilersclub.org. Entries will be taken for all track events from 100m to 3000m, as well as the Long Jump and Shot Putt, for both Men and Women. Fields are expected to fill up very quickly, so please don't delay and make sure you are part of a great day of athletics!
More details are available on Le Chéile's website: www.lecheileac.com/international, and don't forget to follow them on Twitter: @lecheileintl