Rob Daly tucked in close behind David Gillick in the Irish 400m yearly rankings with a 46.07 clocking in Geneva on Saturday for second place. The race was won with a surprisingly quick 45.01 by Britain's Robert Tobin who became the fastest European of 2005. Daly joins Gillick on a strong Irish 4x400m relay team at the European Cup next weekend. Also in Geneva, Michelle Carey had a breakthrough in the 400m hurdles taking over half a second from her previous personal best with her winning time of 57.37. Emily Maher opened her season over 200m with a promising Irish-leading 23.88. At the BMC in Watford on Saturday, Gary Murray ran a superb new personal best over 1500m knocking 5 seconds off his previous PB to clock 3:41.37 for 7th in the A race. On Sunday in Ulm, Germany James Nolan ran a very competitive race with a 3:41.64 clocking for 4th in a tactical affair won in 3:40, but Murray retains the top slot in the rankings by a few ticks for the moment. Also notable in Watford was a PB by young Mullingar athlete Mark Christie who finished 3rd in the B race with 3:44.5. Paul Hession moved smoothly into gear in Warsaw, finishing 4th in 21.07 for number one in the Irish 200m rankings for the year. Paul Brizzel did likewise over 100m at the Northern Ireland Championships, clocking 10.60 ahead of a returning-to-form Paul McKee who was in PB 100m shape with 10.72. Anna Boyle was very impressive with a sprint double, her 11.63 100m just outside the N.I. Record she set last week in Bratislava. And in the IAAF Super Grand Prix in Ostrava last Thursday night, Derval O'Rourke ran a season's best of 13.42 finishing 6th in miserable conditions against a world class field of women's hurdlers.