Athletics:World Indoor champion Derval O'Rourke and double European Indoor champion David Gillick spearhead the Irish athletics team set for the European Cup to be held in Vaasa, Finland from June 22nd-23rd.
O'Rourke recently made her return to action taking third in the 100m at a meet in Norway and is preparing for tomorrow's Golden League meeting in Oslo. Gillick, who claimed gold at the European indoors in Birmingham earlier this year, was in superb form as he smashed the 400m Irish record in Geneva last week. Both will be aiming to be among the medals in Finland.
The Irish Team will compete in League One, the top tier of the European Cup competition. That means the men's team will be up against The Netherlands, Sweden, Czech Republic, Spain, United Kingdom, Finland, Slovakia and Switzerland.
The women's team will face Slovakia, Finland, United Kingdom,
Norway, Holland, Sweden and the Czech Republic.
"The European Cup is always a special occasion in particular
for those who step up to this level of competition for the first
time," noted team manger Patsy McGonagle. "Our main objective is to
retain our League One status and remain in the top group of
European athletics and all the athletes will be battling hard for
every point to ensure we do this."
"This gives some of our developing athletes an excellent opportunity to gain top level experience while it is also good preparation for those with eyes on the World Championship in August," added Gareth Devlin, Athletics Ireland's High Performance Manager.
Irish Team
Men
David Gillick - 400m
Paul Hession - 100/200m
David McCarthy - 800m
Dave Campbell - 1500m
Mark Kirwan - 3000m Steeple Chase
James Nolan - 3000m
Martin Fagan - 5000m
Ian McDonald - 110m H
Jonathon Miller - 400m H
Steve Fleming - Long Jump
Jonathon Ritchie - Triple Jump
Christopher Crowley - High Jump
Sean Breathnach - Shot Putt
Eoin Leen - Discuss
Padraig White - Hammer
Aaron Crawford - Javelin
Anthony McCreery - Pole Vault
Jason Smyth (4x100m Relay)
Jer O'Donoghue (4x100m Relay)
Gordon Kennedy (4x100m Relay)
Darragh Graham (4x100m Relay)
Paul McKee (4x100m Relay)
Paul Hession (4x100m Relay)
Paul McKee (4x400m Relay)
Gordon Kennedy (4x400m Relay)
David McCarthy (4x400m
Relay)
Brian Murphy (4x400m Relay)
David Gillick (4x400m
Relay)
Women
Anna Boyle - 100m
Ciara Sheehy - 200m
Joanne Cuddihy - 400m
Rose-Anne Galligan - 800m
Kelly Reid - 1500m
Linda Byrne - 3000m Steeple Chase
Orla Drumm - 3000m
Fionnuala Britton - 5000m
Derval O'Rourke - 100m H
Michelle Carey - 400m H
Kelly Proper - Long Jump
Sara Barry - Triple Jump
Deirdre Ryan - High Jump
Laura Cogan - Shot Putt
Eileen O'Keeffe - Discuss/Hammer
Laura Kerr - Javelin
Claire Wilkinson - Pole Vault
Ailis McSweeney (4x100m Relay)
Emily Maher (4x100m Relay)
Anna Boyle (4x100m Relay)
Ciara Sheehy (4x100m Relay)
Joanne Cuddihy (4x100m Relay)
Derval O'Rourke (4x100m
Relay)
Joanne Cuddihy (4x400m Relay)
Ciara Sheehy (4x400m Relay)
Michelle Carey (4x400m Relay)
Emily Maher (4x400m Relay)
Elaine McCaffrey (4x400m Relay)
Management:Patsy McGonagle (Manager), Stephen Maguire, Sean Kyle, Maeve Kyle, Pat Diskin, Paddy Fay, Hayley Harrison, Max Jones
Medical Staff:Bill Cuddihy, Neasa Smyth, Ciaran Fitzpatrick, Paul O'Neill