Local athletes help Ireland to best ever Euro Team finish

IRELAND achieved its best ever finish at the European Athletics Team Championships (1st league) in Crete with a number of local competi-tors helping the squad to sixth position.

Bettering last year’s finish by one place, Ireland finished on a score of 261.5 points with the Czech Republic winning on 351.

Donore Harriers star John Travers, followed up on making the 1500m Final at the European Indoor Championships by taking third place in the 3000m.

Fresh from her victory in the women’s Mini Marathon at the start of the month, Maria McCam-bridge clocked 16.09.30 on her way to fourth place in the 5000m.

Her DSD clubmate Kevin Batt produced a similar performance in the men’s equivalent, completing his 5000m contest in 15.21.08 to secure fourth position. And there was a fourth place finish also for Tallaght man Brian Gregan in the Men’s 400m in which he clocked 46.87.

Gregan, along with Thomas Barr, Craig Lynch and Mark English, made up the Ireland Men’s 4x400m Relay team that scooped ten points for the squad’s cause when they finished third in a time of 3.05.07.

“It was a great championships for us” said Kevin Ankrom, Director of High Performance. “We came here targeting a best ever performance at this event and we achieved that” 

“It was a great success for the entire team and I am very proud of them.

“To come sixth and accumulate more points than we have ever done before is a successful team performance for us.

“It was a combined team effort with points coming in events we previously haven’t scored in” he pointed out.