December 2009
|
|
 |
|
Fagan and Cullen at the helm of Irish squad for SPAR European Cross Country Championships |
|
|
|
25.11.2009 |
 |
Martin Fagan is set to spearhead the Irish team at the
SPAR European Cross Country Championships to be
held in Dublin, Ireland, on 13 December.
|
Athletics Ireland today announced their team for the SPAR European Cross Country Championships, which takes place on 13 December at Santry Park in Dublin.
Martin Fagan and Mary Cullen have been named at the helm of the men's and women's senior teams respectively. Cullen, who was impressive in taking the Inter County title on Sunday, will be joined on the women's senior team by Fionnuala Britton and Deirdre Byrne.
The women's senior team will be further bolstered by the presence of Linda Byrne, Ava Hutchinson and Orla O'Mahony.
Joining Fagan on the men's senior team is his Mullingar Harriers club mate Mark Christie along with the top three from Sunday's Inter County Championships; Andrew Ledwith, Sean Connolly and Mark Kenneally.
A spot on the men's senior team has been left open pending Alistair Cragg's performance in a 5km road race in San Jose on Thursday after he expressed his desire to be a part of the Irish squad for next month.
Mick Clohisey is also in contention for the last place on the team, with a final decision set to be made Friday.
The women's under-23 team will be led by Sara Treacy, who took the U23 title at the Inter County Cross Country on Sunday in Kilbeggan. Treacy will be joined by Bryony Treston, Maria Walsh, Breffni Twohig, Laura Huet and Roseanne Galligan.
The men's U23 team will feature the Inter County champion Michael Mulhare, joined by John Coghlan, David Flynn, David Rooney, Brendan O'Neill and Stephen Scullion.
In the women's junior team all eyes will be on Ciara Mageean. The world youth 800m silver medallist looked impressive as she won the junior race on Sunday by 20 seconds ahead of Laura Shaughnessy and Emma Mitchell, who join her on the Irish team. Mary Mulhare is also named, as she joins her brother Michael on the Irish squad, along with Eimear Black and Dundrum South Dublin's Charlotte Ffrench-O'Carroll.
"I am very confident with the team that we have selected. We have tried to be fair in our selection and my job now is to try and improve the chances of each of the athletes when they take to the line on 13 December," said Anne Keenan-Buckley, the manager of the Irish team.
 |
The hosts will be pinning hopes on Mary Cullen.
|
"Now that we know the athletes we have with us we can start working with them a bit more closely and try and make sure they stay fit and healthy. We have very strong men's and women's senior teams with both Mary (Cullen) and Martin (Fagan) in good form. To see Mary's performance on Sunday was very encouraging. The conditions were very tough but she showed a lot of character to win so well on the day hopefully she will bring that to the race next month. But across the board we have some great athletes and I think we could be in line for a great day for Ireland in Santry," she added.
For more information and regular updates on the event and to sign up to the mailing list for the SPAR European Cross Country Championships then log on to www.Dublin2009.ie.
Athletics Ireland is supported nationally in running this event by the Irish Sports Council, Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council, RTÉ, Failte Ireland and Clonliffe Harriers. Tickets for the event can be purchased from www.ticketmaster.ie
Irish Team - SPAR European Cross Country Championships
Senior Men
Andrew Ledwith, Sean Connolly, Mark Kenneally, Martin Fagan, Mark Christie
1st Reserve - Alistair Cragg / Mick Clohisey
2nd Reserve - David Kelly
Senior Women
Mary Cullen, Deirdre Byrne, Linda Byrne, Fionnuala Britton, Ava Hutchinson, Orla O'Mahony
1st Reserve - Rosemary Ryan
2nd Reserve - Ciara Durkan
U-23 Men
Michael Mulhare , John Coghlan, Stephen Scullion, David Flynn, David Rooney, Brendan O'Neill
1st Reserve - Ciaran O'Lionaird
2nd Reserve - Aidan McGowan
U-23 Women
Sara Treacy, Bryony Treston, Maria Walsh, Roseanne Galligan, Breffni Twohig, Laura Huet
1st Reserve - Frances Nic Reamoinn
2nd Reserve - Becky Woods
Junior Men
Michael McKillop, Liam Tremble, Ryan Creech, Emmett Jennings, Noel Collins, Ian Ward
1st Reserve - John Travers
2nd Reserve - Cian O'Reilly
Junior Women
Ciara Mageean, Laura Shaughnessy, Emma Mitchell, Mary Mulhare, Eimear Black, Charlotte Ffrench-O'Carroll,
1st Reserve - Tekea Gebrezgi
2nd Reserve - Deirdre Doyle
|
|
|
|
|
|
