McMullen faces daunting task in European long jump qualifying

LONG jumper Adam McMullen is the first of the 13 NI and Ulster athletes who will be competing today as part of the 42-strong Irish squad in the European Athletics Championships in Berlin.

McMullen (28) will be facing a daunting challenge to be one of the 12 qualifiers from a total of 31 entries for Wednesday’s final.

The Crusaders man will certainly have to match or exceed his season’s best outdoor jump of 7.88 metres to be in contention for the final.

The 100 metres men’s heats do not include Leon Reid. After the recent stress of not knowing whether he would be allowed to compete for Ireland, the 24-yearold is reserving his energies for the 200 metres.

This is easily Leon’s strongest event where he will be hotly tipped for at least a place in the final.

Ireland also has two strong women sprinters who have high hopes of progressing to the 100 metres semis.

Phil Healy has broken two Irish records this year which includes a new figure of 11.28 in the 100 metres. Irish Senior champion Gina Akpe-Moses was a member of the silver medal relay team in the World Juniors.

Both are racing in the sprint relay and Healy’s energies will be fully tested as she is also entered in the 200 metres. A CHANGE of car brought a first victory for Barry Morris — a convincing start to finish win on the Dogleap Rally.

Morris has been a consistent performer in his Ford Escorts but on Saturday he and co-driver Declan Campbell switched to a lightweight Darrian T90 sports car and swept to victory ahead of the WRC Mini of last year’s Dogleap winner Joe McGonigle.

Based at the former Shackleton army base at Ballykelly, the Maiden City Club event featured six tarmac stages around the