Cotter selected for European Championships

AFTER being forced to pull out Saturday’s National Championships mid-race, Tomás Cotter was back smiling again on Monday with the news that he has been selected to run for Ireland in the European Championships in Amsterdam in the 3000m steeplechase.

It was day of mixed fortunes on Saturday the Dunleer club in Santry.

The day started very well with Jack Boylan finishing fourth in the junior men’s 3,000m, just two seconds outside of his lifetime best.

Cotter unfortunately picked up a virus in the days leading up to the event, which proved too much for him in the 3,000m steeplechase and he was forced to withdraw mid race.

Garry Campbell gave a good account of himself in the 800m heats, finishing just outside a place in the finals, a fine performance by the young athlete who has just finished his leaving cert.

And finally Darragh Greene came agonisingly close to securing a place in the 1500m finals. Having done much of the hard work at the front of the race he was passed in the final 100m, losing out on a place in the final by a mere half a second.

Emma Cheshire was celebrating with Leinster after their 4x300m relay win beating Munster, Connaught and Ulster.

Meanwhile, Liam Connaughton won the javelin and helped the Leinster boys to overall victory.

Elsewhere Keiron Kelly won Gaelforce North on Saturday in Donegal equalling the course record in very poor conditions, setting him up nicely for upcoming events.