Tullamore Harriers athletes make Irish U-23 team for European Championships

THREE athletes from Tullamore Harriers Athletics Club have been selected on the Irish team for the European U-23 Athletics Championships which take place in Espoo, Finland from July 13-16.

As expected, Ava O'Connor, James Dunne and Aaron Keane were included in the team which was announced on Sunday evening.

Emo woman Ava O'Connor will run in the ladies 3,000 metres steeplechase while Ballycommon's James Dunne will compete in the same event in the mens. Rosemount's Aaron Keane is part of the 4 x 400m relay team along with Galway City Harriers' Andrew Egan, Ballymena and Antrim's Callum Baird and Crusaders' Hugo Magee.

O'Connor, Dunne and Keane had all achieved the qualifying standard but could not be certain of their place until the national U-23 championships took place in Tullamore Harriers on Sunday.

Keane's 4 x 400m relay team did not run but O'Connor and Dunner both had to show good form to ensure selection.

They duly did this with O'Connor racing to an easy win in her 3,000m steeplechase race, posting a time of 10.21.23.

Dunne won bronze in his 3,000m steeplechase in a time of 9.26.99 after recovering his composure when he hit a hurdle and almost fell on the home straight. The silver medalist, Sean McGinley, Finn Valley AC will also race in this event in Finland.

Athletics Ireland has selected a team of 32 athletes to compete, including 24 individual competitors and mens' 4 x 100m and 4 x 400m relay squads.

The three athletes are products of the much vaunted Tullamore Harriers juvenile section. An outstanding underage athlete, Ava O'Connor is on an athletics scholarship at Adams State University in Colorado where she is studying kinesiology and exercise science. A long time training colleague at Tullamore Harriers, James Dunne is also on scholarship at Adams State University.