Two Kilkenny athletes included in Irish Team for upcoming European Championships
Cliodhna Manning and Peter Lynch will compete at the championships
Athletics Ireland have announced an initial squad selection for the upcoming European Athletics Championships in Rome from Friday, June 7 to Wednesday, June 12.
Among those included were Kilkenny City Harriers (KCH) athletes Cliodhna Manning in the Women's 4x400m Reserve and Peter Lynch in the 10,000 meters event.
Manning has in the past, been part of the relay squad and will hope to make an indelible impact on her 400m times to move towards inclusion for the Paris Olympics in August.
Last weekend, the KCH athlete travelled to Brussels to compete in the IFAM meet. Seeking a place on the Irish 4x400m relay after missing last summer due to injury and ran 53.66 for 400m, which is an improvement on her performance in Belfast two weeks ago.
Today's announcement confirmed the selection of those with A standards and the qualified relay teams, while athletes qualifying via ranking position and having achieved a B standard will be confirmed after European Athletics produces its final list of qualifiers on Friday, May 29.
Previous championship medal winners Thomas Barr (Ferrybank AC), Ciara Mageean (City of Lisburn AC), and Mark English (Finn Valley AC) are all set to return to European action, while two-time world indoor finalist Sarah Lavin (Emerald AC) will have sights set on making her second major championship final of the season.
The Irish relay teams have enjoyed tremendous success in global competition over the past 12 months, capped off most recently with the mixed 4x400m team claiming bronze at the World Relays in the Bahamas. Four relay teams have been selected with the mixed 4x400m once again looking particularly formidable.