IRELAND moved into the lead after the second day of the European Team Competition Division Three in Poland yesterday.
After trailing Austria by three points at the end of action on Tuesday, Ireland, with a score of 327, are now seven points clear of their rivals, while Israel (290) are a distant third.
The first three teams will be automatically promoted to Division Two in two years’ time.
After just one individual victory from Sharlene Mawdsley on Tuesday, Irish athletes got the programme off to the ideal start with both male and female sprint hurdlers delivering victories which each secured a maximum 15 points.
Cork teenager James Ezeonu was a convincing winner of the men’s 110m Hurdles (14.31) while Limerick athlete Sarah Lavin utterly dominated her race as she flew to victory in 12.82, the second fastest ever in her career and just 0.03s off her personal best.
“It was a really good performance,” said the Emerald AC athlete afterwards.
“I tried to treat it like round one of a championship. 12.82 is a good run at any time of the day.”
Former Irish record-holder Louise Shanahan followed up with a masterful win in the 800m clocking 2.03.39.
“Today was all about getting the win. I’m delighted to come away with maximum points for the team and fingers crossed that if we all do our bit it’ll be enough to get us over the line,” said the Leevale athlete, who set the Irish record in Belfast last month only to lose it to Ciara Mageean shortly afterwards.
Irish men’s captain Thomas Barr (left) kept the roll going. Showing all the experience gained from a fourth place at the Olympics in Rio and European medals, the Waterford man oozed class as he took victory in the 400m hurdles in a more than credible 49.41 seconds.
Cathal Doyle from Dublin had a strong run in the 1500m, finishing second in 3.43.36, while Donegal’s Kelly McGrory finished just outside her season’s best in the women’s 400m hurdles, crossing the line in second place (58.08).
In the field events, there were wins for both City of Lisburn’s Ellie McCartney in the pole vault and Sean Mockler in the hammer.
Sarah Buggy was third in the triple jump, and Colin Quirke was fifth in the discus.
Earlier Reece Ademola put Ireland’s promotion hopes in jeopardy when he did not achieve a legal mark in the long jump, scoring “nul points.”
The Irish team of Israel Olatunde, Mark Smyth, Christopher Sibanda and Joseph Ojewumi held on for an important maximum points in the 4x100m relay, made even more significant with the disqualification of the Austrian quartet.
The women’s sprint relay team of Sarah Leahy, Mollie O’Reilly, Joan Healy and Adeyemi Talabi finished second.
The action concludes today with just 12 events remaining. Making her Irish senior debut is Sophie O’Sullivan, the daughter of legendary Irish distance runner Sonia O’Sullivan.
O’Sullivan has made huge progress in the 1500m this year, improving her lifetime best from 4:17.54 to 4:08.06.
She ran that time in the heats of the recent NCAA Championships in Texas but could not reproduce it in the final finishing back in 12th.
Nevertheless, that best time makes her by far the fastest in the field on paper, comfortably ahead of Israel’s Sivan Auerbach, whose lifetime best stands at 4:17.13.
If Sophie does win today, she will emulate her mother, who won the 1500m at the European Cup Second League three times between 1993-1995.
