Maria McCambridge bounced back from her disappointment at failing to qualify for the marathon squad at the Rio Olympics by winning the 1500m and helping her club Dundrum South Dublin to third place at the European Clubs Track and Field B Championships in Leiria, Portugal today (Sat).
McCambridge was the class of the field with her time of 4 mins 31.86 secs putting her comfortably clear of Amanda Virtanan of Finnish club Turun, who was second in 4:48.50.
Grace O’Rourke had made the perfect start to the day for the Dublin club when she won the high jump with a leap of 1.70m. Other winners for DSD were Laura Shaughnessy in the steeplechase with a time of 11 mins 13.02 secs, Fiona Clinton in the 5000m with a time of 17:12.20 and Anita White with a comfortable victory in the javelin where she threw 49.79m in the opening round.
Sinead Denny finished second in the 400m with a personal best time of of 53.63 secs, as well as helping the 4 x 400m team to second place in 3:42.17. Meghan Ryan produced a strong run in the 3000m to finish second in 10:07.66. Younger members of the club also played their part with Mollie O’Reilly 3rd in the 200m in 24.98 secs, Tara Jenkins 4th in the long jump with 5.42m, Sophie Murphy 4th with a PB 2:16.04 in the 800m, Katie Berney 4th 100m (no times given), and Kate Doherty 5th in the 100m hurdles.
In the men’s competition, Clonliffe Harriers were missing some of their big names, notably Brian Gregan in the 400m, who was a last-minute drop out, and marathon man Sergiu Ciobanu. Clonliffe’s only winner was Dave Flynn who won a closely fought steeplechase in 8 mins 55.13 secs. In the long jump, Keith Marks’ personal best 7.48m puts him second in the competition – and second on the current Irish list.There were also creditable performances from Aaron Hanlon, 4th in the 5000m in 14:38.43, sprinters Keith Pike and Chris Sibanda and a club record of 62.36m for Rory Gunning in the javelin.
Winning the 400m hurdles B race in 51.68 secs was Paul Byrne who was competing for British club champions Birchfield Harriers. Byrne finished second overall behind Arnaus Ghislain of Royal Excelsior Brussels winner of the A race in 50.28 secs. For Thames Valley Harriers, Emma O’Hara won the women’s hammer with a throw of 57.26m, which puts her second on the current Irish list. After eleven months out of the sport, O’Hora, born of Irish parents in the UK, threw 58.47m at a league event on May 12. Her best is 58.98m
*Full results http://www.leiria2016.com/en/horario.php
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