Big Offaly interest in European Cross Country Championships

THERE will be a significant Offaly interest in the European Cross Country Championships which take place in Turin, Italy next Sunday.

Mucklagh native Ann Marie McGlynn will compete in the senior race while Danielle Donegan, Tullamore and Laura Mooney, Cappincur will be going hell for leather in the U-23 race.

It will be a great occasion for the three women. They all developed their running in Tullamore Harriers, graduating from juvenile ranks up there, though the trio are now racing elsewhere.

Nee Larkin, McGlynn is living in Strabane in Tyrone and runs with Letterkenny AC. Donegan is in her final year of a scholarship at UCD while Mooney is on a scholarship at the famous Providence College in Rhode Island, USA.

The three qualified after outstanding runs in the national championships in Donegal a couple of weeks ago. McGlynn had a superb, age defying run to finish fourth in the senior womens race and book her place on the flight to Turin. Unfortunately, the best known women in Irish athletics, Ciara Magean has been forced to withdraw from the team because of illness – Magean had finished second in the national senior race on Rossapena golf course, behind Sarah Healy.

Magean's place is being taken by Eilish Flanagan who will be joined on the team by her sister Roisin (Roisin and Eilish Flanagan both run with Finn Valley AC), Michelle Finn (Leevale AC), McGlynn, Mary Mulhare (Portlaoise) and Aoife Richardson (Kilkenny City Harriers).

Donegan and Mooney had fantastic runs in the U-23 race, which took place with the senior event. Sarah Healy of UCD was the winner of both the senior and U-23 races and will compete in the U-23 in Turin. Donegan was second U-23 and 11th overall in Donegal and Mooney was just one place behind in third U-23 and 12th overall. The U-23 team will be completed by Aoife O'Cuill, St Coca's AC; Jodie McCann, Dublin City Harriers and Niamh O'Mahoney, An Riocht AC.

McGlynn, Donegan and Mooney all have invaluable past experience of competing at European level. McGlynn has competed in the senior championships before while Donegan went in the U-23 and Mooney in the U-20 at the European Cross Country Championships in Dublin last year.

Turin is remembered with great fondness by Tullamore Harriers and Pauline Curley in particular. Offaly's most successful female athlete and an Olympian in 2008, Curley ran in the 1997 World Cross Country Championships there, winning a bronze medal with the Irish tream – superstars Catherine McKiernan and Sonia O'Sullivan led the team home in 7th and 9th places and the line-up was completed by Valerie Vaughan, Una Englishg, Maureen Harrington and Curley.