McCarthy's 400-metre records help land award

ATHLETICS: With Irish 400 metre running on an all-time high it was both timely and fitting that David McCarthy was yesterday named as EBS Young Athlete of the Year for 2002.

The 19-year-old from Leixlip lowered several records last season, and has already broken through as a senior with his fifth-place finish at the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham earlier this month.

Named as the monthly award winner for both February and March, McCarthy was in fact the outstanding junior for most of the year. In July he finished seventh at the World Junior Championships in Jamaica with an Irish junior record of 46.77 seconds, and in August was part of the Irish senior relay team that lowered the national record to 3:03.37 when reaching the final of the European Championships in Munich.

"This award does round off the last 12 months very nicely," he said. "But it's time to set new goals and my aim now is to qualify for the World Championships in Paris next August. The other big target will be the European under-23 championships in Poland.

"But I have gained a lot more confidence after the performances in Birmingham. And I do think there is still a good bit of improvement to come over the next few years."

McCarthy is currently based at the University of Limerick, studying physical education, and coached by Haley and Drew Harrison. His fifth-place finish in Birmingham, behind the joint bronze medallist Paul McKee, merely underlined his obvious potential over 400 metres.

It was the indoor season last year where that potential first emerged. Starting in February with an Irish junior record of 47.70 when winning his first Irish senior title, he then lowered all three records - junior, under-23 and senior - to 46.66 seconds when winning the British AAA junior championships. The previous senior record of 47.0 set by the late Fanahan McSweeney had stood since 1970.

At 6ft 4in and with a laid-back confidence, McCarthy now joins the 22-strong list of EBS Young Athlete winners - many of whom continued to set records at senior level. But for one previous winner, shot putter Victor Costello in 1988, the temptation to play with the oval ball proved harder to resist.

Another long-running event for junior athletes takes place on Saturday when Ireland hosts the International Schools Cross Country at the ALSAA course in Dublin (2.0 start). Teams from England, Scotland and Wales also compete in the two grades - under-15 and under-17 - with John Coghlan, son of former world champion Eamonn, part of the Irish junior boy's team.

The best chance for a home victory will come in the junior girls race, where Sara Treacy of Kings Hospital has been outstanding all season.

EBS YOUNG ATHLETE OF THE MONTH AWARDS 2002: January - Paul Hession (Athenry AC) sprints; February - David McCarthy (Celbridge AC) 400m; March - David McCarthy; April - Darragh Graham (Sli Cualann AC) sprints; May - Joanne Cuddihy (Kilkenny City Harriers) 400m; June - Claire Bergin (Dundrum South Dublin) sprints; July - Liam Reale (Limerick AC) 1,500m; August - Erin Kinnear (Lagan Valley AC) pole vault; September - Ann Loughnane (Craughwell AC) walks; October - Colm Rooney (Clonliffe Harriers) 800-1,500m; November - Fionnuala Britton (Sli Cualann AC) 1,500m/CC; December - Eoin Leen (Clounalour AC) shot put; 2002 Athlete of the Year - David McCarthy.