Eight Olympians are included in Irish men's team that competes in the European Cup First League competition on June 23rd and 24th in Vaasa, Finland. Among them is team captain Terry McHugh, who on Monday night had his best mark in the javelin this season by throwing 76.65 metres at a meeting in Switzerland.
Other Sydney team members are Paul Brizzell (100 and 200 metres), Tomas Coman (400 metres) and Peter Coghlan (110 metre hurdles). James Nolan and Mark Carroll fill two of the middle distance spots, while Paddy McGrath (hammer) and John Menton (discus) will also put their Olympic experience to use. Both relay squads are also built mainly on the Olympic teams. Also competing for promotion to the SuperLeague will be Portugal, Belarus, Czech Republic, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and hosts Finland.
The women's team will compete in the Second League in Riga, Latvia on the same weekend. With Sonia O'Sullivan ruled out due to her break from the track, the 5,000 metre spot goes to Limerick's Rosemary Ryan. Breda Dennehy-Willis will feel a little unlucky on missing out after running a World Championship qualifying standard of 15 minutes 15.49 seconds in Holland on Monday night. Una English, who just missed out on Olympic selection, will run the 3,000 metres.
Other Olympians in the strong team are Emily Maher (100 metres), Sarah Reilly (200 metres) and Karen Shinkins (400 metres). Zoe Brown of Ballymena will make her Irish senior debut in the pole vault, fresh from her record height of 3.50 metres in the Irish schools championships.
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