Leevale’s Derval O’Rourke had her second big outing of the outdoor season last night, following her run at the recent European Team Championships. In action at the Diamond League meet at Lausanne, she finished 7th in a very strong final in a season’s best of 12.98. The race was won by Sally Pearson of Australia in a very fast 12.49. It is good to see Derval starting to come into form with the World Championships ahead in August.
The Lausanne meet also saw the return to competition of Ailis McSweeney following an injury that has caused her to miss several weeks of training. On the night, she finished 8th in the B final of the 100m.
There is a big weekend of athletics ahead, with the Cork City International Sports taking place tomorrow at CIT, and the Munster Senior, Junior and U23 Championships taking place at the same venue on Sunday. Tomorrow’s City Sports also includes a Juvenile 300m Gala, which will draw underage athletes from throughout the county and further afield. There is a large Leevale entry for this event. The senior international meet will also feature several Leevale athletes, with David Killeen, Mark Hanrahan, Ciarán Ó Lionáird and Lizzie Lee all due to compete.
While the City Sports is the big event at home, two Leevale athletes will compete as part of a 10-strong Irish team that is travelling to the prestigious Mannheim Junior International, which takes place on Saturday and Sunday. Paul Scanlan, who has been in good form recently, will run in the 400m, while Edmond O’Halloran is entered in the 110m hurdles.