Hannon claims national title and European selection

Fearghus Hannon had a day to remember on Sunday last when he won the National Junior (U-20) 400m title and was then informed that he was going to be part of the team going to Novi Sad, Serbia, for the European Junior Championships. Fearghus started the day with a third place finish in his heat of the 400m in 50.69 seconds, as he came through with a late sprint to snatch third place. He was then drawn in lane seven for the final, which was probably a blessing in disguise, as he had to start fast. He was always right up with the leaders and came into the finishing straight level with Eoin Mulhall (Naas). He then powered away from his rivals in the finishing straight to take the gold medal with a new PB of 48.95 seconds. It was a great victory and hugely exciting for his coaches and supporters in Tullamore Harriers. Fearghus" older brother Eoin, had won the National U-23 Long Jump title earlier in the day with a fine leap of 7.30 meters. Fearghus got great news later in the day when he learned that the Irish selectors had decided to send a men"s 4 x 400m team to the European Junior Championships next month and he will be a member of that team. Having come within half a second of achieving the qualifying standard for the individual 400m on three occasions, it was just reward for all his efforts. He follows in the footsteps of his brother Eoin, who came 10th in the Long Jump final at the last European Junior Championships. Darragh Hanlon still has two more years left in the Junior ranks so he did well to take the silver medal in the Junior Men"s 35 lbs Weight for Distance with a fine throw of 8.21 metres. Joe Mulligan took fourth place in this event with a good throw of 6.73 meters. Darragh also finished fifth in the (1.75 kg) discus with a throw of 36.44 meters. Eimear Brennan came sixth in the Junior Women"s Long Jump with a best jump of 4.86 metres, despite aggravating a recent injury in the third round. National Pairs Competition Congratulations to Cormac Izuchukwu and Ciaran Mulligan who took the silver medals in the Boys U-10 500m at the National Pairs Competition last Saturday in Templemore. In the recent Leinster Pairs competition, Eoin Mulligan and Douglas Boyd Crotty took fifth place in the Boys U-11 Long Jump and seventh place in the Boys U-11 600m. Fixtures Saturday 4th July - Cork City Sports, Mardyke, Cork. Saturday 4th July - Leinster Team Event (U-9 to U-15), Navan. Saturday 11th July & Sunday 12th July (9.30am) - National Juvenile T & F Championships, Tullamore (U-12 to U-19 age groups). Wed 15th July - Dublin Graded Meet and Development 800m (men & women), Santry.