Tullamore Harriers duo chosen to represent Ireland

Alisha Maher has been selected for the Ireland U20 national relay squad, while her Tullamore Harriers clubmate Ava O’Connor has been named in the Irish squad for the European Athletics Team Championships.

Alisha's selection follows her standout performances in the 100m and 200m sprints in recent weeks.

On June 14, a squad of ten athletes competed in two races at the DSD Athletic Grounds in Dublin. Ballyboy native Alisha made a superb debut, running a blistering opening leg in the second race and executing a smooth, lightning-fast baton change to her teammate, Hannah Falvey of Belgooley AC.

Tullamore Harriers AC has congratulated Alisha on "an outstanding performance", saying it is "incredibly proud" of her achievements. The club has wished Alisha the best of luck as she continues her journey with the national squad in the months ahead.

Meanwhile, Ava O’Connor has been named in the Athletics Ireland squad which will compete at the European Athletics Team Championships in Maribor, Slovenia on June 28-29. Ava will race the 3000m steeplechase.

Last week, Tullamore Harriers member O'Connor competed at the Motonet Grand Prix in Lahti, Finland and finished third in the 3000m steeplechase race won by Finland's Ilona Mononen.

Ava crossed the finish line in a time of 9:45.00 which lowered her own Irish U23 3000m steeplechase record from the 9:46.22 which she ran in April.

Ireland is currently in Division 2 of the European Athletics Team Championships and will come up against 15 other countries, who each field an athlete in every event. The top three teams will be promoted to Division 1, while the bottom three teams will be relegated to Division 3.

The Irish team will be looking for a strong showing following their promotion from Division 3 at the last edition of these championships, which were part of the European Games in Poland in 2023. It was at that event that Ava made her senior international debut for Ireland.