Athletics Ireland High Performance Director Kevin Ankrom last night confirmed that a women’s team will compete at the World Cross Country Championships in Poland next month.

The historic Irish women’s European cross country winning team are unlikely to compete at the World Championships in Poland in March according to Athletics Ireland High Performance Director Kevin Ankrom.

Those expecting stories of all-night partying from Ireland’s gold medal winning European Cross Country team are set to be disappointed.

Fionnuala Britton was already looking to the future after yesterday’s sensational performance at the European Cross-Country Championships in snowy Budapest.

Togher AC’s Rob Heffernan was named as the Athlete of the Year at the National Athletics Awards in association with Woodie’s DIY and Tipperary Crystal on Saturday night.

Caitriona Jennings has admitted missing out on the Olympics having achieved the necessary qualifying time would be “devastating”.

DEIRDRE RYAN (Dundrum South Dublin) was named Athlete of the Year at the National Athletics Awards in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Santry on Saturday night.

MEGAN KIELY (Ferrybank AC) qualified for the semi-finals of the women’s 400m hurdles when she finished fifth in her first-round heat at the World Youth Championships in Lille yesterday.

PATSY McGONAGLE will lead the Irish track and field team into the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Athletics Ireland today announced a 36-strong team for the European Cross Country Championships which take place on December 9 in Toro, Spain.

DERVAL O’ROURKE runs in the Grand Prix meeting in Budapest tonight — lining up against a strong field for the 100m hurdles in better conditions than she experienced at The Mardyke last weekend.

MARK CHRISTIE, one of the country’s most exciting athletes, is all set to bring down the curtain on his junior career with a stylish performance at the European Cross-country Championships in Heringsdorf, Germany, on Sunday.