CIARA MAGEEAN has secured the most lucrative sponsorship deal in the history of Irish junior athletics after signing a six-figure deal with sportswear giants New Balance.

SEAMUS POWER has been named as a reserve on the senior men’s team for the European cross-country championships but said last evening that he won’t be going.

DERVAL O’ROURKE is out of next weekend’s World Indoor Championships in Doha, Qatar with a hamstring injury.

The Irish team are in a positive mood despite two withdrawals ahead of this weekend's World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh.

MARTIN McCARTHY (Leevale) put years of frustration behind him in a devastating last lap that earned him his first national senior cross-country championship title at historic and picturesque Avondale where Anne Keenan-Buckley (North Laois) retained her women’s title in style.

WITH Catherina McKiernan set to compete in the Reebok Challenge in Belfast on Saturday week the prospects of having herself and Sonia O'Sullivan lining up together for the world cross-country championships in Lausanne next March are getting more exciting.

VALERIE VAUGHAN (Blarney/Inniscarra) got the victory she had always wanted when she finished clear of defending champion Anne Keenan-Buckley (North Laois), to win the Evening Echo Cork Women’s Mini-Marathon yesterday, when she defied the tight corners and series of energy-sapping climbs that punctuated the new course to cover the five miles in 27 minutes 45 seconds, and that was just nine seconds clear of the runner-up.

VALERIE VAUGHAN (Blarney/Inniscarra) is hoping to fulfil a lifetime ambition when she lines up for the Evening Echo Cork Ladies Mini Marathon on Sunday.

SONIA O'SULLIVAN is noted for surprises and she produced another big one for fans yesterday in the form of an unique 800m/5,000m double at the national track and field championships at Morton Stadium.