McCarthy ‘excited’ over Euro prospects

WHEN David McCarthy finished third in the Manchester Road Race on Thanksgiving Day, medal hopes for Ireland’s U23 men’s team at Sunday’s European cross-country championships in Albufeira shot through the roof.

And yesterday the West Waterford athlete admitted he was excited about the team prospects as he prepared to leave for the Algarve where the weather was a welcoming 17 degrees and a relatively flat if somewhat complicated course promised some intriguing contests.

“We have very good under-23 team this year — a lot of the lads are running well,” he insisted. “Ciarán Ó Lionáird had great season in the States and finished up with 18th place in the Nationals so he seems to be getting better every race.

“I think if we ever had a shot at doing well as a team it is this year. I know from experience in the States you can always have the team on paper but then it’s matter of everyone bringing it to the race.But this year we appear to have six potential scorers.”

It is not the only thing he is excited about. Last year he took time away from Providence College where he is a scholarship student.

That was after a hectic 2008 when he came off a tough collegiate circuit to win a bronze medal in the 5,000m at the European junior track field championships — something no other US collegiate athlete had succeeded in doing.

Back in Providence with his old coach, Ray Treacy, he recognises he made the right decision. Ray, older brother of the Olympic silver medallist and two time world cross-country champion, John Treacy, wisely red-shirted him for the collegiate season.

His only cross-country race to date was a low key event and he ran away with it but he raised a lot of eyebrows when he finished third in the big Manchester Road Race which has been won by practically all of Ireland’s household names who based themselves in the US.

The race was won by Mourad Marofit from Morocco who led from gun to tape to win in 21:38 for the 4.748 mile race, with Ben True from Hanover NH second in 21:43, just out-sprinting McCarthy by a second. Martin Fagan (Mullingar Harriers), who won the race two years ago, was 11th in 22:07, while Mark Carroll (Leevale AC), another former winner and now head coach at Auburn, was 21st in 22:52.

“I was very happy with it,” McCarthy said. “It was a nice little blow out before the European championships which would be needed. I just got stuck into it. There was no pressure on me so I just lashed away at it.

It is always a fairly competitive race and they were saying it was one of the deeper years as well.”

He competed in the European championships as a Junior when they were held in Toro and finished a very impressive ninth.

He was a Freshman at Providence College at the time and had come off a hectic collegiate cross-country season.

Ireland won team medals at senior men (bronze), junior men (bronze) and senior women (silver) levels in the past and this would be the first time for the under-23’s to make it on to the podium.

The U23 team is: B O’Neill (Dundrum South Dublin AC), J Coghlan (Metro St. Brigid’s AC), M Mulhare (North Laois AC), D McCarthy (West Waterford AC), C O Lionáird (Leevale AC), D Rooney (Raheny Shamrock AC).