Proper targets Leevale meeting
Taking place at the Cork IT track, the action begins at 11am on both days.
Speaking at the launch of the event at The River Lee Hotel, meet director Donal Murnane said the club saw a gap in the calendar for a high quality meeting that wasn’t part of the championship scene and what started off as an open sports has grown yearly since its inception.
“Since the start, we have always endeavoured to cater for athletes seeking qualification standards and this year is no different with athletes having their sights firmly set on such events as the European Youth Olympic Festival, the European Junior and U23 Championships and even the Irish national relay squads will be honing their skills in preparation for the World championships in Moscow in August,” explained Murnane.
Lizzie Lee, a member of the Irish team that won the European cross country title before Christmas and who launched the meet, said the timing of the event was ideal.
She explained: “We are in a twilight period at the moment after the cross country season where there aren’t any quality track meetings on and people are looking to get sharp and get race fit.”
The action gets under way today with the junior men’s and women’s steeplechase, along with the discus for senior and U23 women. &
The open 3,000m at 2.45pm promises to be one of the most hotly contested events, with Leevale’s own Mark Hanrahan opening his season’s account after a number of outstanding performances on the road.
A very busy athlete will be Kelly Proper, who is entered in no less than seven events; however this should pose no problem for the Ferrybank athlete who took gold in the 60m, 200m and long jump at the AAI Indoor Championships earlier this year.
The juvenile programme on Sunday begins with the U8 sprints at 11am and at 3pm there will be a special exhibition 3km walk featuring Olympian Rob Heffernan.
- Full details of both days activities are available from www.leevale.org
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