Christie aims to bow out of juniors with a flourish

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.

Last year he finished sixth in Edinburgh and, since then, has gone from strength to strength. He broke John Treacy’s national junior 3,000m record, won a record equalling third successive national junior inter-clubs title and could not have been more impressive when he retained the inter-clubs title with more than half a minute to spare at St Augustine’s College a couple of weeks ago.

“Sunday will be a tough race,” he said. “But I think I am ready for it. I was pleased with Dungarvan. I was really up for the race.”