Connolly to get a shot at short course event

ROBERT CONNOLLY is set to join Alasdair Cragg in the short course race at the world cross-country championships in Brussels in two weeks and his Dundrum South Dublin clubmate, Maria McCambridge, will be entered as an individual in the women’s short course event.

After the National championships it was decided to enter full teams only in the long course races. But all that changed when Cragg expressed a desire to compete as an individual in the men’s short course race.

And Robert Connolly, a bronze medallist in the 5,000m at last year’s European under-23 championships, laid claims to a place in the short course race when he outsprinted Cathal Lombard in a thrilling finish to the short course championship at ALSAA on Sunday.

Lombard, who has qualified for the Olympics at 5,000m, will leave for Albuquerque this week to continue his preparations for Athens and a crack at the qualifying standard for 10,000m.

Cragg will defend his 5,000m title at the NCAA indoor championships in Arkansas next weekend and, after that, he will come to London to join his parents en route to the world championships in Brussels.

McCambridge is enjoying the best stretch of her career.

After a positive first round run in which she finished third to gain automatic qualification, she finished ninth in the 3,000m final at the world indoor championships in Budapest.

After finishing second to Catherina McKiernan in the national inter-club cross-country championships in Roscommon, McCambridge indicated she had no desire to run the long course race in Brussels but she will now be entered in the short course race.

Meanwhile, Seamus Power is facing a fitness battle in advance of the Brussels assignment. He had to pull out of the Ballycotton 10 on Sunday due to a problem with a nerve in his back and is still receiving treatment.

Lombard will be accompanied by his coach, Joe Doonan, when he travels to Albuquerque on Friday. He trained in South Africa and then joined his Leevale clubmate, Mark Carroll, in Florida before coming back to run in Sunday’s short course championships in which he ran a superb race.

“For the spectators it was one of the best races in the championships for a long time,” he said. “It was a real dog fight. I could not drop Rob (Connolly) and, with his finishing speed, I would have needed to.”

Lombard will spend four weeks training at altitude in Albuquerque and then come down for the 5k Classic in Carlsbad, California.

“After that I plan two track races. I will run 5,000m in Mount Sac in April and then 10,000m at Stanford where Mark (Carroll) set his Irish record a few years ago,” Lombard said.