Ireland in promotion hunt after strong day one at European Team Championships
Ireland are in fifth place after day one of the Division 2 events at the European Athletics Team Championships in Slovenia.
It was great day for Jack Raftery and the men's 4x100m relay team, as they set another new national record.
Raftery put in one of the performances of the day to clock a PB of 44.98 in the 400m, which was good enough to see him finish fourth. In doing so, the Dubliner became just the second Irish man to break the 45-second mark.
"I don't know if I have words for it," Raftery said afterwards. "That's the best field I've ever been part of; it's a Diamond League quality field. If I had ran a PB and came last, I would've been happy. I can't believe that. I felt great coming down that home straight.
"Oh my god I'm delighted."
Sharlene Mawdsley, meanwhile, ran an SB of 50.93 as she came home third in the women's 400m, a result that she was satisfied with.
"I don't even know how I made it around," was her assessment post-race.
"A season's best is great, it's a shame I didn't come first, I would've loved to win the top points, but it would've taken a PB to do that today.
"It was about getting out there and doing my family proud."
But there was delight for the men's 4x100m team as they set a new national record for the second weekend in a row.
The team of Michael Farrelly (Raheny Shamrock AC), Sean Aigboboh (Tallaght AC), Marcus Lawler (Clonliffe Harriers AC) and Israel Olatunde (Tallaght AC) came home in 38.88, four tenths of a second faster than what they had managed last weekend.
"There's a lot of effort that has gone into this over the years," said team captain Lawler. "We're all delighted to break the national record."
It was good enough for second place overall.
The action is set to resume this afternoon at 1.30pm with promotion on offer for the teams which finish in the top three.
Team Ireland - Day One results
Sean Mockler – Men's Hammer Throw – 12th (64.00m)
Shane Howard – Men's Long Jump – 11th (7.20m)
Arlene Crossan – Women's 400m Hurdles – 14th (59.14 PB)
Clodagh Walsh – Women's Pole Vault – 10th (3.40m)
Fintan Dewhirst – Men's 400m Hurdles – 15th (79.01)
Niamh Fogarty – Women's Discus Throw – 5th (52.20m)
Bori Akinola – Men's 100m – 8th (10.62, -2.2m/s)
Eric Favors – Men's Shot Put – 5th (19.42m)
Lucy-May Sleeman – Women's 100m – 9th (11.84, -1.1m/s)
Sophie O'Sullivan – Women's 800m – 16th (2:12.87)
Shane Bracken – Men's 1500m – 3rd (3:42.92)
David Cussen – Men's High Jump – 5th (2.16m)
Sharlene Mawdsley – Women's 400m – 3rd (50.93)
Elizabeth Ndudi – Women's Long Jump – 4th (6.26m)
Jack Raftery – Men's 400m – 4th (44.98)
Grace Casey – Women's Javelin Throw – 14th (42.33m)
Brian Fay – Men's 5000m – 2nd (13:56.07)
Ava O'Connor – Women's 3000m Steeplechase – 3rd (9:45.09)
Women's 4x100m Relay (Sarah Leahy, Ciara Neville, Lauren Roy, Sarah Lavin) – 3rd (43.97)
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