Happy opening day for Ireland at the U18 European Championships

Tara Laverty got Ireland’s U18 European Championships off to a flying start this afternoon in Rieti, Italy, breaking her own U18 national record in the women’s discus.

The Carrick Aces AC member qualified automatically, with a first-round throw of 49.46m – surpassing the mark set to qualify for Saturday’s final.

Speaking to Athletics Ireland, the Monaghan native now feels the pressure is off. I think it also takes the pressure off for Saturday. I’m also very happy with the national record,” she admitted. “I was just trying to stay as relaxed as possible and I guess it worked. I could probably do a few throws tomorrow and mostly relax.

Cawley and Duffy qualify for women’s 2000m Steeple

Sligo AC’s Lucie Cawley and Tullamore Harriers’ Ally Duffy both qualified safely for the women’s 2000m steeplechase final.

Cawley, the Irish U18 2000m Steeplechase record holder, finished sixth in the first heat in 6:50.84. Duffy finished third in the second heat in 6:52.32, with the final set being contested Saturday morning.

Ballymena and Antrim AC’s Ethan Carr was rewarded for his courageous run in the men’s 400m heats with a non-automatic qualification to the semi-finals.

Carr finished fifth in the final heat, the fastest of the day, won by Jakub Marek of the Czech Republic in 47.67 seconds.

The Irish athlete pushed hard in the first 200 meters, but held on well down the stretch to clock 48.89 seconds and claim the final non-automatic qualifying spot. He will participate in the semi-finals during Friday evening’s session.

Kwik and Shevlin in action

Evelyn Kwik enjoyed success in the one-lap event, automatically qualifying for the semi-finals of the women’s event. Kwik finished third in the fourth heat in 55.58 seconds, won by Greece’s Eleni Iakovaki in 55.01 seconds.

Aisling Shevlin had a nervous wait to find out if she had secured one of the non-automatic qualifying places after clocking 55.87 to finish fifth in the second heat. She was later confirmed to be among the next 6 fastest qualifying places after all six heats were completed. Kwik and Shevlin will return to the semi-finals on Friday afternoon.

Collins misses while Purtill is 14th

Tralee AC’s Jack Collins narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 800m semi-finals, finishing fourth in heat four with a time of 1:55.57. Collins was just outside the automatic top three spots that advanced to the next round.

Emer Purtill (Dooneen AC) is in 14th position after the first day of the heptathlon with 3208 points. Purtill opened his competition with a personal best of 15.19 seconds in the 100m hurdles and backed it up with a clearance of 1.60m in the high jump.

The 16-year-old then produced an impressive performance in the shot put, throwing 15.26m, ten centimeters further than any other athlete. Purtill finished the day with a personal best in the 200m (26.23) and sits in 14th position with three events remaining on day two. The event is led halfway by the Swiss Ambra Coriulo with 3540 points.