BY LEE MAGINNIS
NORTH Down AC Olympian Rachel McCann helped Ireland qualify for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo this coming September 2025 when she ran two splits of 52.38 and 52.89 for the Women’s 4x400m relay.
Rachel was competing at the World Relay Championships in China.
It took the Irish team two attempts, their success finally coming in the repechage round (recently introduced to allow some teams who miss qualification, another chance).
International duty meant that Rachel missed the big Irish Milers Club event on Saturday, held in warm and sunny conditions at the Mary Peters Track in Belfast.
Jenna Breen (400m) ran a time of 53.59 and Emer McKee (3000m) ran 9:37.46 in their respective races, both achieving European Age Group standards in the process.
Roise Roberts finished a fraction of a second behind Emer to set a new personal best for the distance, following on from her cross country success during the winter. Hannah Gilliland (a Local Women Sport Awards nominee) ran a big personal best of 9:26.36, also in the 3000m.
In the 1500m A race, Niamh Carr ran 4.22.52 with Kirsti Foster 4:26.91, taking the top two positions.
Finally, Clara Casey set a new personal best of 2:09.68 when winning the women’s 800m C race.
Roise Roberts
Emer McKee, in blue and white striped Willowfield top, at Irish Milers Meet
Photos by John T Glover
