Erin Friel grabs latest victory in Germany

Erin Friel won over 400m in Germany on Saturday.

The Letterkenny AC athlete, who is at the top of the European U18 rankings in the event, took victory the EYOF Gala meeting in Wetzlar.

Friel won in 55.00 seconds, finishing ahead of Ida Carlotta Schroder (55.70) and Sophie Liesigk (56.02).

The Loreto Secondary School student is set to compete at both the European Youth Summer Olympic Festival and European U20s this summer.

Coached by Kathryn McDevitt, Friel won recently over 400m at the IFAM Outdoor in Brussels and has reached both the 400m and 200m standards for the EYOF, while she was part of the Irish U20 4x400m relay team that has qualified for the European U20s.

In a 3000m at the same meet in Wetzlar, Finn Valley AC’s Odhrán McBrearty finished fourth in 8:42.99. McBrearty narrowly missed a top three finish, but did place ahead of old rival and fellow Irish athlete Harry McKenzie, who was fifth in 8:43.06.

Friel and McBrearty were part of a 14-strong Irish team that included Finn Valley AC Chairman Dermot McGranaghan as a team lead.

Arlene Crossan finished sixth in a 400m in Belgium on Saturday. The Finn Valley AC runner ran 53.99 seconds out of lane 2 in a race that had a little over a second between all of its participants. 

Five Donegal athletes were in action at a British Milers Club (BMC) Grand Prix at Birmingham University on Saturday night.

Finn Valley AC pair Amy Greene and Oisin Toye left with new PBs.

In the 3000m steeplechase, Greene shaved six seconds off her best when finishing in 10:28.23, a time that earned her fifth in the race.

Toye was fourth over 800m in a time of 1:54.14 that shaves a couple of seconds off his previous best in the distance (1:56.09).

Roisin Flanagan of Finn Valley, who is coming back off an injury-interrupted spell, was in action in a 1500m and clocked 4:21.29 for a 12th-place finish.

Cranford AC’s Caolan McFadden was fifth in a 1500m, going 3:52.31 while his club-mate Oisin Kelly placed ninth in an 800m, in a new PB of 1:51.92.

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In France, meanwhile, Oisín Ó Gailín competed at the Fast5000 meet in Paris.

At Parc des Sports, Maisons-Laffitte, the Finn Valley AC man - who competed at the European 10,000m Championships a fortnight previously, finished 11th in 13:47.35

The race was won by Damian Vich of Serbia in 13:38.06 with Italy’s Francesco Guerra second in 13:38.52, ahead of Sweden’s Sebastian Lorstad in 13:43.27.

Ó Gailín had been aiming to lower the Donegal record, which he holds at 13:41.69, but will have another rattle at several races in the summer.