Crusaders Men finish 3rd at the European Club Champions Cup!

For the third time in 4 years Crusaders represented Ireland in the European Club Champions Cup. The competition was hosted by Sporting Club Lisbon this year in Lagos, the Algarve. The facilities there are admirable. The track had been re-laid with a brand new Mondo surface in April and a sizable grandstand ensured a large local crowd and an enjoyable atmosphere.

The temperature stayed on the Irish side of 30 degrees for the whole weekend and with the cool Atlantic breeze that peaked at around 4-5 mph at some stages it almost felt cold.

The competition itself was of very high quality. The home club pulled out their big names. Rui Silva (1500 & 3000m) and Francis Obekwelu (100m & 200m) both won their 2 events to the delight of the crowd. Other clubs had travelled with the best guests they could find. The Australian 400 hurdles specialist Jana Pitman won both her favorite event and the 400m which were held in the same hour. She also returned the next day to anchor her teams 4 x 400 relay team. William Chirchir togged out for the 800m, Wesley Kiprotich doubled up in the 3000m Steeplechase and the 5000m and Abylegasse ran the 3000m and 5000m for the Turkish Womens team. At times it was difficult for the Irish to fathom that they were competing at such a high level. It certainly was a priviledge for many and a pricelss experience as well.

The competition started slowly for the Irish team. Lorcan Carpenter threw his hammerinto the netting 3 times out of 4 on what was a very fast circle. He got one throw in the sector of 40m however which secured valuable points. Steven Flemming competed in the Long Jump. His season has been promising up to now and a new run up has resulted in his best openers ever. Even though his jumps were big (of PB quality) he fouled 4 times. Antoinne Burke was next to compete and performed awesomely to run a time that puts him at the top of the Irish List for this season. In the 100m Crusaders had a guest from Belgrave Harriers, James Ellington. Ellington started his season well with a domestic meeting in the UK in which he ran 10.6. He travelled hoping to go faster and so was disspointed with 10.62 but there were no complaints from the team as this was faster than their best. Barry McCarron jumped into the 400m, which is not his preffered event at the last minute and ran a seasons best. Eoin Cummins raced well in a true championship 1500m toeing the line right beside Rui Silva who obliterated an accomplished field in the last 300m. Ian Chaney ran in the 5000m. The field was quality. Chaney stuck with the pack for as long as he could and even though he was dissapointed with his final result & time his effort looked herculean from the stands. Scot Thompson (also from Belgrave) thankfully came through the Shot Put well without aggravating an ankle injury he was carrying and felt good for the Discus the next day. The final event of the first day was the 4 x 100m. Ian McDonald showed hs good starting skills and bend running to storm into the lead. James Ellington took the baton to run the back straight and pass well to Antoine Burke who in turn gave to Steven Flemming to finish a good relay but a frustrating first day for many of the Crusaders team.

The team looked forward to the second day to try claw back a few points. However the day was fated to start badly anyway as Ruairi O'Briain had been unable to get his poles on the plane for the vault. To the relief of the team he managed a clearance at 4m30 with a strange pole. Kieran Dyer returned to the jumping pits for the first time in 2 years to compete for the club in the triple jump. Spirits were lifted as Thomas Chamney put in probably the best performance of weekend in the 800m. He ran negative splits to finish 4th in the race and 1st in the B division. Garrett Couglan ran in the 3000m and Eugene O'Neill ran in the Steeplechase. The 3000m was well won again by Rui Silva and the Steeplechase by Wesley Kiprotich. While neither ran the times they expected both will benefit from the experience as the season goes on and the deadline for their student games time approaches. Scot Thompson entered the Discus circle to throw 50m and finish in the middle of the field. The 4 x 400m team was Barry McCarron, Eoin Cummins, Thomas Chamney and Simon Kenny. Considering that 3 of the 4 had already competed that weekend and that none of them consider themselves 400m runners, their time was solid and they were not left too far behind the leaders.

A huge amount of work was done to put a team together and raise money to allow it to travel to this competition. While the B division was not as well represented as it has been in the past, everyone who took part in Crusaders AC's European Club Champions Cup effort from athletes to organiser, sponsors and supporters can be proud to say that the team came third in one of the most competitive club competitions in the world. With such an achievement under their belts the mens team, which has taken on numerous new faces in the last year, should be looking at the Mazda League as an oppurtunity to consolidate their status as the best Track & Field team in the country.