David Gillick Qualifies for European Championship 400m Semifinal

special to irishrunner.com by Randall Hawthorne and Tim O'Dowd.

Irish hammer record-holder Eileen O'Keeffe (Kilkenny City Harriers) threw in the first of two qualifying rounds. Her first throw was 62.36m followed by 65.07m and a foul on final throw. O'Keeffe, 25, finished 10th in Group A and 17th overall.

A toss of 66.81 was needed to advance, a distance that O'Keeffe surpassed on three occasions this season. O'Keeffe holds the Irish record at 69.36m from last season's Dublin International on 30th July.

O'Keeffe spoke to irishrunner.com about her day saying, "After everything that's happened this year, I'm very happy to throw 65 metres. It's been a very tough year. I've had injuries, and with a full-time job, it's hard to train after work. I got a new technique coach in May, but that's the wrong time of year to change technique, but I went back to my old methods."

Michelle Carey ran in Heat 3 of 4 in the 400m hurdle event. Carey, 25, placed fifth in her heat and did not advance to the tomorrow's semifinal. Carey ran 57.61, well off hr recent personal best of 56.31 set in Loughborough on 26th July. Carey was upbeat after the racing saying, "I had a good start to get in contention to make the semifinal, but I wasn't as strong at the end as usual. I didn't finish strong, so the semis got away. I've never been in a situation with so many good athletes out there. I need to run 55 seconds, and I haven't done that yet." Carey placed 21st out of the 32 entrants in the field.

Paul McKee had the dubious distinction of being the only athlete on the day to be placed in lane #9 and it did not gone unnoticed by the 28-year-old. He talked the lane #9 experience, "No one knew that lane 9 was going to be used. I couldn't find blocks and the heptathletes kept walking through my lane. Between 'on your marks and set,' I had to ask Eunince Barber [French heptahlete] to get out my lane, it's a disgrace." McKee ran 46.68 to place fifth in Heat 1 and did not advance to the semifinal. His time was more than a second off his seasonal best of 45.96 run at the National Championships in July at Santry.

David Gillick looked in control as placed second in Heat two just .06 behind Tim Benjamin of Great Britain. Gillick, still only 23, ran 46.16 to guarantee a spot in tomorrow's semifinal. Gillick, the reigning 400m European Indoor 400m Champion, was pleased with his race saying, "It's nice to finally run. I've been sitting around for a couple of days. I wanted to make top two so I' get a good lane for the semi rather than run third and get an outside lane."

Marian AC's Marie Davenport showed form when she ran 15.20.41 for 5,000m last month but tonight was simply not there for the USA based athlete. The race separated after just a lap and Davenport was trailing the mortal second pack. Shortly after midway, she lost contact with that pack and the downward spiral began. After the unraveling, Davenport, 31, ended up finishing 22nd in a field of 23 finishers in a depressing 33.05.48. Davenport's personal best is an impressive 31.28.78. At the brink of tears a visibly upset but polite Marie Davenport commented, "I have nothing to say except that I felt terrible."