There are four Irish athletes slated to compete at the upcoming 2006 NCAA Track and Field Championships. The Championships begin on Wednesday, 7th June culminating on Saturday, 10th June in Sacramento, California at the A.G. Spanos Sports Complex on the campus of the Sacramento State Hornets.

Despite Ireland recently being touted as the Land of Sprinters due to the successes of reigning World Indoor 60-metre hurdle Gold Medallist Derval O'Rourke and the exploits of 400m duo Paul McKee and David McCarthy at the 2003 World Indoor Championships; the four athletes at the NCAA Championships are all competing in the middle-distance and distance events.

The first Irish runner to compete will be University of Notre Dame junior Thomas Chamney in the 800 metres. Chamney, 22, is ranked #15 among entrants at the Championships.

In spite of being bothered by a mid-season illness, Chamney ran a personal best of 1.48.47 at the Georgia Tech Invitational in Atlanta, Georgia on 13th May.

Chamney, from Clonmel, Co Tipperary, will race in the opening round on Wednesday, 7th June.

In order to advance to Thursday's Semifinal, Chamney will have to finish in the top three from his heat or move through as one of the four fastest losers. The final takes place on Saturday, 10th June at 12.15 PDT and will be televised live in America.

The last Irish runner to compete at 800 metres at the Outdoor NCAA Championships was Harvard's Darren Dinneen (Blarney, Co. Cork) who placed eighth in the fastest 800m final ever on 2nd June in Durham, North Carolina. Dinneen finished with a personal best and Harvard school record of 1.47.35.

Next up for the Irish at the NCAA meet is Providence College senior Mary Cullen in the women's 5,000m qualifying race, also taking place on Wednesday. Cullen is seeded second behind Big East rival, Molly Huddle from Notre Dame.

Cullen, the reigning Irish Champion in the 5,000m, also qualified for the 10,000-metre event where she was seeded #2 as well but opted for the 5k.

Cullen, 23, should easily qualify as one of the top six finishers for Friday night's final setting up a showdown with Huddle. Cullen, a Sligo native, will be hoping that the third time is a charm. She lost to Huddle when she ran both her 5,000m (15.41.43) and 10,000m (32.39.59) personal bests during this outdoor campaign.

After the NCAA Championships, Cullen will focus on training for the European Championships in Göteborg in August.

The third Irish athlete to compete will be Deirdre Byrne in the 1,500 metres on Thursday, 8th June.

Byrne, who competed for Providence College as an undergraduate now runs for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in California as a graduate student. Byrne, 23, is seeded 5th in the 1,500m with her seasonal best 4.17.74.

Byrne, from Avoca, Co Wicklow, qualified for the Championships by placing fifth at the West Region Championships held in Provo, Utah on 27th May.

In order to qualify for Saturday's final, Byrne must finish in the top 4 from her heat or be one of the plus next four fastest losers.

The fourth Irish athlete to compete will be the first to race in a final. Martin Fagan, a senior at Providence College will take to the track in the 10,000 metres, the last event on Thursday evening's programme.

Fagan, who ran a brilliant 5,000 metre race at the East Region, opted for the longer race where he hopes to get a European Standard of 28.50.00.

Whilst Fagan goes into the event ranked 22nd, he should be much more of a factor than that number indicates. Fagan, who turns 23 on the 23rd of June, qualified for the event with his 29.00.37 run at Stanford on 31st March, arguably his only sub-par race of the season where he laboured with a stitch for the last three kilometres.

Fagan comes into the race with confidence. He ran the last kilometre of his recent 5,000m in 2.30, that's four-minute mile pace! Fagan already has a European qualifier in the 5,000 metres and therefore should feel no pressure in the 10k at the NCCA meet.

For the first time in recent memory, Coach John McDonnell's Arkansas Razorback squad is not entering the meet as prohibitive favourite in the team competition. McDonnell, who hailed from Crossmolina, Co Mayo, is in a rare rebuilding year and is forecast to finish fifth overall.

Other Irish coaches include Providence College's Ray Treacy (Villierstown, Co Waterford) with four athletes, the aforementioned Irish pair, Cullen and Fagan along with sophomore Max Smith (Dunedin, New Zealand) in the 1,500m and graduate student Aine Hoban (Wakefield, England) in the 10,000 metres.

Dubliner Mick Byrne has three athletes with Tim Bayley (Brighton, England) in the 800m and a pair of runners in the 5,000-metre event with Stephen Chemlany (Kapsokwony, Kenya) in the 5,000m and one of the top contenders, Richard Kiplagat from Marakwet, Kenya.

Corkman Marcus O'Sullivan's Villanova Wildcats have three women competing with Monique Morgna (100m hurdles) with Frances Koons and Marina Muncan, who is among the favourites in the 1,500 metres.