Elizabeth Egan | Jun 11, 2026
The race for Road to Birmingham ranking points and B standards is well and truly on, but the focus this weekend for Northern Irish athletes will be on securing national titles and Commonwealth Games selection in the final days of Glasgow 2026 qualification.
Saturday is particularly busy, with Irish athletes in action at Continental Tour meetings in the UK, Malta, France, the Netherlands and the USA, along with Cat F meetings in Dublin and London. Depending on how Thursday goes at NCAAs in Eugene, the Irish women may also be contesting for national collegiate medals.
There are a small number of meetings with Irish interest on Sunday, with Irish athletes also likely to be competing at Continental Tour meetings on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday next week.
Three Irish athletes will be competing for individual glory on the second day of the NCAA Division I Nationals in Eugene on Thursday, and while medals are unlikely, all three will be hoping to build on positive starts to 2026, and bolster their confidence ahead of this summer’s senior international championships.
Elizabeth Ndudi (long jump) and Maeve O'Neill (800m) broke national senior indoor records earlier in the year. Both have Athletics Ireland B standards for Birmingham, but are currently outside the quota spots.
They will be competing for ranking points in the weeks ahead, but Thursday’s challenge will be to perform at or above their current NCAA ranking status. O’Neill is ranked 16th in the NCAA and 13th of those competing; nine will make it to Saturday’s final. Ndudi is ranked 20th, and 13th of those competing.
Lauren Roy has already achieved the qualification standard for Birmingham in the 200m, the distance she will contest here, and is within quota, with the B standard, for the 100m. She also has Commonwealth Games consideration standards at both distances. Currently second on the Irish all-time lists for 100m and 200m, Roy is ranked =22nd of the 24 qualifiers, based on season’s best.
On Wednesday, Sean Aigboboh helped his University of Houston 4x100m relay team qualify for Friday’s final. They finished second in their heat, and recorded the third fastest time across the three heats.
Lucy-May Sleeman will also be racing in the 4x100m relay. Her Florida State University team race in the heats on Thursday. The final is on Saturday. They are ranked tenth.
The Northern Ireland selection window for the 2026 Commonwealth Games will close at midnight on Sunday, and the team will be selected early next week. Before then, athletes have one final opportunity to achieve nomination standards, and to win an Ulster and Northern Ireland Senior Championships title.
If the start lists are anything to go by, some cracking races could be expected. Nick Griggs and James Gormley, who both hold qualification standards over the mile and 5000m, are entered in the 800m, alongside Andrew Thompson who did better the 800m standard last summer, but not in a World Athletics calendar meeting.
Callum Morgan, the third man who has bettered the 5000m nomination standard is entered for the 1500m, while the women’s 200m could see Arlene Crossan, Rachel McCann, Jenna Breen and Michelle Duggan go head-to-head, though Breen and Duggan are also entered in the 400m, and Crossan is also down for the 100m.
Anna McCauley, who, alongside Kate O'Connor, has exceeded the Heptathlon standard is entered for Javelin and Shot Put, while Finn O’Neill, who’ll be hoping for selection in the Decathlon, is entered in the Pole Vault and the Shot Put.
Other field event entries of note are in-form Discus Thrower Anna Gavigan, former national shot put record holder John Kelly, Ashleigh McCardle (Javelin and Shot Put) and Thomas Williams (Hammer Throw). Sommer Lecky is entered for the High Jump both here and at a competition in France also on Saturday. It’s unclear which she will do.
James Dunne is entered for the 1500m at the USATF Distance Classic, which is being held alongside the LA Grand Prix, a Continental Tour Gold meeting. Dunne continues to search for the form that saw him run 3:35.17 last May, before injury derailed his progress.
Lauren Callaghan and Sophie Meredith are both on the long jump startlist at Meeting Nikaia (Continental Tour Bronze). Both have jumped personal bests this season, and will be looking to continue their progress and pick up some ranking points.
Ruby Millet, who made a winning return to long jumping after an absence of almost three years, is entered for Gouden Spike (Continental Tour Challenger) in the Netherlands. She’ll be looking to at least replicate the 6.38m she jumped last weekend.
Fintan Dewhirst will be looking to build on the 51.93 he ran to win the IUAA Intervarsity 400m hurdles title in April when he takes to the start line at the EAP Malta International (Continental Tour Challenger). His personal best is 51.19 from May 2024, but he’ll also have his sights on the 50.81 PB his younger brother Ethan ran earlier this season.
This has already been a good summer for Irish female high jumpers, and both Sommer Lecky and Aoife O'Sullivan will look to exceed 1.80m when they take part in the Envol Trophee (Continental Tour Challenger) in France. Lecky, who has a best of 1.90m, cleared 1.79m in Granada earlier this month, while O’Sullivan, unbeaten in six competitions this year, has a season’s best of 1.78.
There are more than 30 Irish athletes on the start lists for the British Milers Club Grand Prix (Continental Tour Challenger) in Loughborough. Among them are Eimear Maher, Saoirse Fitzgerald, Jo-Lauren Keane and Callum Hurley who will compete over 800m, Niall Murphy, Amy O'Donoghue and Niamh Carr at 1500m and Jamie Battle and Ella Fennelly, both entered for 3000m.
Among those entered for the fifth Dublin Graded Meeting of the year are Orla Comerford, Mollie O'Reilly and Katie Bergin in the 200m, Conor Cusack in the Javelin and Eoin Sheridan and Michael Healy in the Discus Throw.
Two meetings in London on Saturday with Irish interest are the BFTTA Outdoor Series 3 meeting where Marcus Lawler, Max O'Reilly, Paul Costelloe and Cliodhna Manning are all entered, and The London 5000m, for which Diarmuid Fagan, Fennelly (also entered at Loughborough, see above), Emily Haggard-Kearney and Patricia Jackman hold an entry.
Benjamin Richardson, who will be eligible to represent Ireland in August 2027, is entered for both the 100m and 200m at the Dromia Sprint and Relays Meeting (Continental Tour Silver) in Greece.
A small number of athletes are also entered for the BAUHAUS Juniors-Gala in Mannheim.
Sunday looks like a calmer day for fans, but those competing will be looking to generate a storm of their own.
Fresh from her 11.31 personal best in London on Tuesday, Ciara Neville will be racing for ranking points when she competes in the 100m at the Folksam Grand Prix in Sollentuna, Sweden, a Continental Tour Bronze meeting.
Eric Favors (Shot Put) and Niamh Fogarty (Discus) will be looking for some form in the throwing circles in Sollentuna. Favors, whose place at the European Championships looks secured, will now be looking to travel to Birmingham in the best shape possible.
Fogarty, however, has some work to do if she is to make her first major international as a senior. Her Irish record of 58.40m is further than the Athletics Ireland B standard of 57.80m, but she has yet to get close to that within the qualification window.
Clodagh Walsh is entered for Vault Manchester, while Daena Kealy is due to high jump at the BIG on Tour jumps meeting at the University of Birmingham.
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