O'Sullivan's win in Euro Team Champs 3rd Division 1500m helps Ireland gain promotion...
SILESIA, Poland--It wasn't her fastest time this season, but it was enough to do the job.
On a warm afternoon, University of Washington sophomore Sophie O'Sullivan (European Athletics photo) of Ireland went to the front from the start of the race and controlled the tempo to win the women's 1500 meters at the European Team Championships Third Division meet Thursday afternoon to score the 15 points for Ireland to clinch the team title and earn promotion to the second division of this team scoring meet in two years.
In this unique team-focused meet, the European Team Championships format has one athlete from each of the 15 countries in their division in every event, with 15 points given to first place, all the way down to 1 for 15th place.
O'Sullivan ran 4:27.98, her slowest time over 1500 meters this season, but with minimal competition from the field, it was enough to take the win.
After 400s of 73, 78, and 73, she unleashed a final 400 of 59.74 to hold off a late charge from former Michigan standout Gina McNamara of Malta, who was second in 4:28.28, and Sivan Auerbach of Israel and Oklahoma State, who was third in 4:29.11.
In the post race interview in the mixed zone, O'Sullivan said, "It was really tactical race. I just wanted to look what can I do on the last lap. I'm planning to attend U23 Championship this summer and I want to give my best. I think we're looking well and with 20.5 points advantage after this race our chances are high."
O'Sullivan's win allowed her to match mother Sonia's feat of winning the 1500 title at the European Team Championship Second Division for Ireland, though Sonia won it three times between 1993-95.
The win also cliched Ireland's promotion to the Second Division, as the Irish won the team title with 494 points, followed by Austria's 473.5 points, and Israel's 434 points. The top three countries from the third division will replace Iceland, Luxembourg & Moldova in the second division.
The First Division team championship meet begins Friday, featuring European powerhouses Great Britain, Spain, France, Germany, Finland, Poland, Greece, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and Türkiye.
You can watch the replay of O'Sullivan's race here:
O'Sullivan's UW teammate Tim Luebbert, who was third for the Huskies in the Pac-12 championships, is entered in Friday's men's triple jump at 5:22 pm local time (8:22 am in Seattle) representing Germany.
Marta Pen Freitas of the Brooks Beasts will run for Portugal in the women's 1500 on Sunday as the final individual event of the meet at 6:15 pm local time (9:15 am in Seattle).
SCHLUETER EIGHTH IN DECATHLON IN ARONA...
In Arona, Spain, Washington's Jami Schlueter finished eighth in the decathlon at the Meeting Internacional de Arona de Pruebas Combinadas last Saturday and Sunday.
Schlueter, who was fourth at the Pac-12 decathlon last month with a personal best score of 7545 points, finished with a two day total of 7253 points.
He started day 1 with marks of 11.01 in the 100, 22-10.5 (6.97m) in the long jump, 45-4.25 (13.82m) in the shot put, 5-7.75 (1.72m) in the high jump, and 49.62 in the 400.
His second day marks included a time of 15.09 in the 110 hurdles, 124-1 (37.82m) in the discus, 14-1.25 (4.30m) in the pole vault, 173-3 (52.82m) in the javelin, and 4:38.83 in the 1500.
Andreu Boix Esteve of Spain won with a final score of 7961 points.
NOTE: European Athletics and the Meeting Internacional de Arona de Pruebas Combinadas contributed to this report.
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