AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS - Three former Iona College women’s cross country / track & field standouts are headed to Olympic Stadium to compete in the 2016 European Athletics Championships this week (Jul. 6-10).Kate Avery and Rosie Clarke represent Great Britain while Tara Jameson races for Ireland. Avery and Jameson compete in the 10,000-meter final Wednesday (Jul. 6) and Clarke is in the 3,000-meter steeplechase semifinal Friday (Jul. 8).
Avery is one of three representatives for Great Britain in the 10k final. Avery was the third British woman to cross the line at the de facto England Athletics & UK Championships, in an event named the Highgate Harriers Night of the 10,000m PBs on May 21, 2016. Due to the proximity in time between the British National Championships and the European Championships, the British 10k crown is awarded at this event. Avery ran a season-best time of 32:11.84. Under England Athletics rules, only the first two finishers at the event were guaranteed a place on the Rio Olympic team. Avery has the opportunity to make her mark, and make the Olympic squad with a strong showing at the European Championships as she has run and Olympic qualifying time on multiple occasions, including a personal best 31:41.44 as a member of the Gaels at the Payton Jordan Invitational on May 2, 2015.
Avery had a remarkable junior campaign for the Gaels in 2014-15. She won the 2014 NCAA Cross Country championship becoming Iona's first female NCAA Champion and the first British woman to claim an NCAA Division I cross country title. In the spring, Avery was fourth at the NCAA Outdoor 5k Championship in Eugene, OR. She is qualified for her first European and World Championships in 2015.
Avery's former running mate serves as competition in the 10k event. Jameson, representing Ireland, completed a stellar Iona career last month with two All-America honors at the NCAA Championships. Earning her undergraduate degree in 2014, she finished her masters in Financial Management and Information Systems this May. Jameson is one of two Irish Athletes among the 21 European competitors in the 10k event. She was seventh in the 10k at the 2016 NCAA Championships in Eugene and led the pack with two laps remaining leading to an exciting finish. The seventh place finish was good for First Team All-America. Two days later she finished 16th in the 5,000-meter event.
Jameson competes in her first European Championships. Her personal best time in the 10k came last month at NCAAs (32:52.92). She needs to lower her time to the Olympic standard of 32:15 to have a chance to represent Ireland in Rio.
Clarke represents Great Britain in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Just last Sunday (Jun. 26), Clarke won the British National Championship in the event with a personal best time of 9:52.20. With the finish she qualifies for the English Olympic team, however, she needs to earn an Olympic standard qualifying time of 9:45.00 in order to race in Rio.
In her one season in Maroon & Gold, Clarke was the runner up at the 2014 NCAA Northeast Regional Cross Country Championship, finishing behind Avery in the event. She finished 60th at the NCAA Championship that season, helping to lead Iona to a ninth-place team finish, the program's first Top 10 team performance at the event. She earned All-America honors in the NCAA indoor mile in 2015 and competed in the NCAA Outdoor 1,500-meter Championship later in the Spring.
The 10,000-meter final is set to take place at 1:00 pm ET Wednesday (Jul. 6). The first round of the 3,000-meter steeple chase takes place Friday (Jul. 8) at 7:30 am ET with the final set for 10:55 am Sunday (Jul. 10) morning.