McIlroy is named in Commonwealth squad

He is one of twenty six athletes named by the Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games Council this week. Also included in the team, as exclusively revealed in last week's Newtownabbey Times, is Monkstown ABC heavyweight boxer Steven Ward. Ballyclare High School pupil Joanna Mills and Glengormley girl Christine McMahon are also off to India as part of a relay team.

McIlroy, an Olympic 800m semi-finalist in 2000 recorded an 800m season's best of 1.48.83 in Dublin recently. He finished sixth in the Commonwealth 800m final in Manchester in 2002 and will be looking to rectify a disappointing Games in Melbourne.

He was left relying on selectors picking him after missing out on the qualifying mark at last month's Northern Ireland's BMC meeting.

McIlroy ran in the 1500m at the meet in Belfast, but finished a disappointing ninth in 3:44.90 which was 4.9 seconds over the qualifying time.

Joanna Mills and Christine McMahon make up half of a young relay team which also includes Katie Kirk and Jo Patterson. The quartet recorded a time of 3 minutes 40.40 seconds at the Antrim Forum recently which is the second fastest ever and just outside the longstanding 1996 record of 3.40.12. The various team members have all recorded individual 400m times of less than 55 seconds.

Ballynure swimmer Conor Leaney, who came third in the Commonwealth Youth Games 50m freestyle and competed in the 2009 World Championships setting an Irish Junior record, was Northern Ireland's first male swimmer to qualify for the games earlier this year.

In shooting, talented marksman Matthew Hall, from Larne, will also be competing at the Delhi event which takes place in October.