Morland forced to retire from World Championships

There was heartbreak for Cushinstown’s Elizabeth Morland as she was forced to withdraw from the IAAF World u-20 Championships hepathlon on Poland yesterday due to a knee injury suffered after the high jump.
Morland was in ninth place after two events of the heptathlon. She had clocked 13.84 for the 100m hurdles and 1.68m in the high jump. The Meath schoolgirl finished 10th at the World Youth championships last year and looked on course for an improved placing.
Morland ran in Heat Three of the 100m hurdles on Thursday and finished fifth in 13.84. The top seven finishers in heat three posted the seven fastest times as Morland picked up 1001 points for her impressive fifth place overall.
Off the back of that run Morland went into the High Jump in good form, but she was clearly short of her best as she posted a leap of 1.68, but failed at three attempts at 1.71 and had to settle for fifth in her group and 830 points. Morland’s PB for the High Jump is 1.77m.
In ninth position after the opening two events Morland could reasonably have expected to push on and improve, but injury hampered her progression and she was forced to withdraw from the Shot Putt and 200m on Thursday and will not compete in the Long Jump, Javelin and 800m today.
The former Skryne footballer set a new Irish Hepathlon record at the National Championships this year when she tallied 5545 points and her marks were: 100m Hurdles - 13.92; High Jump - 1.70m; Shot Putt - 10.53m; 200m - 24.95; Long Jump - 5.75m; Javelin - 39.84m; 800m - 2:21.22. Similar performances in Poland would have left her close to a medal finish.
Morland was the Meath Chronicle/Cusack Hotel Group Young Sportsperson of the Year in 2013.