The University of Birmingham hosts an evening of high-class athletics on June 21st when the illustrious Ivy League meeting takes place on campus for the 12th time.

The University of Birmingham’s, Championship winning athletics squad will compete against the best athletes from two American Ivy League colleges, Cornell and Penn Universities. For the first time this year the meeting will also feature a team from the Irish high performance centre in Limerick.

 Both Cornell and Penn Universities boast extremely strong teams. Cornell have won three of the last four Ivy league Championships, while Penn’s team includes Courtney Jaworski, who was named “athlete of the meet” at the 2006 Ivy League Championship.

The Ivy League meeting has been a fixture on the University’s sporting calender for more than fourty years. It was set up to allow athletes from the US to meet and compete with their British counterparts as well as to encourage friendship between students.

University Sport Birmingham Athletics Head Coach and UK Athletics National Marathon Coach Bud Baldaro says, "We are very excited about the impending visit of our American and Irish friends from Penn, Cornell and Limerick. It’s great that in the 21st century we are maintaining the Ivy League tradition, fostering both student friendship and athletic excellence. This is always a fiercely contested fixture and a great opportunity for our athletes to test themselves against some outstanding international competition. We owe great thanks to RLF for sponsoring Ivy League 2006 and ensuring the successful continuation of this Anglo American fixture.”

The competition starts at 17.00 and spectators are encouraged to come and support the event and witness some top-level championship athletes in the making. Entrance to the University track on campus costs £1 and there will be refreshments available on site. Parking is available in the North Car Park on Pritchatts Road. For any further information contact John Mulcahy on 0121 415 8213 or j.m.mulcahy@bham.ac.uk.

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Notes to Editors:

THE IVY LEAGUE MEET

The Ivy League meeting has been held every four years since 1962. It brings together athletes from two of the seven American Ivy League Colleges (Penn and Cornell) with the best athletes from the University of Birmingham.

ATHLETICS AT THE UNIVERSITY BIRMINGHAM

The USB (University Sport Birmingham) team are the current British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) cross country champions. The University has numerous past and present BUSA athletics champions and senior Olympic medallists along with 12 current elite government and scholarship funded young athletes.

 Further information: Lucy Hood - PR, Media and Promotions Officer, University Sport Birmingham tel: 0121 414 2662 / email: l.hood@bham.ac.uk

Rachel Robson – Head of News Team, University of Birmingham tel: 0121 414 6681 / mob: 07789 921165 / email: r.a.robson@bham.ac.uk