Sligo's Mary Cullen took fourth place in the Senior Women's race at the European Cross-Country Championships in Brussels.
Cullen was in the leading bunch from the beginning and as the field spread she settled in third position and was in with a chance of a medal with a lap to go.
However, she was beaten to the line by Ines Monteiro from Portugal but still took an excellent fourth place in a time of 28.04.
Kenyan-born Dutch runner Hilda Kibet won the race ahead of Jessica Augusto in second.
After the race Cullen said: 'I am thrilled to finish fourth today. It has been a tough year for me but I went for the race from the start and kept fighting until the end.
'I found the conditions a lot more challenging than I am used to so I felt myself fighting back on the smoother sections. Today I think I have shown I can mix it with the best and it makes me hungry to finish on the podium in Dublin next year.'
Next best for the Irish was Deirdre Byrne who finished in 29th position with the Irish senior women's team finishing in ninth overall.
Ukrainian athlete Serhiy Lebid won his eighth European cross-country title.
Lebid beat home Great Britain runner Mohamed Farah while Mostafa Mohamed of Sweden was third.
Mullingar's Martin Fagan was in the leading pack before a slip on lap three left him on his knees and he dropped down the field eventually finishing in 24th in a time of 31.57.
The next best of the Irish was Alan McCormack in 32nd, with the team finishing seventh overall.
Impressive showing from Irish juniors
Ireland's Junior women's team finished in fourth place at the championships.
Sara Treacy (Moynalvey/Kilcoole AC) was the highest finisher of the Irish in 12th position and she was joined by Charlotte Ffrench O'Carroll (Dundrum South Dublin) and Ciara Mageean (Lisburn AC) in 15th and 17th respectively.
The event was won by Great Britain who claimed the top six places.
The junior men's team did not fair as well with the highest finisher being Criag Murphy (Togher AC) in 19th position and the team finished in eighth position.
The U-23 women's team matched the earlier result of the junior team as they also finished fourth.
The team were led by Linda Byrne (Dundrum South Dublin), who was the highest Irish finisher in tenth place.
Next best was Roseanne Galligan (Newbridge AC) who finished 21st, just ahead of team-mate Ciara Durkan (Skerries AC) who came in 23rd.
It was another disappointing performance from the men as the U-23 team finished eighth overall. Best of the performances was David McCarthy, who came in 24th position.
