Every part you might want to know concerning the European Cross Nation trials in Sefton Park on Saturday November 23
The Liverpool Cross Problem, one of the anticipated occasions within the British cross nation calendar, will happen this Saturday (November 23) at Sefton Park.
The occasion doubles because the trials for the upcoming European Cross Nation Championships with athletes aiming to safe a spot for the British workforce heading to Antalya subsequent month.
Arguably probably the most thrilling race of the day would be the senior girls’s occasion. With final yr’s winner, Megan Keith, who was competing as an under-23 athlete, lacking from the entries, the race is large open.
Abbie Donnelly, who was the primary senior girls over the road at Sefton Park in 2023, shall be searching for a victory to make sure her place in Turkey, having already clinched a bronze medal on the European Cross final yr – her first ever particular person main championships medal.
Abbie Donnelly (Getty)
Nevertheless, she faces stiff competitors from a proficient area, together with Kate Axford, the highest British finisher and third general on the Cardiff Cross Problem earlier this month, and Jessica Warner-Judd, who positioned eighth within the World Championships 10,000m and has a robust file on the occasion in earlier years.
The sphere additionally options a number of different notable athletes, akin to Cari Hughes, who was the second Brit at Cardiff, Amelia Quirk, Jess Gibbon, former Euro Cross winner Gemma Metal and 2022 World College cross nation champion Izzy Fry.
Tokyo 2021 800m finalist Alex Bell can even be becoming a member of the race after deciding to deal with cross nation and street working, shifting away from monitor and area.
Kate Axford (David Hewitson)
On the senior males’s facet, the 8km race guarantees a fierce competitors, with Hugo Milner, final yr’s winner, trying to defend his title. The triathlete completed fourth eventually yr’s Euro Cross and shall be aiming for a podium end this time spherical after securing the Nationwide cross nation title in September.
Zak Mahamed, the primary Brit in Cardiff and seventh general, can even be a robust contender, trying to enhance on his twenty seventh senior place eventually yr’s Euro Cross. Mahamed additionally gained European under-23 silver in 2022.
Different athletes to look at embrace Inter-Counties champion Calum Johnson, who made the World Cross workforce earlier this yr, Scottish cross nation champion Jamie Crowe and the Wheeler twins, Charlie and George.
British 5000m and indoor 3000m champion James West can even race, alongside high rivals akin to Rory Leonard, Ben Connor and Scott Beattie.
Zak Mahamed (Mark Shearman)
The under-23 problem appears to be like set to be led by final yr’s European under-23 champion Will Barnicoat.
On the ladies’s facet, the under-23 race seems way more open, with a number of athletes in rivalry for the highest spot. Notable names embrace Anna Hedley, Bea Wooden and Charlotte Alexander, all of whom shall be keen to say victory.
Unusually, the under-23 athletes will line up and race alongside the senior rivals however the youthful runners will cowl a shorter course and due to this fact peel off for the end at an earlier stage than the seniors.
Within the under-20 girls’s race, Innes FitzGerald, who gained the European Cross title final yr at simply 18 years previous, would be the one to beat after her dominant victory on the Cardiff Cross earlier this month.
Jess Bailey, who completed simply two seconds behind FitzGerald on the World Cross this yr, can even be a significant contender, particularly after setting a UK 5km file of 15:25 this month, knocking seven seconds off FitzGerald’s earlier mark.
Innes FitzGerald (Paul Stillman)
The junior girls’s race can even function Cardiff under-17 winner Isla McGowan, under-20 runner-up Lizzie Wellsted and Natasha Phillips, the British under-20 half-marathon record-holder.
Eliza Nicholson, who represented Britain on the World Cross, will make her return from harm, whereas Alice Bates and Zoe Gilbody can even be within the combine.
Cardiff runner-up Libby Hale can even toe the road alongside Ellarose Whitworth, who completed simply behind her in Cardiff, in addition to Olivia Forrest and Shaikira King.
Within the males’s under-20 race, Cardiff winner William Rabjohns will look to proceed his successful streak, however he’ll face stiff competitors from Henry Dover, who completed six eventually yr’s Euro Cross, and an in-form Rowan Miell-Ingram. Evan Grime and Mark Ruby, who took silver at Cardiff, can even be robust contenders.
Cardiff winner Matthew Clark shall be vying for the under-17 title, with runner-up Jack Marwood and third-place finisher Luke Dunham additionally within the combine.
The day’s motion will get underway at 10:30am with the quick course relay trials, which is able to assist to resolve the British line-up for the combined relay in Antalya.
Callum Elson, who has not too long ago returned from harm, and Josh Lay are anticipated to steer the lads’s area whereas Abbi Ives, Elise Thorner and Kirsty Walker are ones to look out for within the girls’s race. Warner-Judd, who’s coming back from fighting epilepsy throughout races earlier this yr, can be down on the entries listing.
Timetable
10:30 European males’s quick course relay trial – 1.5km
10:35 European girls’s quick course relay trial – 1.5km
10:45 U11 boys – 2km
10:55 U11 women – 2km
11:05 U13 women – 3km
11:20 U13 boys – 3km
11:35 U15 boys – 3km
11:50 U15 women – 3km
12:05 U17 Girls and World Athletics Junior Girls (U20) European trial – 4.4km
12:25 U17 Males and World Athletics Junior Males (U20) European trial – 4.4km
12:45 Senior Girls (inc U23 Girls’s European Trial) – 5.6km U23, 8km SW
13:50 Senior Males (inc U23 Males’s European Trial) – 5.6km U23, 8km SM
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