Every thing it’s worthwhile 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 group heading to Antalya subsequent month.
Arguably essentially the most thrilling race of the day would be the senior ladies’s occasion. With final 12 months’s winner, Megan Keith, who was competing as an under-23 athlete, lacking from the entries, the race is vast open.
Abbie Donnelly, who was the primary senior ladies over the road at Sefton Park in 2023, might be on the lookout for a victory to make sure her place in Turkey, having already clinched a bronze medal on the European Cross final 12 months – her first ever particular person main championships medal.
Abbie Donnelly (Getty)
Nonetheless, she faces stiff competitors from a proficient subject, 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 powerful file on the occasion in earlier years.
The sphere additionally options a number of different notable athletes, resembling 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 will even be becoming a member of the race after deciding to give attention to cross nation and highway operating, transferring away from monitor and subject.
Kate Axford (David Hewitson)
On the senior males’s aspect, the 8km race guarantees a fierce competitors, with Hugo Milner, final 12 months’s winner, trying to defend his title. The triathlete completed fourth eventually 12 months’s Euro Cross and might 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, will even be a powerful contender, trying to enhance on his twenty seventh senior place eventually 12 months’s Euro Cross. Mahamed additionally received European under-23 silver in 2022.
Different athletes to observe embody Inter-Counties champion Calum Johnson, who made the World Cross group earlier this 12 months, Scottish cross nation champion Jamie Crowe and the Wheeler twins, Charlie and George.
British 5000m and indoor 3000m champion James West will even race, alongside prime opponents resembling Rory Leonard, Ben Connor and Scott Beattie.
Zak Mahamed (Mark Shearman)
The under-23 problem seems to be set to be led by final 12 months’s European under-23 champion Will Barnicoat.
On the ladies’s aspect, the under-23 race seems far more open, with a number of athletes in rivalry for the highest spot. Notable names embody Anna Hedley, Bea Wooden and Charlotte Alexander, all of whom might be keen to assert victory.
Unusually, the under-23 athletes will line up and race alongside the senior opponents 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 ladies’s race, Innes FitzGerald, who received the European Cross title final 12 months at simply 18 years outdated, 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 12 months, will even be a serious 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 ladies’s race will even characteristic 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 damage, whereas Alice Bates and Zoe Gilbody will even be within the combine.
Cardiff runner-up Libby Hale will 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 12 months’s Euro Cross, and an in-form Rowan Miell-Ingram. Evan Grime and Mark Ruby, who took silver at Cardiff, will even be sturdy contenders.
Cardiff winner Matthew Clark might 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 can assist to determine the British line-up for the combined relay in Antalya.
Callum Elson, who has lately returned from damage, and Josh Lay are anticipated to guide the boys’s subject whereas Abbi Ives, Elise Thorner and Kirsty Walker are ones to look out for within the ladies’s race. Warner-Judd, who’s coming back from scuffling with epilepsy throughout races earlier this 12 months, can be down on the entries record.
Timetable
10:30 European males’s quick course relay trial – 1.5km
10:35 European ladies’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 Ladies and World Athletics Junior Ladies (U20) European trial – 4.4km
12:25 U17 Males and World Athletics Junior Males (U20) European trial – 4.4km
12:45 Senior Ladies (inc U23 Ladies’s European Trial) – 5.6km U23, 8km SW
13:50 Senior Males (inc U23 Males’s European Trial) – 5.6km U23, 8km SM
» Extra occasion data right here
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