by Perri Williams
𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
This Sunday December 8th, the 30th edition of the spar European Cross Country will be held in Anatalya, Turkey. As with previous editions it promises to bring some excellent racing, surprises and even mishaps. Celebrating 30 years of the event marks a milestone in European Cross Country running and will serve as a mark of distinction for those who not only take their place on the line, but ultimately those who stand on the podium. A few weeks ago Run Republic reviewed the last thirty years. This can be found here.
Ireland is sending a team of 36 athletes that will compete in the ladies and men’s u20, u23 and senior races. Our recent history of medaling in the Euro-cross has proved fruitful and there is the expectation that some of our individuals and teams are very capable of doing so in Anatalya. Due to the time zone it will be an early start with the ladies event kicking of at 8am Irish time.
U20 Ladies 8am
Great Britain’s Innes FitzGerald (GB) the reigning u20 European Cross Country champion is the pre-race favourite. Fitzgerald produced a dominant performance at last years Euro Cross in Brussels with a 19 second victory margin. This year she is aiming to become the fourth lady in the 27-year history of the event to claim back to back titles. The top three from last year are all set for a cross-country reunion in Anatalya. Denmark’s Sofia Thøgersen and France’s Jade Le Corre, who finished second and third respectively in 2023, will seek another challenge on FitzGerald. Great Britain looks like the team to beat with Fitzgerald being joined by last years number eight finisher Jess Bailey. Incidentally Great Britain have a phenomenal record in this event winning seventeen of the previous twenty-six u20 ladies team titles.
Irish interest lies in the team of Lucy Foster (Willowfield Harriers), Annabel Morrison (Enniskillen), Avril Millerick (Youghal), Eva Bartlett (Lagan Valley), Caitlin Hughes (Swinford) and Anna Gardiner (North Down). Gardiner finished seventh in last years. All eyes will be on Lucy Foster after her mind-blowing performance at the recent u20 nationals in Castle Irvine. Can the Willowfield athlete break into the top ten? Her race two weeks ago suggests she can.
U20 Men 8.29am
Over the past few years, the junior(u20) men have been our preserve for success. It remains our strongest hope of a team medal for this Sunday’s race in Anatalya. We are heading to the Turkish city as defending champions. The team of Jonas Stafford (UCD), Frank McGrath (Lagan Valley), Sean Quinn (DSD), Noah Harris (Parnell), Lughaidh Mallon (UCD) and Cormac Dixon (Tallaght) are in good shape with some of the team aiming for top ten finishes. While the 2023 bronze medallist Nick Griggs now moves up to the u23s, the team does retain the 10th placed finisher from 2023, Jonas Stafford. In Enniskillen, Stafford made a bold statement regarding his recent form as he sprinted for home, to take his first u20 National Cross-Country title. The injuries that plagued him early in 2024 have been healed and he intends to make an indent into that top ten. Behind him Frank McGrath and Sean Quinn (the latter who has regained some form since Enniskillen) also have high aspirations. On the team front Ireland will have to shake off a very strong British and Dutch team to secure the gold medals.
Neils Laros (Netherlands) will start as the favourite in this race. Last year, Laros was narrowly defeated by the 2021 champion Axel Vang Christensen in a thrilling sprint finish. With Vang Christensen now moving to the u23s, this leaves Laros with aspirations of becoming the 2024 champion. The Dutchman has had an exceptional season; 6th in the Olympic Games over 1500m, a world and European u23 1000m record set on home territory in Hengelo and of course the European u20 1500m record of 3:29.56. Other names to look out for are: Sweden’s Karl Ottfalk. Ottfalk was just 17 when he finished fourth last year. He has shown considerable improvements on the track his summer including a sixth-place finish at the world u20 championships in the 3000m. Great Britain’s Henry Dover won the recent trials in Liverpool and will be returning to Anatalya to better his sixth-place from 2023. Another returning athlete will be the 2023 seventh place finisher Belgium’s Hugo Jeukenne. Jonas Stafford for one, will want to get the better of these athletes this time around. Don’t discount the u18 pair of Filip Toul (Czechia) and Aldin Catovic (Serbia) who took gold in the 1500m and 3000m respectively at the European Under-18 Championships in Slovakia a few months ago.
U23 Ladies 9.25am
The name Ilona Mononen (Finland) seems to be uttered in all athletics circles as the favourite for the individual honours, especially with the absence of the 2023 champion Megan Keith. Mononen finished runner-up to Keith in Brussels last year. The 20-year-old has had a momentous 2024 season, first setting a national record of 9:23.28 in the 3000m steeplechase in Rome at the European Championships. In August she competed in the 3000m steeplechase at the Olympics in Paris. Knocking on her doors will be Spain’s Angela Viciosa and Maria Foreor. Viciosa missed out on bronze to Finland’s Nathalie BlomQvist in Brussels and will be keen to go one better this year.
Ireland’s team will be without Oregon based Anika Thompson, who will switch her focus to the indoors. Danielle Donegan who finished 10th last year will be moving up to senior. The team will be headed by the newly crowned u23 champion Emma McEvoy who is determined to finish in the top 10. McEvoy will be joined by the experienced Laura Mooney (Tullamore Harriers). Mooney has competed in the 2021 and 2022 European Cross Country. Amy Greene competed in the u20s in Brussels last year and together with Roise Roberts (CNDR), Lucy Holmes (West Waterford) and Ava O’Connor (Tullamore Harriers) they make up the remaining team members.
U23 Men 10.00am
The Irish u23 team is another team that aspire to take podium medals. Nick Griggs who finished 3rd in the u20 race last year along with Niall Murphy (Ennis Track) who was 9th will be moving up as the newbies into this category. Murphy was impressive at the Nationals two weeks ago where he earned a silver medal. While the team may be young, they do have the determination to succeed. Both Griggs and Cathal O’Rielly (KCH) were members of a young u20 team that took medals in Dublin in 2021. O’Rielly was impressive in Enniskillen where he secured bronze. The remainder of the team are Matthew Lavery (North Belfast Harriers), Paul Hartnett (East Cork), and Callum Morgan (CNDR).
Britain have traditionally dominated the u23 men’s race with Charles Hicks finishing just ahead of Darragh McIlhenny in Dublin in 2021 and retaining his title in Piedmont in 2022. In 2023 Will Barnicoat swapped his 2022 u20 gold for the u23 title.. However he was beaten in the trials in Liverpool by David Stone who is returning to form after a two-year hiatus due to injury. However, both will have to watch out for Axel Vang Christensen (Denmark) who no doubt will seek to emulate Barnicoats u20 to u23 gold medal upgrade. Great Britain with the in-form Barnicoat and Stone are our pick for the team title.
Senior Ladies 10.31am
The burning question for most in this race is can Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal retain her title and secure four consecutive Senior European Cross-Country victories. Or will the very much in-form Italian Nadia Battocletti (the 2023 runner-up) be the one to stop her?
Grøvdal has been one of Europe’s most successful Cross-Country runners. As pointed out by Run Republic on our 22 Nov article "European Cross-Country - Celebrating 30 years of Success" the Norweigan has an astounding and record-breaking 10 individual medals at the Euro Cross. She won the u20 title in Dublin in 2019 and has since then taken the 2021, 2022 and 2023 senior titles. Battocletti on the other hand in the 2021 u23 winner and was runner-up last year to Grøvdal. However, the Italian has been unstoppable in her accolades this year. In June in Rome, in front of a home crowd she claimed both the 5000m and 10,000m European titles. She then took silver in the 10,000m at the Paris Olympics.
While Ireland does not have our strongest possible team, the senior ladies has been our most prolific medal-winning team through the years. They have on occasions produced team medals when one was not expected. The team will be headed by the national champion Ann Marie McGlynn (Letterkenny) who surprised even herself in Enniskillen two weeks ago. McGlynn together with last years u23 tenth place finisher Danielle Donegan (Tullamore), Mary Mulhare (Portlaoise) and Fiona Everard (Bandon) bring a wealth of European Cross-Country experience into the team which also includes newcomers Niamh Allen (Leevale) and Cheryl Nolan (St Abban’s).
Senior Men 11.11am
Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Norway) in his usual Jakobesque way has made no secret of his intention to win yet another European Cross-Country title. The Norwegian who missed 2023 due to an Achilles tendon injury has already won the 2021 and 2022 Senior titles along with four consecutive u20 titles from 2016 to 2019. He will be joined on the team by his older brother Filip, the 2018 champion. Last year’s individual silver medallist Magnus Tuv Myhre completes the Norwegian line-up making them strong contenders for the team title. The defending team champions Belgium may have a say in that, as last years bronze individual medallist Robin Hendrix will be included in this year’s strong Belgian line up. Other members of the 2023 Belgian team competing this weekend are John Heymans (6th in 2023) and Isaac Kimeli (11th in 2023).
Getting past Ingebrigtsen for a shot of the title will be several athletes aim this year. Especially the defending champion France’s Yann Schrub. Schrun finished second in the European Senior 10,000m in Rome this year. However, the much shorter distance of this year’s race at 7,834m may place him at a disadvantage. Schrub was the third man home in the recent Cross Le Maine Libre Allonnes Sarthe where the winner was Jimmy Gressler. Gressler has declined a place on this year’s French team as he focuses on road running this winter. He has pencilled in the 10km at the inaugural European Running Championships in Brussels-Leuven next April.
Spain's Thierry Ndikumwenayo is another athlete to watch in Anatalya. The Spaniard claimed a bronze medal over 10,000m bronze medallist at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome and was a recent winner of the prestigious Cross Internacional de Italica in Seville, a World Athletics Cross Country Tour Gold meeting. Additionally, he was the top European, finishing in7th at the World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade earlier this year.
Ireland will be led by national champion Keelan Kilrehill (Moy Valley) who is showing a recent display of excellent form. He will be joined on the team by Cormac Dalton (Mullingar) who is getting fitter with each passing week. Dalton finished 8th in last years Euro-cross but did struggle with injuries throughout this year. Kilrehill and Dalton will be joined by Efrem Gidey (Clonliffe Harriers), Sean Tobin (Clonmel), William Fitzgerald (Craughwell), and Pierre Murchan (Dublin City Harriers). The Irish team finished fourth in Brussels last year with both Dalton and Kilrehill members.