by Perri Williams
It was a day of mixed results in Anatalya, Turkey for the 2024 SPAR European Cross-Country Championships. The previous four editions of this event saw Ireland take home at least one set of team medals. However, our run of luck seem to have run out today with our highest team placing been the u23 men’s team who finished in fourth place.
On a course that seemed to favour the track athlete over the pure cross-country athlete, there were some fantastic individual performances. None more so than that of Nick Griggs (CNDR) who gave a display of grit and determination to finish second in the u23 event, looking out to Will Barnicoat (GB) who won the u20 Euro-cross last year. In that was dubbed a “thrilling finish” where Griggs and Barnicoat battled for honours in the final stages of the 6,332m race with the Briton crossing the line just under two seconds ahead of Griggs.
The exciting apotheosis to the race was as dramatic as the preliminary stages where in the first few meters Griggs tripped and fell before steadily regaining any lost momentum as he worked his way through the field of athlete. Going into the final lap there were five protagonists left in what was initially a large leading group. Indeed with 500m to go it looked like Griggs might have been struggling to maintain his position within this group. Britons David Stone made his big to become the victor, however it was Barnicoat followed by Griggs who broke away and battled for the title.
Griggs has had a phenomenal record in these championships. Starting with his debut in Dublin in 2021 he was a member of the u20 team that secured the silver team medal. One year later in Turin, he finished second individually with another silver added as the team finished second. Last year in Brussels it was a bronze individual for Nick as the team upgraded their 2022 silver to gold. With today’s silver medal, this brings his total medal tally over the last four editions to six.
Ireland’s best hopes of a team medal lay with the u23 men. Sadly, the team of Griggs, Niall Murphy, Callum Morgan, Cathal O’Rielly, Matthew Lavery and Paul Hartnett finished fourth.
Niamh Allen (Leevale) produced a stunning performance in the senior ladies. Her second place in Enniskillen a month ago just two months after giving birth to her daughter brought her into the limelight. Today in Anatalya she finished 11th, the first Irish lady home. ,Allen seemed genuinely surprised at the result in the aftermath of the race “11th is amazing, I couldn’t have expected more from myself” she stated. This was Allen’s first senior international. The senior women’s team finished 10th.
Laura Mooney (Tullamore Harriers) led the Irish ladies u23 team home with an impressive 7th place finish. Mooney was in the main pack from inception and worked hard to maintain her position in the top ten throughout. Behind her Emma McEvoy (DSD) finished 13th with the team of Mooney, McEvoy, Ava O’Connor, Lucy Holmes, Roise Roberts and Amy Greene finishing in fifth place.
Cormac Dalton (Mullingar) led the senior men’s team home with his 21st placed finish. Dalton described the latter half of the race as a “slow bleed just to get to the end”. Dalton has struggled with injuries this year but is gradually gaining some of his previous form. It was a tough day for the Irish senior men’s team as they rounded out the day in 8th place. As expected, the race was won by Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen who claimed his third senior title.
There was no joy for the Irish u20 men’s team as they finished in 9th place. There were some expectations around this team as individually the athletes have produced good performances all season. Jonas Stafford (UCD) finished 10th last year and would have hoped to at least emulate that performance. Top performer was Lughaidh Mallon (UCD) whose ability on the track probably aided his performance today. Mallon finished 26th. The team of Mallon, Noah Harris, Jonas Stafford, Cormac Dixon, Sean Quinn and Frank McGrath will have gained valuable experience from todays race that will lend itself to future growth. The ladies u20 team probably raced better than expected finishing in 6th place. First home was Anna Gardiner whose final position as 19th. The race was won by Briton Innes Fitzgerald who retained her title from last year.