There were several outstanding performances at the European cross country championships in Brussels today Mary Cullen was in a confident and battling mood in the senior women’s race. Well placed from the start she took the lead at an early stage and continued to dominate the pace. As the race progressed she faded a little, but continued to fight for the bronze medal. It was not to be however and she finished the race an excellent fourth, so very close to a cherished bronze medal. This was a brave and exciting run by the Sligo woman. Martin Fagan was running his usual aggressive race at the head of the senior men’s field until disaster struck about 4k into the race. Turning a sharp corner he fell, and even though he picked himself up quickly, he was a different runner, and the bite was gone from his challenge.
Irish cross country champion Linda Byrne was another to lead at an early stage. Competing in the under 23 contest she took on the field from the start but faded as the race progressed to finish a commendable 10th.
Behind her there was good movement by two of the Irish team. After one lap Roseanne Galligan was 34th and Ciara Durkin 44th. A lap later Durkin was 26th and Galligan 28th. After the third lap Galligan was 24th, one place ahead of Durkin, while at the finish Galligan was up to 21st and Durkin 23rd. The Irish team was a good fourth.
David McCarthy was well placed in tenth place during the early stages of the under 23 race. However, the effects of a hard American collegiate season took its toll and he faded back to finish 24th.
The junior women’s race saw three top twenty placings by Irish runners, with Sara Treacy leading the way in 12th, Charlotte Ffrench O’Carroll 15th and Ciara Mageean 17th. Ireland finished fourth team.
Both Michael Mulhare and Craig Murphy were towards the head of the field in the early stages of the junior men’s race, but lost ground as the race progressed, with Murphy finishing best in 19th.
Junior Women
1 TWELL, Stephanie GBR 13:28
2 PURDUE, Charlotte GBR 13:39
3 HOWARTH, Lauren GBR 13:55
Team Result
1 GBR 10
TWELL, Stephanie 1
PURDUE, Charlotte 2
HOWARTH, Lauren 3
PIDGEON, Emily 4
PALLANT, Emma (5)
PARK, Laura (6)
2 UKR 58
3 RUS 62
4 IRL 77
TREACY, Sara 12
FFRENCH O’CARROLL, Charlotte 15
MAGEEAN, Ciara 17
MCCARTHY, Lorraine 33
JAMESON, Tara (54)
FFRENCH O’CARROLL, Rebecca (60)
Junior Men
1 CARVALHO, Florian FRA 18:42
2 MOEN, Sondre Nordstad NOR 18:47
3 CHAHDI, Hassan FRA 18:49
Team Result
1 FRA 50
2 NOR 51
3 GBR 52
4 TUR 79
5 ESP 89
6 GER 93
7 BEL 102
8 IRL 169
MURPHY, Craig 19
WARD, Ian 40
FLYNN, David 51
MULHARE, Michael 59
FLYNN, Patrick (84)
QUINN, Shane DNF
U23 women
1 KUIJKEN, Susan NED 21:02
2 TUNSTALL, Sarah GBR 21:10
3 ZARUDNEVA, Yuliya RUS 21:24
Team Result
1 GBR 24
TUNSTALL, Sarah 2
MACLARTY, Morag 4
SPARKE, Katherine 7
JOHNSON, Stacey 11
ENGLAND, Hannah (16)
HIGNETT, Susie (37)
2 RUS 44
3 GER 57
4 IRL 80
BYRNE, Linda 10
GALLIGAN, Roseanne 21
DURKAN, Ciara 23
KNIGHT, Hollie 26
BAKER, Ashling (41)
O’BRIEN, Eimear (64)
Under 23 Men
1 LALLI, Andrea ITA 24:56
2 VERNON, Andy GBR 25:04
3 BAYRAK, Selim TUR 25:17
Team Result
1 GBR 19
VERNON, Andy 2
LINDSAY, Ben 4
BEATTIE, John 6
GERRARD, Keith 7
RUSSELL, Tom (13)
DERRICOTT, Alex (39)
2 ITA 42
3 FRA 62
4 POL 93
5 TUR 112
6 ESP 119
7 BEL 142
8 IRL 151
MCCARTHY, David 24
YEATES, Richard 33
CLOHISEY, Michael 37
POLLOCK, Paul 57
FAHY, Jason (60)
COGHLAN, John (65)
Senior Women
1 KIBET, Hilda NED 27:45
2 AUGUSTO, Jessica POR 27:54
3 MONTEIRO, Inês POR 28:02
Team Result
1 POR 29
2 GBR 49
3 FRA 78
4 NED 97
5 RUS 111
6 ITA 119
7 ESP 127
8 BEL 131
9 IRL 131
CULLEN, Mary 4
BYRNE, Deirdre 29
RYAN, Rosemary 41
MURPHY, Hazel 57
HARTY, Kerry (60)
Senior Men
1 LEBID, Serhiy UKR 30:49
2 FARAH, Mo GBR 30:57
3 MOHAMED, Mustafa SWE 31:13
Team Result
1 ESP 39
2 FRA 49
3 GBR 54
4 ITA 79
5 BEL 93
6 UKR 116
7 IRL 129
FAGAN, Martin 24
MCCORMACK, Alan 32
MURRAY, Gary 36
LEDWITH, Andrew 37
CARROLL, Mark (42)
CHRISTIE, Mark (74