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Twell starts as favourite in Sefton Park
The Aldershot Farnham & District athlete is favoured to book her place on the European Cross Country Champs team in Dublin
STEPH TWELL starts as the outstanding favourite to win the senior race at this year’s European Cross Country Trials at Sefton Park, November 28. The Aldershot Farnham & District athlete is the reigning three-time European junior cross-country champion but having graduated from the junior ranks, Twell looks set to make a strong impression in the British senior team at this year’s European Cross Country Championships in Dublin.
The world junior 1500m champion did not perform up to her normal standards at the World Championships in Berlin but the 20-year-old returned with a vengeance to win the McCain Cross Country opener in Gateshead. Twell defeated Helen Clitheroe by 22-seconds and after her victory, the UK 1500m runner-up said: “I’m happy with the way things have gone since the World Championships and I’ve forgot all about those problems and drawn a line under them. Obviously, the European Cross Country Championships is my immediate target but I’m already looking forward to next summer’s European Championships and the Commonwealth Games.”
Twell’s main rivals include Chester le Street’s Freya Murray, who has been in very good form on the roads as well as European under-23 cross country fourth placer Morag MacLarty. Also watch out for Laura Kenney, Hatti Dean and Sarah Tunstall to challenge for the three automatic berths.
Despite not being renowned as a cross-country specialist, former NCAA 1500m champion Hannah England is also expected to figure prominently.
In the absence of Mo Farah, who is currently preparing for the European Cross Country Championships with a six-week stint of altitude training in Kenya, the men’s race looks more open but the two favourites will be Gateshead winner Mike Skinner and the defending champion Andy Vernon. European indoor 3000m finalist Mark Draper will also be challenging for a place on the team along with road specialist Phil Wicks, Lee Merrien and Luke Gunn.
Twell’s AFD team-mate Charlotte Purdue decimated the opposition in the junior race in Gateshead a fortnight ago and the 18-year-old starts as the favourite to win the junior race here. Also watch out for Inter-Counties winner Lily Partridge, Jess Coulson, Lauren Howarth and Laura Park.
In the men’s junior race, Nick Goolab, Jonathan Hay and Ross Murray will be among the favourites to claim a berth on the British squad.
The team for the European Cross Country Championships will be announced on Tuesday.
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