England teenagers sparkle in Seville

England’s Junior Team had plenty to smile about on Sunday 20 January at the Cross Internacional de Itálica in the Santaponce district of the beautiful Spanish city of Seville – an IAAF Cross Country Permit meeting so important that the Senior races were won by Uganda’s World 5000m bronze medallist Moses Kipsiro from Eritrea’s reigning World Cross Country champion Zersenay Tadese and the World Championships Women’s 5000m third placer Priscah Jepleting.

In temperatures touching 20° Celsius, James Wilkinson (Leeds City AC) ran magnificently to finish second in the Junior Men’s 6km race in 20 minutes 34 seconds. He was only two seconds behind the winner, Bruno Aburquerque (Portugal), who finished 16^th at last month’s SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Toro, Spain. Wilkinson was a comfortable six seconds ahead of third placed Victor Corrales Vaquero (Spain), who also raced in Toro.

Simon Horsfield (East Cheshire Harriers and Tameside AC) was ninth in 21:12, Lenny Shail (Coventry Godiva Harriers) 10^th in 21:13 and Ross Millington (Stockport Harriers) 16^th in 22:00 in a quality race of 58 finishers.

Because the England Junior Women’s Team are all Under-17s – selected because they have raced so successfully against domestic Under-20s this winter – they were all placed by the Seville organisers in the 4km race for athletes born in 1991 and 1992.

They responded as positively as one would expect and filled the first four places. Lily Partridge (Aldershot, Farnham and District) won in 13:26; Blue Haywood (Lincoln Wellington) was second in 13:38; Lorna Russell (Winchester and District) third in 13:46; and Bessie Rollins (Kettering Town Harriers) fourth in 14:16, a full 56 seconds ahead of the first Spanish athlete over the line.

The meeting was literally a warming experience for the youngsters, who will be tackling next weekend’s territorial championships – the North of England in Roundhay Park, Leeds; the Midlands at Royal Leamington Spa; and the South of England at their spiritual home of Parliament Hill in London.

Report by Trevor Frecknall