Team selected for the 2025 Cross Country Home Countries International
We are delighted to announce the athletes who have been selected to represent England at the 2025 Home Countries International.
The race will form part of the UK Athletics Cross Challenge, taking place at Temple Newsam, Leeds. This year, England will compete against athletes from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales as well as regional teams from the North, South and Midlands. This event will also incorporate the Celtic Cross, with athletes from the Republic of Ireland also participating.
Speaking on the event Team Manager, Eamonn Martin, said:
"It is a great concept to have the Home Countries International and area races combined with the Celtic Cross to raise the standard of the event. This has allowed us to select an additional under-17 team for this fixture. Although they will not be scoring in the Celtic match, it still puts them up against other nations and is a great experience."
Senior men
- James Kingston (Tonbridge AC, Mark Hookway) - James had a good run early this winter in Roeselare, Belgium where he finished 3rd. He recently finished 2nd in the South of England Cross Country Champs and is building on the previous winter where he represented GB in both the European’s in Brussels and World Cross in Serbia.
- Jacob Cann (Newham & Essex Beagles) - Jacob recently made his debut when he competed for England in Elgoibar, Spain finishing a creditable 10th and has also just finished 19th in Hannut, Belgium.
- Oscar Bell (Herts Phoenix, Andy Hobdell) - Oscar is a previous winner on several occasions of the Metropolitan Cross Country League. Having finished 9th in the CAU Inter Counties in Loughborough in 2023, he is making steps in the right direction and just finished 22nd in a very tough race in Hannut, Belgium.
- Cameron Allan (Houghton Harriers) - Cameron will be making his England Cross Country debut having been running well this winter and recently finishing 3rd in the Glasgow Cross Challenge.
Senior women
- Megan Gadsby (City of Norwich/St Mary's University, Mick Woods) - Megan won the U23 European Cross Country Trial in Liverpool and gained selection for GB at the European Cross Country Championships in Türkiye where she finished 23rd and was part of the team to win a gold medal. Megan ran for England in Elgoibar at the beginning of January where she ran a strong race to finish 11th.
- Jessica Gibbon (Reading AC) - Jess finished 6th in the European Trial in Liverpool gaining her selection for GB in the European Cross Country Championships in Türkiye. Jess had a great race finishing in 12th place and being the 2nd Briton home to score for a team silver medal. Jess started her cross country season running for England at one of the first EnergyVision Cross Cups in Roeselare, where she came away with an impressive win.
- Amelia Quirk (Bracknell AC, Mick Woods) - Amelia is an experienced cross country runner having competed at European and World Cross Country Championships. Amelia’s win in Telford 10K and more recently her 6th place finish at Hannut Cross Cup show she is in excellent form.
- Mia Waldmann (Reading AC, Mark Booth) - Mia finished 3rd in the U23 European Trial in Liverpool gaining her GB selection for the European Cross Country Championships in Türkiye. Mia had a great race running strong and finishing in 6th place and as 2nd scorer for the GB team who won the gold team medal.
Under-20 men
- Quinn Miell-Ingram (Radley, Wendy Miell-Ingram) - Quinn is now recognised as one of our top cross country runners. So far this season, he has returned an excellent 3rd place in the EnergyVision Cross Cup - Roeselare, Belgium and 4th at the UK Athletics Cross Challenge in Cardiff. Most recently, he picked up a bronze at the Hannut Cross Country in Belgium.
- Jake Stevens (Invicta East Kent, Donald Carter) - Jake made significant improvements last winter with a top five place finish in both the UK Athletics Cross Challenge and EnergyVision Diest Cross Cup.
- Matthew Pickering (Aldershot, Farnham & District, Mick Woods) - Matthew made his England debut at the EnergyVision Cross Cup in Hannut. Building on his 6th place finish in the Diest Cross Cup last year, Matthew finished 5th in Hannut.
- Liam Conway (Cambridge & Coleridge, Richard Park) - Liam has been showing consistent improvement in his cross country and has also excelled on the track in the last 12 months. He made the European U18 Championships in Banská Bystrica, running the 3000m. He has reduced his 3000m time from a best of 8:37.95 in 2023 to 8:14.71 in the summer of 2024.
Under-20 women
- Zoe Gilbody (Telford, Sarah Benson) - Zoe competed for England earlier this season in Roeselare, finishing in 4th place. She stepped up to represent GB at the European Cross Country Championships in Türkiye, placing 11th. Already this year, Zoe has pulled on the England vest in Elgoibar where she finished 2nd.
- Isabel Holt (Blackburn, Edmund Finucane) - Isabel recently made her England cross country debut at the cross country meet in Elgoibar, Spain, finishing a credible 3rd. Other notable performances this season include 4th place at the Cardiff Cross Challenge and 10th U20 at the European Cross Country Trial in Liverpool.
- Amelie Lane (Wharfedale) - Amelie gains her selection following her win at the Northern Cross Country Championships and her 14th position at the European Cross Country Trial in Liverpool. In the 2024 season, Amelie finished 4th in Diest, Belgium competing for England.
- Eliza Nicholson (Blackheath and Bromley, Tom Craggs) - Eliza finished 2nd at the recent EnergyVision Cross Cup meet in Hannut, Belgium proving she is fully fit after having to miss last year’s track season due to injury.
Under-17 men
- Jack Marwood (Salford Harriers, Ian Grime) - Jack will be pulling on the England vest for the third time this season, after representing in both Hannut (7th place) and Elgoibar (16th place) already this year. Alongside Evan, he was part of the Salford Harriers team who won the ERRA Road Relays back in the autumn.
- Evan Grime (Salford Harriers, Ian Grime) - Evan has been having a sterling year so far, having broken the British U17 record for the 1500m indoors in January in a time of 3:49.47. He recently competed in Hannut, placing 10th overall (2nd U18) as part of the U20 team.
- Luke Dunham (Herts Phoenix, Andy Hobdell) - Luke gains selection after placing 3rd at the South of England Championships at the end of January, as well as placing 2nd at the Middlesex and Hertfordshire County Championships.
- Matthew Clark (Preston Harriers, Andy Bibby) - Matthew has had a great year so far taking the northern title at the recent area championships in Knutsford. He has also been crowned Lancashire County Champion.
Under-17 women
- Ellarose Whitworth (Lincoln Wellington, Marc Thorpe) - Ellarose has kicked off 2025 well with a win at the Northern Counties Cross Country Championships in Knutsford. She also had an excellent run in Liverpool for the UK Athletics Cross Challenge where she placed 6th.
- Isla McGowan (Banbury Harriers AC, Ros Kelling) - Isla will be pulling on the England vest for the third time this year after representing in both Hannut where she placed 3rd and Elgoibar where she finished in 6th place. She also had a fantastic race at the recent Glasgow UK Athletics Cross Challenge where she finished in 2nd.
- Olivia Forrest (Brentwood Beagles, Paul Forrest) - Olivia has built into the cross country season having finished in 11th at both the Liverpool and Cardiff UK Athletics Cross Country Challenge, before improving to 3rd place in Glasgow. She also placed 3rd at the rearranged ECCA National Cross Country in September.
- Ava James (Brighton and Hove AC, John Clements) - Ava started her year with a podium place at the Sussex County Championships taking home a silver. An excellent steeplechaser, Ava represented GB & NI at the European U18 Championships in Slovakia where she placed 7th overall.