England team kick off their cross country season

The second round of the 2024 / 2025 EnergyVision CrossCup series took place in the Belgian city of Roeselare. This was the first of this season’s English Cross Country Association (ECCA) race programme, a great opportunity for some of our top cross country athletes to kick start their winter as they prepare for the European Cross Country Championships trials in Liverpool.

It was an unseasonably warm and sunny day for a cross country race in late October. A typical Belgium course with tight turns, short sharp climbs two 'camel hump' style slopes and the mandatory hurdle faced the runners. The 4600m course was made up of a medium lap and two large laps all neatly contained within the Schiervelde Stadium complex.

Junior Men

The race began with a frantic charge, with the lead runners securing a clear view of the hairpin bend which they reached in seconds. This fast start caught out the England runners, finding themselves well down the field as they faced the double hill feature for the first time.

The Belgian pair, Willen Renders and Sam Serrano, set a fast pace at the front, chased by Belgium's Daan Lievens, Jochem Wiersma of the Netherlands and a fast-improving England's Quinn Miell-Ingram (Radley AC, Wendy Miell-Ingram). A little further back Englishman Mark Ruby (Poole AC, Mark Pauley) was locked in battle with Dutchman Sam van Keulen. The other two members of the England team, Willam Rabjohns (Poole AC, Mark Pauley), and Michael Clark (City of Norwich, Jane Clarke), were a further 20m back enjoying their own battles.

Miell-Ingram moved into 3rd on the first of the large laps, with gaps widening behind him. With the main protagonists locked in battle, little changed at the front of the race. Despite a small shoe mishap, Clark was closing in on Ruby who in turn was closing in on Miell-Ingram. All three were within 10 metres of each other.

The leading trio pushed on into the final lap, Rabjohns gained on Miell-Ingram getting within two metres of 3rd place. Miell-Ingram accepted this challenge over the final 500m, breaking clear and securing 3rd place for his second Belgian race podium in succession. With 300m to go, Renders kicked clear of long-time challenger Serrano and secured 1sr. Rabjohns finished in 4th, with Ruby claiming 8th spot and Clark coming in a creditable 9th with one shoe hanging off.

Junior women

Another frantic start to secure prime position, with Eleanor Strevens (Eastbourne, Christopher Voice), and Freya Bradley (Westbury, Neil Miller) leading the English contingent. With Zoe Gilbody (Telford, Sarah Benson) and Jenny Leggate (Cambridge & Coleridge, Richard Park) in the middle of the pack.

Strevens quickly closed in on the leading Belgian and Dutch athletes, taking the lead before the second lap. Bradley followed suit, moving into 2nd place. Gilbody and Leggate moved up to 7th and 8th position at the start of the second lap.

Into the final lap, Strevens and Bradley increased the distance between 3rd and 4th. With 100m to go, Bradley briefly took the lead, but Strevens reacted, using her 800m speed to claim victory in the final few metres. With Bradley crossing the line one second behind her. Gilbody and Leggate surged forward, with Gilbody narrowly missing a podium spot by two seconds finishing 4th, Leggate one second behind in 5th.

Senior Men

Another entertaining, Belgium course which was shortened to 7.05k to match the European Cross Country distance. The tight, twisty course meant that rhythm running was certainly not the answer. England struggle in the initial charge, with none appearing in the top 15.

However, as the race unfolded, the England athletes started to adapt to the course. James Kingston (Tonbridge AC, Mark Hookway) had moved up to 5th with Jack Millar (Bristol & West AC, David Bedwell) in close pursuit around 12th, Jeremy Dempsey (Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers, Philip O'Dell) a little way back in the high teens, and Jack Gray (Cambridge & Coleridge AC, Mark Vile) - probably not fully recovered from a bout of Covid - back in the 20s.

Kingston continued to progress, reaching 3rd place thirteen minutes in, with Millar moving up to 11th. Dempsey was keeping steady whilst Gray's race looked like it was into damage limitation.

On the penultimate lap, Kingston took the lead but was overtaken by the more experienced Belgian and Dutch runners. Approaching the finish, Kingston managed to run an extremely determined final stretch to finish 3rd. Millar followed in 10th, Dempsey in 12th with Gray in 26th.

On the penultimate lap, Kingston took the lead but was overtaken by the more experienced Belgian and Dutch runners. Approaching the finish, Kingston managed to run an extremely determined final stretch to finish 3rd. Millar followed in 10th, Dempsey in 12th with Gray in 26th.

Senior women

The race set off at pace with Belgian, Roxanne Cleppe, creating a large gap in the first 300m. Followed by Netherlands, Jasmijn Lai, Jess Gibbon (Reading AC) and Dutch woman Silke Jonkman. Holly Dixon (Cambridge Harriers) was sitting close behind with Sophie Tarver (Wirral AC, Bill Foster) and Holly Weedall (Vale Royal, Andrew Carter) in the next group.

A slight error occurred in the lapping which meant the race was shorter than expected. However, going into the third lap the England girls were aware and Gibbon decided to push ahead and finish 1st. Dixon finished in 5th, with Tarver in 9th and Weedall finishing 16th in her first cross country race as a senior for England.

Until this weekend the only Senior British athlete to win this race was Roger Hackney in 1988.  We can now add a lady to the list with Jess Gibbon in the Senior Women's race. 

Results

Junior men

• 1st: Willem Renders (Belgium) 12:14
• 2nd: Sem Serrano (Belgium) 12:16
• 3rd: Quinn Miell-Ingram (England) 12:27
• 4th: William Rabjohns (England) 12:32
• 8th: Mark Ruby (England) 12:35
• 9th: Michael Clark (England) 12:41

Junior women

• 1st: Eleanor Strevens (England)14.03
• 2nd: Freya Bradley (England)14.04
• 3rd: Hannah Enkels (Belgium) 14.28
• 4th: Zoe Gilbody (England)14.30
• 5th: Jenny Leggate (England)14.31

Senior Men

• 1st: Ruben Qujerinjean (Belgium) 19.57
• 2nd: Daniel  Hamid Fagi (Belgium) 19.59
• 3rd: James Kingston (England) 20.01
• 4th: Guillaume Grimard (Belgium) 20.01
• 10th: Jack Millar (England) 20.22
• 12th: Jeremy Dempsey (England) 20.34
• 26th: Jack Gray (England) 21.07

Senior Women

• 1st: Jessica Gibbon (England)
• 2nd: Ineke van Koldam (Netherlands) 18.13
• 3rd: Jasmijn Lau (Netherlands) 18.20
• 5th: Holly Dixon (England) 18.30
• 9th: Sophie Tarver (England) 18.40
• 16th: Holly Weedall (England) 19.25

With thanks to the team managers for the reports (Eamonn Martin, Keith Holt, Sue Lamb, Jo Newcombe)