News

England teams selected for the Venta de Banos International Cross Country

England Athletics and the English Cross Country Association are pleased to announce the England teams selected for the Venta de Banos International Cross Country Meeting on 17 December 2017. The Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños is held in Venta de Baños, Castile and León, Spain. The competition was first held in 1980 and since then it has been held every year in mid-December.

Junior Women – Team Manager Barbara Cutting

  • Niamh Bridson Hubbard (Club: Blackheath and Bromley, Coach: Andy Frankish)
  • Scarlet Dale (Club: Lancaster and Morecambe AC, Coach: Colin Gemson)
  • Chloe Sharp (Club: Dartford Harriers)
  • Kirsty Walker (Club: Reading AC, Coach: Rob McKim)

Junior Men – Team Manager Keith Holt

  • Archie Davis (Club: Brighton Phoenix, Coach: Joel Kidger)
  • Ricky Lutakome (Club: Sutton & District AC, Coach: Nick Hancock)
  • Luke Prior (Club: Aldershot Farnham & District AC, Coach: Mick Woods)
  • Sam Stevens (Club: Leicester Coritanian AC)

Senior Women – Team Manager Sue Lamb

  • Katie Bingle (Club: Aldershot Farnham & District AC, Coach: Mick Woods)
  • Charlotte Christensen (Club: Cambridge & Coleridge AC)
  • Emily Hosker Thornhill (Club: Aldershot Farnham & District AC, Coach: Mick Woods)
  • Verity Ockenden (Club: Swansea Harriers, Coach: Tony Houchin)

Senior Men – Team Manager Eamonn Martin

  • Nick Goolab (Club: Belgrave Harriers, Coach: Craig Winrow)
  • Daniel Jarvis (Club: Liverpool Harriers, Coach: Mick Woods)
  • Graham Rush (Club: Cheltenham AC)

Among the past winners are international athletes, such as former World Cross Country Champions Kenenisa Bekele and Gelete Burka, and local athletes Marta Domínguez and Isaac Viciosa (both former European Champions).

The competition began life as a regional competition, the Cross de Navidad (Christmas cross country), in 1980. The race became national in its second edition and, following the acceptance of an English team into the competition in 1982 and it obtained its current name – the Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños.

The competition was televised throughout Spain for the first time in 1984, but it was not until 1995 that the competition was broadcast annually.