Junior Women dominate at the Belgium Cross Cup
A very cold day and equally muddy course greeted the runners in Hannut, Belgium for the latest round of the Belgium Cross Cup which is also a World Athletics World Tour Gold Event.
The athletes took on a multi-lap challenging course with each lap comprising of some tight turns and a short sharp downhill. England sent four teams through the English Cross Country Association; senior men and women, and junior men and women.
Junior Women
The junior women’s course of 4,640m consisted of two medium laps and two large. As soon as the starter’s gun fired Isobelle Jones (Wolverhampton & Bilston), Eliza Nicholson (Blackheath & Bromley, Tom Craggs), and late replacement Isla McGowan (Banbury, Ros Kelling) immediately took to the front and by the end of the first lap the trio had already opened a gap on the rest of the field. Meanwhile Lauren Russell (Highgate) had made a cautious start and looked comfortable in amongst a group of athletes.

As the bell rang for the final lap the high tempo pace started to take its toll on Isla and she could no longer hold onto Eliza and Isobelle but still remained well clear of the athlete in fourth place. Eliza and Isobelle were now locked together in a battle to take the lead.

As they came off the outer field loop for the final time and with 300m to go Isobelle found an extra gear to pull away to secure the victory, 4 seconds clear of Eliza in second place. Next over the line was Isla who comfortably maintained her third position, and Lauren in a credible 6th on her England debut.
- 1st: Isobelle Jones - 18:55
- 2nd: Eliza Nicholson - 18:59
- 3rd: Isla McGowan - 19:27
- 6th: Lauren Russell - 20:16
Junior Men
Like most Belgium courses it is essential to make a fast start due to the shortness of the starting straight before the first of many turns. Naturally the locals took full advantage of the start with the English quartet of Jack Marwood (Salford Harriers & AC, Ian Grime), Matthew Pickering (Aldershot, Farnham & District, Mick Woods), Quinn Miell-Ingram (Radley, Wendy Miell-Ingram) and Evan Grime (Salford Harriers & AC, Ian Grime) back in the pack.

Quinn, by far the most experienced in the team, was the first to show as he moved through the pack to start his challenge for another podium place. Quinn’s move to challenge the front runners had a positive influence on debutant Matthew Pickering who was looking equally determined to make his mark. Whilst the two older members of the team were battling the mud, hills, mini hurdles and the Belgium athletes our two under 17 athletes Marwood and Grime were locked in their own personal battles. Being training partners and running for Salford Harriers added some extra spice.
As the athletes entered the final 1500m lap the first two places looked to have been sorted with the Belgian athletes of Renders holding a good gap on Serrano. The strong running Renders ran home a clear winner, followed by his compatriot Sem Serrano in 2nd and the fast-finishing Quinn Miell-Ingram in 3rd. Capping off an excellent debut, Matthew Pickering closed in for 5th. Next in was the slightly more experienced but younger, Jack Marwood in an excellent 7th place with debutant Evan Grime taking 10th.
- 3rd – Quinn Miell-Ingram – England – 16.37
- 5th – Matthew Pickering – England – 16.47
- 7th – Jack Marwood – England – 17.11
- 10th – Evan Grime – England – 17.20
Senior Women
The senior ladies were running 9000m over 6 laps of a twisty course with a downhill start and uphill finish. The usual token 3 jumps each lap were also included causing an extra challenge in the muddy conditions.
The fast start split the field immediately with the Roxanne Cleppe from Belgium leading closely followed by her compatriot Chloe Herbert, Kenya's Sheila Jebet and Yenensesh Shimket of Ethiopia. Lucy Jones went with the fast start placing herself in the top 10, Amelia and Sophie just a little further back. By the second lap Amelia and Lucy were running together in 9th and 10th place, Sophie not far behind. Going into the fourth lap Jebet and Shimket were moving away from the rest of the field with Amelia moving through the field and Lucy still running strongly in the top 10, and Sophie still battling.

On the last lap Jebet moved away from Shimket and won with ease by 6 seconds. Amelia came through the field to finish in 6th place, Lucy held onto her top 10 place finishing in 9th and Sophie in 13th.
Unfortunately Jess Gibbon had to pull out the day of travel due to a slight injury.
- 6th: Amelia Quirk
- 9th: Lucy Jones
- 13th: Sophie Wallis
Senior Men
The last race of the day meant the course had been churned into its maximum state of mud. With a narrow start it was full attention required for the starters gun. The England team got a reasonable start for their 6x1500m laps.

The early laps saw everyone jockeying for position but after one lap the English athletes were tightly grouped all inside the top 20 with Oscar Bell (Herts Phoenix, Andy Hobdell) on his England Cross Country debut showing just ahead of Jack Millar (Bristol & West, David Bedwell) and Richard Slade (Chiltern/Bath Uni, Matthew Seddon) with Jacob Cann (Newham & Essex Beagles) just a few metres back.
After two laps Slade in 14th led Millar by a stride and Cann now led Bell. The progress continued and by the end of lap three Millar was positioned in 11th with a slender lead over Slade and was looking very strong with his running. Cann was still 16th but had put 20 metres of daylight between himself and Bell. By the end of lap four Slade was up to 10th and had significantly pulled away from Millar, Cann was holding position well whereas Bell was starting to feel the fatigue impact of the mud.

The last few laps saw very few position changes and gaps now seemed to be set but Slade got into 6th as he fought hard on the final lap but had to succumb to losing a sprint finish crossing the line in 8th position. Cann stayed strong but Bell suffered in the latter lap. A really good effort in a great field from the England men and hopefully this will step them all on for the final part of the season.
- 8th: Richard Slade - 27:51
- 13th: Jack Millar - 28:26
- 19th: Jacob Cann - 29:01
- 22nd: Osacr Bell - 29:26