Athletics Australia – News -Top hopes on course for Stromlo showdown

The nation’s top cross country athletes are gearing up for a big day of racing this Sunday as all eyes turn to Stromlo Forest Park in Canberra for the 2011 world cross country selection trials.

Just under 100 athletes will converge on the Stromlo course, where athletes will battle it out for a berth on the Australian cross country team bound for the IAAF world titles in Punta Umbria, Spain, on March 20.

With some of the biggest names in Australian cross country set to line up at Stromlo on Sunday, the selection committee will have no shortage of talent on its hands this weekend.

Headlining the men’s field will be Commonwealth Games 5000m and 10,000m representatives Collis Birmingham and Ben St Lawrence, Australian Flame teammate David McNeill and New Delhi marathon men Martin Dent and Jeff Hunt.

Having lined up for Australia at the IAAF world cross country titles in Bydgoszcz (POL) last year, Birmingham, Adams, Hunt and Victorian Clinton Perrett will all be out to hold down their spot on the national team but will face some tough competition from the field.

Also lining up over the senior men’s 12km course this weekend will be 2010 Chiba Ekiden Relay representative Steve Kelly and Australian distance veteran Lee Troop, setting up what will be a hard-fought race to the finish line.

In the senior women’s 8km event, reigning Zatopek:10 runner-up and three-time world cross country representative Lara Tamsett will line up alongside dual world cross country teams bronze medallist Anna Thompson and fellow contenders Jess Trengove, Cassie Fien, Clare Geraghty and 1500m specialist Kaila McKnight.

Expected to lead the charge in the junior boys’ 8km division are 2010 world cross country representative Ethan Heywood and Joshua Johnson, while Tessa Craig and Grace Musgrove will be names to watch in the junior girls’ 6km event.   

Selections to the 2011 world cross country team will be announced in the days following Sunday’s trial.

2011 World cross country selection trials
Sunday, January 23
Stromlo Forest Park, Canberra

Athletics Australia – News