Great Britain has named a team of 40 athletes for the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Tilburg on 9 December.
Great Britain has been the most successful nation in European Cross Country Championships history, winning 60 gold medals - and 148 in total - since the inception of the championships in 1994. Past senior winners have included Paula Radcliffe in 1998 and 2003, Mo Farah in 2006 and Hayley Yelling in 2004 and 2009.
Your full 40-strong team for the @EuroAthletics Cross Country Championships in Tilburg, the Netherlands, is here! #MuddyBrilliant #REPRESENT pic.twitter.com/c8sosWkqkJ
— British Athletics (@BritAthletics) November 28, 2018
The British senior women won the team title last year and they will be challenging for individual and senior honours again. The team includes trials winner Charlotte Arter, former two-time silver medallist Kate Avery, former European U23 cross country champion Jess Piasecki (formerly Coulson) and Melissa Courtney, who finished fifth in the 5000m at the European Championships in Berlin.
The senior men’s team is also headed by trials winner Charlie Hulson. He lines up alongside the experienced Dewi Griffiths and Andy Vernon - the latter will be making his 12th appearance at the European Cross Country Championships - while Rio Olympian Ross Millington returns to the British team after injury.
The British team will be fielding full teams in all six individual races. The U20 teams are headed by European U20 1500m champion Jake Heyward and European U20 800m champion Khahisa Mhlanga, both of whom won their respective races at the British Trials in Liverpool last weekend.
Great Britain won the inaugural mixed relay in Samorin last year and they will be sending a team to defend that title, including leading middle distance runners Jess Judd and Alex Bell.
Team leader Rob Denmark said: “Following on from such competitive trials at the weekend in Liverpool, we are able to select an incredibly strong team to travel out to Tilburg.
“We have been fortunate enough to enjoy a great deal of success at these championships in recent years and I’m hoping that this year we will continue to challenge for individual and team medals.
Full British team here.