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Arter and Willis looking strong ahead of the Euro Cross Trials in Liverpool this Saturday
22/11/2019 00:00, In Blog / Cross Country /
The British Athletics Liverpool Cross Challenge will take place at Sefton Park, Liverpool on Saturday 23rd November, with races acting as trials for the Spar European Cross Country Championships which will take place on Sunday 8th December in Lisbon, Portugal.
Wales will be sending a U17 & U20 Men and Women's team to the event including Matthew Willis who has won both the Cardiff Cross Challenge and the Milton Keynes Cross Challenge so far. You can see the full team list here.
In the Senior races, we have a number of athlete chasing selection for Lisbon next month including Charlotte Arter who took gold at the Cardiff Cross Challenge in October and ran a strong race to win at Leeds Abbey Dash earlier this month. She is a strong favourite to win on Saturday and will be looking to book her spot on the plane to Portugal. Arter's training partner Jenny Nesbitt will also be looking to challenge for a medal and selection. She finished behind Arter at the Cardiff Cross Challenge and they were just one space apart in Atapuerca International Cross event.
In the men's race, Michael Ward is sure to be in contention to take home a medal and put himself in a strong position to gain a selection spot having already placed third at the Cardiff Cross Challenge last month. Ward will be joined by James Hunt and Ieuan Thomas who both finished second and third respectively at the Billy Rea International earlier this month.
Matthew Willis will be hoping to take his third Cross Challenge win in a row on Saturday and confirm his spot for the Euro Cross Champs. After a dominant performance in Cardiff and Milton Keynes, he is in strong contention to be first across the line. Oliver Barberessi is also looking strong after finishing 5th in Cardiff and Milton Keynes earlier this year. U17 Osian Perrin had a good season on the track, breaking the U17 3000m Welsh record and is hoping to replicate a good performance in Liverpool.
The U17 & U20 Women looking to improve on their strong early-season performances will be U17 Samia Jones who finished 4th in Cardiff and U20 Laura Wright who finished 9th in Cardiff.