News17 Feb 2015


Australia to send full teams to World Cross

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Australia's David McNeill and Liam Adams in the senior men's race (© Getty Images)

Athletics Australia selectors have confirmed the selection of 24 athletes for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Guiyang 2015 on 28 March.

Set to battle it out with the best endurance athletes from around the world, the decision means that Australia will field a full quota of six athletes in every event on the timetable.

“The Athletics Australia selectors are pleased that we have been able to select a team of this size for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships,” said Dion Russell, the Athletics Australia chairman of selectors. “We wish every athlete success in their preparation for what will be a hard-fought event.”

Automatic selections have been afforded to David McNeill, Harry Summers and Liam Adams in the senior men’s event and Victoria Mitchell, Jessica Trengove and Kate Spencer in the senior women’s event.

Adams’ selection will ensure his seventh appearance at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. McNeill, Summers and Mitchell will compete for the fourth time, Commonwealth marathon bronze medallist Trengove will compete for a second time, while Spencer will make her senior international debut after competing at the IAAF World Junior Championships last year.

All other selections have been made at the discretion of the Athletics Australia selectors. Among them is world 5000m finalist Brett Robinson, national 5000m champion Emily Brichacek and steeplechase specialist James Nipperess.

Australia has fielded a team at every edition of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships since its inception in 1973, winning one individual medal (Benita Willis’s gold in 2004) and two team medals (senior women’s bronze in 2008 and senior women’s short course bronze in 2006).

At the most recent instalment of the event in Bydgoszcz in 2013, the Australian team was 19-strong, with Collis Birmingham leading the way with his eighth-place finish in the senior men’s event. His performance assisted the team to finish seventh overall.

Athletics Australia for the IAAF

Australian team for Guiyang 2015


Senior men: Liam Adams, Mitchel Brown, David McNeill, James Nipperess, Harry Summers, Brett Robinson.

Senior women: Emily Brichacek, Genna Maini, Victoria Mitchell, Courtney Powell, Kate Spencer, Jessica Trengove.

Junior men: Bryce Anderson, Charlie Hunter, Ben Kelly, Morgan McDonald, Nathan Pearce, Matthew Ramsden.

Junior women: Sophie Eckel, Jessica Hull, Amy McCormick, Leanne Pompeani, Karlie Swanson, Brianna Thomas.

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