British Athletics Cross Challenge final inc. UK Counties Athletic Union XC Championships preview

The conclusion of the British Athletics Cross Challenge will come to a close with the final at Prestwold Hall in Loughborough on Saturday 12 March, and the event will also host the UK Inter Counties Cross Country Championships.

The event will be streamed live on the British Athletics website with action kicking off with the U20 men’s race at 11am, until the completion of the senior men’s race which starts at 14:45.

With double points on offer in the final event of the five-fixture event, there is plenty of opportunity for the leader-board to change to find the domestic champions for the 2021/22 Series.

In the senior women’s standings, Jess Gibbon (handicap -1.7) and Hannah Irwin (handicap -0.9) are separated by one point at the top of the rankings on 110 and 109 points respectively.

Gibbon sealed victory in Milton Keynes, the first Cross Challenge victory in her career, while Irwin moved into second position following her top spot at the Dundonald event in January. Jenny Nesbitt (handicap -2.1 ) is third on 107 with Kate Avery (handicap -0.4) on 106 points.

In the senior men’s standings, Hugo Milner (handicap -6.1) still leads the way after impressing on his way to race victories in Cardiff and Milton Keynes last year, but Zakariya Mahamed (handicap -6.5) is in-form following his victory in Northern Ireland in Januray. The latter is second in the overall standings, just one point behind Milner’s 112.

Jack Millar (handicap -6.2), Stuart McCallum (handicap -6.1) and Matthew Stonier (handicap -5.8) round out the top five in the senior men’s rankings – Millar on 101, while the other two athletes are on 100 points.

Ellen Weir (handicap 0.8) leads the women’s U20 standings going into the final with Alice Garner (handicap 0.6) and Beatrice Wood (handicap 1.0) in second and third overall.

An impressive showing in Dundonald has moved Rowan Miell-Ingram (handicap -4.1) to the top of the overall standings in the men’s U20 category. He has a three-point lead from Louis Small (handicap -4.0) with Liam Rawlings (handicap -3.5) third, a point further behind.

Jess Bailey (handicap  -0.8) leads by two points in the U17 women’s standings from Louisa Brown (handicap  0.7) and Kiya Dee (handicap  2.0).

After winning the last Cross Challenge fixture in Dundonald, Chorley’s Jacob Deacon (handicap  -4.0) leads by one from St Edmund Pacers’ Benjamin Peck (handicap  -2.8)and Seamus Robinson (handicap  -3.1) in the men’s U17 contest.

Find out more about the British Athletics Cross Challenge Series HERE.

2021-2022 British Athletics Cross Challenge Standings after four events

2021-2022 British Athletics Cross Challenge Final Qualifiers

The live stream and results will be available HERE.

The course map is available HERE.

Hugo Milner  pictured above.