A team of 40 will represent Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the 2022 European Cross Country Championships in Turin, Italy on Sunday 11 December.

Trial winners Jess Warner-Judd (coach: Mick Judd, club: Blackburn) and Emile Cairess (Renato Canova, Leeds City) lead the senior teams heading to the Championships in just under two weeks’ time, while two reigning European gold medallists, Megan Keith (Ross Cairns, Inverness) and Charles Hicks (Ricardo Santos, Shaftesbury Barnet) are also selected to compete.

After finishing top of the medal table with seven at the 2021 edition in Dublin, GB & NI will once again be taking a strong team to take on the continent’s best cross country athletes.

Warner-Judd will be joined by Abbie Donnelly (Rob Lewis, Lincoln Wellington) and Jess Gibbon (self-coached, Reading) who were all part of the gold-medal winning senior women’s team in Ireland last December. Meanwhile, after winning the U20 title last year, Megan Keith will make the step up to U23 age group for the first time, while reigning U23 men’s champion Charles Hicks will be seeking to defend his U23 title.

The U20 teams will be led by Trials winners, Innes Fitzgerald (Exeter) and Will Barnicoat (Tim Eglen, Aldershot, Farnham and District). The former will be making her debut in a GB & NI vest next month, while Barnicoat – part of the gold-medal winner squad in Dublin – will look to be the top counter for the British team once again.

The mixed relay team consists of the top two from the men’s and women’s Trial races at Sefton Park; James Heneghan (James Thie, Pontypridd), Calum Elson (Cambridge & Coleridge), Revee Walcott-Nolan (Dale Clutterbuck, Luton) and Khahisa Mhlanga (Herts Phoenix).

Team Leader, Chris Jones, said, “The Great Britain and Northern Ireland team have a great history at the European Cross Country Championships, and following another good autumn / winter season, and a competitive Trial event on Saturday, we have been able to select a very strong team who will be pushing the best in Europe next month.

“It is great to see a number of experienced athletes earning their places on the team once again, and likewise, I am pleased that several athletes have achieved their first GB & NI vests. We are looking forward to seeing how the team performs in Italy in just under a fortnight.”

The Great Britain and Northern Ireland team for the European Cross Country Championships, Turin, Italy – Sunday 11 December 2022:

Senior women

Abbie Donnelly (Rob Lewis, Lincoln Wellington)

Jess Gibbon (self-coached, Reading)

Cari Hughes (Andy Walling, Cardiff)

Amy-Eloise Markovc (Rob Denmark, Wakefield)

Poppy Tank (Alistair Cragg and Amy Cragg, City of Plymouth)

Jess Warner-Judd (Mick Judd, Blackburn)

Senior Men

Emile Cairess (Renato Canova, Leeds City)

Ben Connor (self-coached, Derby)

Mahamed Mahamed (Idris Hamud, Southampton)

Hugo Milner (Steve Lloyd, Derby)

Jack Rowe (Tim Eglen, Aldershot, Farnham and District)

Marc Scott (Richmond & Zetland)

U23 Women

Grace Carson (Bill Foster, Mid Ulster)

Alice Goodall (Mark Nixon, Edinburgh AC)

Megan Keith (Ross Cairns, Inverness)

Yasmin Marghini (Wayne Vinton, Belgrave Harriers)

Alexandra Millard (Bill Foster, Invicta East Kent)

Eloise Walker (Trevor Painter, Edinburgh AC)

U23 Men

Charles Hicks (Ricardo Santos, Shaftesbury Barnet)

Rory Leonard (Dave Smith, Morpeth)

Zakariya Mahamed (Idris Hamud, Southampton)

Matthew Stonier (Sonia McGeorge and Chris McGeorge, Invicta East Kent)

Tomer Tarragano (Dean Miller, Brighton & Hove City AC)

Joe Wigfield (Craig Winrow, Wirral AC)

U20 Women

Alice Bates (Shane Smith, Kettering)

Innes Fitzgerald (Gavin Pavey, Exeter)

Rebecca Flaherty (Karen Glerum, Bingley)

Megan Harris (Hayley Hemmings, Chelmsford)

Beatrice Wood (Dave Amey, City of Salisbury)

Alice Wright (Jon Bigg and Dan Stepney, Brighton Phoenix)

U20 Men

Will Barnicoat (Tim Eglen, Aldershot, Farnham and District)

Edward Bird (Mark Pauley, Poole)

Luke Birdseye (Shireen Higgins, Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow)

Jacob Deacon (Katie Hewison, Chorley)

Johnny Livingstone (Taylor Gulley, Exeter)

Sam Mills (Exeter)

Senior Mixed Relay

Calum Elson (Cambridge & Coleridge)

James Heneghan (James Thie, Pontypridd)

Khahisa Mhlanga (Herts Phoenix)

Revee Walcott-Nolan (Dale Clutterbuck, Luton)

Team Staff List

Team Leader – Chris Jones

Head of Delegation – Steve Vernon

Senior women’s coach – Liz Yelling

Senior men’s coach – Eamonn Martin

U23 women’s coach – Hayley Yelling

U23 men’s coach – Mick Woods

U20 women’s coach – Hayley Hemmings

U20s men’s coach – Mark Pollard

Mixed relay coach – Andrew Henderson

Medical – Duncan Robertson (Doctor), Adam Rattenberry and Rebecca Knight (Physios)

Team Manager – Cerys Miller