City of Norwich AC athlete Mitch Goose continued to enhance his reputation when comfortably qualifying to compete for Great Britain Juniors in the forthcoming European Cross-Country Championships, to be staged in Brussels in two weeks' time.

Tim Ash

City of Norwich AC athlete Mitch Goose continued to enhance his reputation when comfortably qualifying to compete for Great Britain Juniors in the forthcoming European Cross-Country Championships, to be staged in Brussels in two weeks' time.

Racing in a fog shrouded Sefton Park, Liverpool on Saturday, he and fellow athletes David Forrester (Sutton St Helens AC) and Nick Goolab (Belgrave Harriers) set down a marker for the rest of the field when breaking away early on in the 6.7km race. The muddy underfoot conditions made the going tough but the trio stuck to their task and it was only in the latter stages of the race that Forrester made a break for home, a gap he maintained to the finish.

Goolab and Goose continued their battle with Goolab just gaining the advantage over the final 50 metres to take the runners-up position.

Goose, a team silver medallist in the 2007 championships, is now looking forward to Brussels where he hopes he and the team can improve their performance of last year.

The hard luck story of the race was that of Ashley Harrell. The possible challenger for a place in the team was running extremely well and in contention when a pulled Achilles tendon brought him to an abrupt halt.

A small contingent of City athletes also made the trip to compete in the Liverpool-staged McCain UK Cross Challenge that incorporated the European Trials.

Ruth Senior and Hollie Rowland had their eyes on a place in the Great Britain Under-23 team and despite running well but not yet hitting their best form, finished in ninth and 11th places in their 8.1km race. With the top six gaining selection, understandably they were very disappointed not to have made the cut.

Racing over 5.5km, the Under-17 Boys from the City club are looking to follow in the footsteps of Mitch Goose and if they continue to display the same enthusiasm and discipline and willingness to train, who is to say what might happen.

Sam Cheverton is proving to be a revelation this cross-country season, finishing in seventh place in a highly competitive race. James Jackson paid the penalty for a fast early pace when finishing in 17th position, Tom Crawshaw came home in 25th spot, while newcomer Ben Stratton can be pleased with his finishing position of 36th.

Juliet Broster, competing in the Under-15 Girls 3km race, can be pleased with finishing 15th and as the season progresses she will surely improve and produce some excellent results. Esme Salmon's 32nd place also indicates that there is a lot more to come for this young lady. Tom Hook who is a first year Under-15, battled all the way in the Under-15 Boys 3km race, finishing in 40th position in a race that 120 young athletes completed.

Scott Greeves' 12th in the Under-13 Boys 3km race was a great effort as was that of Daryl Broughton who displayed a gritty determination to cross the line in 23rd position.