NI & Ulster Team Announced for the 2022 World Athletics Northern Ireland International Cross-Country

The Northern Ireland and Ulster Teams for the World Athletics Northern Ireland International Cross Country 2022 has been announced.

Many congratulations to the 32 athletes who have been selected to represent Northern Ireland and Ulster in the 2022 World Athletics Northern Ireland International Cross-Country, which will incorporate the Home Countries; Celtic International and the British Cross Challenge as well as being part of the World Athletics Cross Country Tour; at the Billy Neill MBE Country Park on 22nd January 2022.

The Senior Women’s team consists of Nakita Burke, Fionnuala Ross and Catherina Mullen who all put in excellent Top 20 performances at the recent Irish Senior Cross-Country Championships in Santry. Hannah Irwin will be making her NI & Ulster Cross-Country debut after strong performances on the British Cross Challenge including a 21st place finish at the British Trials. She will hope to add to her 3rd place finish for NI & Ulster at this year’s Manchester International 5000m. The Senior men’s team brings together Commonwealth Games Steeplechaser and winner of the Bobby Rea Cross-Country, Adam Kirk-Smith, with Finn McNally and Conan McCaughey. All three had strong finishes at the Irish Senior Cross-Country Championships. Joining them is Eskander Turki, who makes his NI & Ulster debut after a number of strong performances this season. An array of talent has been selected across the underage categories from European medalists, to NI & Ulster and All-Ireland Age Group winners, all of whom will be looking forward to taking on teams from Ireland, Scotland, the Midlands and Wales in the International event. Announcing the team, Athletics NI’s Performance Lead, Tom Reynolds, said: ‘’We’re delighted to name such strong teams which include European Cross-County representatives, in what will be a highly competitive cross-country event. This year’s selection was extremely tough with the standard of Cross Country Running in NI & Ulster being so high at the moment. We are really looking forward to seeing our athletes get 2022 off to a great start with strong performances at a home International.” Find out more about the World Athletics Northern Ireland International Cross Country here