English best of the Irish

UNA ENGLISH emerged as Ireland’s leading athlete at the World Cross-country Championships staged in sun-soaked Lausanne over the weekend when she finished 16th in the short course race.

Edith Masasai (Kenya) retained the short course record she won at Leopardstown Racecourse a year earlier when she outsprinted Worknesh Kidane by one second to deprive the 21-year-old Ethiopian, who had won the long course title 24 hours earlier, of the double which Sonia O’Sullivan completed in 1998.

While Masai had six seconds in hand back then, it was almost an exact replica of the finish in Dublin last year, only another Kenyan, Jane Gakunyi, came through to relegate last year’s bronze medallist, Isabella Ochichi, to fourth place. But it was a superb performance by Una

English, who won was a member of the bronze medal winning team in Turin in 1997. This time, however, Catherina McKiernan and Sonia O’Sullivan were absent and Anne Keenan-Buckley, who likes to be up with the pace, was boxed in and hampered in the early stages of the race and had to be content with 40th place.

Behind them, Valerie Vaughan from Blarney who, like Anne Keenan-Buckley, was a member of both bronze medal winning teams, finished 72nd, with Breda Dennehy-Willis from Bandon 79th and Dubliners Niamh Beirne and Maria McCambridge 85th and 90th, respectively.

Maria McCambridge, who competed in the world indoor championships in Birmingham two weeks earlier, was another member of last year’s bronze medal team. But, from an Irish viewpoint, Una English was the star. Masai, 35, who only started running seriously after she separated from her husband in 1999 to provide for her son, took control of the race from the start.

Kidane, however, always challenged but, on the run to the finishing straight, Saturday’s long course effort took its toll and the Kenyan edged clear. Behind, Jane Gakukyi, who was only fifth in the Kenyan short course trials, beat the Kenyan champion,

Isabella Ochichi, in the race for the bronze medal. Australia’s Benita Johnson, a training partner of Sonia O’Sullivan, was the first non African across the line in fifth place. She finished fourth in Dublin. Una English, who once resided and worked in Switzerland and returned there two weeks ago to win the Swiss championship, was in 12th position after the first lap and held her place in the top 20 throughout the race.

Kenenisa Bekela raced to victory in the short course race on Saturday, beating John Kobowen of Kenya by three seconds and returned yesterday to beat Patrick Ivuti of Kenya by 13 seconds, and retain the short course title as well. Two years earlier in Ostend, he won the junior men’s title after finishing second in the senior short course race the previous day.

This year the Irish selectors opted for the short course race only and the first Irishman across the line was national long course champion Martin McCarthy from Cork in 74th place. Dermot Donnelly was 82nd and the other Irish placings were: 100 Noel Berkeley, 102 Robert Connolly, 109 Gary Murray and 120 Nigel Brunton.

Fionnuala Britton, three times national junior champion, recorded the highest ever placing by an Irish athlete in the junior women’s race when she finished 33rd. As in the case of the junior women’s race, Ireland had just one representative in the junior men’s race, and Mark Christie, twice national junior champion, eventually pulled up and failed to finish after being up with the leading group early on.