WILL BATTERSHILL and Poppy Tank will be hoping to continue their good early season form when they compete at the British Athletics Cross Country Challenge in Liverpool on Saturday.
The event at Sefton Park is doubling up as trials for the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team for the European Cross Country Championships, which will be held in Hyeres, France, on December 13.
Battershill and Tank will both compete in the under-20 age group, where the top five athletes will be guaranteed a place in the GB team.
Erme Valley Harriers’ Battershill and City of Plymouth AC runner Tank are both first-year under-20 athletes, having competed in the under-17 age group last season, so they will be up against rivals two years older than them.
Last month the pair both triumphed in impressive fashion at the Frank Elford Sports Westward Cross Country League meeting at Newquay, but competition will be much tougher in Liverpool, with the UK’s best runners all trying to book a spot at the European Championships.
Battershill’s Erme Valley Harriers team-mate Owen Parkin is also down to compete at Sefton Park in the under-20 category. He recently came third in the Plymouth 10k.