CITY of Plymouth athlete Poppy Tank impressed for England on Sunday at the prestigious Cross Internacional Juan Muguerza – a World Athletics Cross Country Tour Gold meeting – in the Spanish town of Elgoibar.
Tank finished sixth and first European in the senior women’s race that was dominated by top African athletes.
The Plymouth runner led the British challenge with the more internationally experienced Amelia Quirk and Steph Twell finishing 10th and 11th, Niamh Bridson-Hubbard 13th and Rebecca Murray 18th.
Tank got her tactics spot on and finished strongly, overtaking Twell and Ethiopia’s Mahlet Mulugeta in the second half of the race.
Eritrea’s Rahel Daniel took victory, with Kenya’s Edinah Jebitok second and Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi third.
Tank’s impressive run in wet weather in Spain followed on from finishing 13th in the women’s race at the European Cross Country Championships in Italy in December, where she helped Great Britain to team silver.
Her performances at both events will have put her in consideration for the Great Britain team for next month’s World Cross Country Championships in Australia.