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

14 December 2021

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 22^nd January 2022.

Senior Men			Senior Women
Finn McNally	North Belfast Harriers		Nakita Burke	Letterkenny AC
Adam Kirk-Smith	Derry Track Club	Bashir Hussain	Fionnuala Ross	Armagh AC	Dermot Kerr
Eskander Turki	Annadale Striders	Michael McKnight	Catherina Mullen	Metro/ St Brigid’s AC
Conan McCaughey	North Belfast Harriers	Mark Kirk	Hannah Irwin	Cambridge & Coleridge AC	James Thie
U23 Men			U23 Women
Matthew Neill	Strive Racing Club	Bashir Hussain	Aoife McGreevy	UCD AC	Mark Kirk
Gavin McCaffrey	North Belfast Harriers	Jim McGuinness	Kate Gourley	City of Lisburn AC	Mark Kirk
Peter Gracey	Beechmount Harriers	Mark Kirk	Grace Carson	Mid Ulster AC	Bill Foster
			Niamh Heaney	Omagh Harriers
U20 Men			U20 Women
Nick Griggs	Mid Ulster AC	Mark Kirk	Rebecca Rossiter	Loughview AC	Andrew Han
Matthew Lavery	North Belfast Harriers	Jim McGuinness	Roise Roberts	North Belfast Harriers	Jim McGuinness
Callum Morgan	St Malachy’s AC	Mark Kirk	Nuala Bose	Finn Valley Ac	John Rogan
Oisin Toye	Finn Valley AC	John Rogan	Cara Laverty	Finn Valley AC	Sean Laverty
U17 Boys			U17 Girls
Oisin McGloin	City of Lisburn AC	Ursula McGloin	Lucy Foster	Willowfield Harriers	Davy Foster
Mark Galvin	Letterkenny AC		Aisling Smith	Ballymena & Antrim Ac	Pauline Thom
Frank Buchanan	Enniskillen RC	Francis Shaw	Annabel Morrison	Enniskillen RC
Caolan McFadden	Cranford AC		Poppy Hastings	Mid Ulster AC	Barrie Holmes

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 21^st place finish at the British Trials. She will hope to add to her 3^rd 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