Posted: December 11, 2004

Athletics: Mockenhaupt, Kalovics Top Wide Open Women’s Field At European Cross Country Championships

From David Monti

(c) 2004 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

By Bob Ramsak:

SEEBAD HERINGSDORF, GER -- (11-Dec) -- Last year, Paula Radcliffe's appearance and subsequent win was the main attraction at the European Cross Country Championships. But with her absence this year, the women's race is wide open and ripe for the taking as new stars hope to emerge.

As they host the event the first time, Germany’s high hopes lie on the petite shoulders of national champion Sabrina Mockenhaupt.

Her 15th place finish last year, the 24-year-old said, “Was alright for my shape last year. But I’m in much better condition this year, and will not be content without a top-ten finish here.”

15th in the Olympic 10,000 in August, Mockenhaupt arrives in Heringsdorf, where she won the 1998 national Youth title, with the momentum of three consecutive wins: the Herborner Adventslauf 8.3 km last weekend, the national cross country title the week before, and the Lotto Crosscup van Vlaandere in Ghent on November 7. In the spring, she improved her track PBs to 15:03.47 in the 5000 and 31:23.35 in the 10,000.

As the top returnee from last year, 27-year-old Hungarian Aniko Kalovics, third last year in Edinburgh behind Radcliffe and Turkey’s Elvan Abeylegesse, refuses to take on the role of favorite.

“The course is very, very hard,” she said, echoing the sentiments of several runners gathered here this weekend. Describing the course’s numerous “ups and downs’ and zig-zags, she admits the course is not near the top of her list of favorites. “But I’m very strong now,” she said, adding that her goal is a top-three showing. Kalovics has won two half marathons since September – in xx and xx—and most recently was second in the ABAB Warandeloop cross county race in Tilburg, Netherlands and fourth in the Zevenheuvelenloop 15-K in Nijmegen, Netherlands on November 21.

Romania’s Mihaela Botezan could challenge for a top spot as well. The 28-year-old ran a solid 10-k leg at the Chiba Ekiden two weeks ago, and finished tenth at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in October, claiming a silver medal as part of Romania’s runner-up trio. In August, she was 11th in the Olympic 10,000, clocking a national record 31:11.24.

Maria McCambridge, a member of the 2003 bronze medal-winning squad from the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, leads an Irish team hoping to repeat their silver medal finish last year. Polish steeplechaser Justyna Bak was the top European and fourth overall in last weekend's Cross International de la Constitución in Alcobendas, Spain, and could help lead a surprise attack in the team race for Poland. Italy's Patrizia Tisi, the national cross country champion, recently finished in the top-25 at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships.

Irish star Sonia O'Sullivan, who announced last month that she would be contesting the event, has withdrawn with injury.

Even with Radcliffe on holiday, the British are sending a solid squad to the Baltic coast as they try to defend their 2003 title, the first ever for Great Britain's women. 20-year-old Charlotte Dale, third last year and the 2002 junior champion, leads the squad. The rising British hope will be joined by track specialist Jo Pavey, fifth in Olympic 5000, and Hayley Yelling, who was fifth in last year’s championships. All three have run well in the domestic Reebok Cross Challenge, while Pavey and Dale finished 1-2 in their last race, the Nike RunLondon 10-K, less than two weeks ago.

Team title hopes are still alive for the German squad, despite the last minute departure of Irina Mikitenko, who was forced out of the competition with the flu. Mockenhaupt will be joined by Luminita Zaituc, Susanne Ritter, Julia Viellehner and Andreina Byrd, a former NCAA standout who competed at the University of Arkansas.

It’s a pity that Irina is not on the team, but we have three girls who can finish in the top twenty,” said Mockenhaupt.

A strong women’s performance here would be a pivotal step towards reinvigorating the recent decline in German middle and long distance running, said Klemens Prokop, the head of the DLV, Germany’s Athletics Federation.

“A strong women’s team performance here is important to the success of cross country in Germany. This event is a start. Until now,” Prokop admitted, “the German federation hasn’t given much attention to cross country” in recent years. No German, male or female, has ever won a senior or junior title at these championships.

Following up as host after last year’s event, which featured Radcliffe and Abeylegesse, Prokop said, “Is a little bit of a risk, as events are always compared to the previous one. But I think we will have a very successful championship.”

The junior races include Dutch standout Adrienne Herzog, seventh in the 3000 at last summer's IAAF World Junior Championships; and the Romanian duo, Ancuta Bobocel and Catalina Marina Oprea, who finished 2-3 in the steeplechase in Grosseto. The British squad, who has won three of the last four junior team titles, is led by Claire Holm, who made her international debut at last spring's World Championships. Spain's Marta Romo, the winner of the junior race in Soria last month, could also be a factor.

The junior women's race (3640m) at 11:15 opens the competition, the senior women (5640m) taking to the course at 13:10.