COVENTRY GODIVA HARRIERS athlete Freya Bennett has been called up to represent England at the Elgoibar International Cross Country Races in northern Spain this weekend.
The English Cross Country Association (ECCA) announced the squad on Thursday night with Godiva’s Bennett earning her first England vest as part of the women’s under-20 team.
She joins Alice Garner of Aldershot, Farnham and District AC, Beatrice Wood of City of Salisbury AC and Louise Hackett of Wolverhampton and Bilston AC in a squad selected by Barbara Cutting.
Bennett earned her place in the squad after a fine performance at the European Cross Country Trials in Liverpool back in November, in which she placed eighth in the World Athletics Under-20’s Women’s race.
The event in Spain, which takes place on Sunday, January 9, represents the first time in two years that the ECCA have been able to provide athletes with international experience.
Bennett is the current Warwickshire and Midlands Under-20 1500 metres champion and was seventh in the same event at the English Schools meeting last year.
She has represented Warwickshire at county level on several occasions and has been with Godiva for over 10 years, first running for the club in 2012.
Up until 2017, Bennett had never achieved a top three finish in any cross-country race but has worked extremely hard to achieve her first England call up.
The young athlete’s personal best (PB) over five kilometres is 17mins 57secs and also has a javelin PB of 24.22 metres and a high jump PB of one metre 50 centimetres.
Elsewhere, this weekend’s Warwickshire and Worcestershire County Cross Country Championships scheduled for Saturday, January 8 has been cancelled.
The Newbold Revel site is a Prison Officer Training College and has been closed due to a serious Covid outbreak within the college.
The organising team are unable to confirm whether the event has been cancelled or postponed and will update participating clubs in the near future.
Despite the cancellation, the club are always looking for new members to run, jump or throw for Godiva.
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