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Johnson and Mottram, Aus World Cross team - Printable Version

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Johnson and Mottram, Aus World Cross team - admin - 12-03-2008

Two of Australia’s most decorated distance runners, Craig Mottram and Benita Johnson, headline a talent-laden 22-member team that will compete at the 36th IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh on March 30.

Mottram, who will contest the 5000m at the Olympic Games in August, will aim to better his fifth placing earned over the short course in Dublin in 2002. It will be the 27 year-old’s seventh appearance at the world’s premier cross country meet, the same for Johnson who remains the only Australian to have medalled at the championships.

Johnson, who won the long course in 2004, has finished in the top 10 on six occasions and this experience should serve her well as she pushes for marathon selection for Beijing.

In an exciting coup, Australia will be represented in its team management by another world cross gold medallist - Irish starling Sonia Sullivan, who will travel as coach.

O’Sullivan, married to esteemed distance tutor Nic Bideau and an Australian citizen since 2006, won the long and short course double at the championships in Marrakech in 1998.

It was a major highlight in a magnificent career for her native country that included the world 5000m title in 1995 and Olympic silver over that distance in 2000.

Her knowledge and advice will be invaluable as the team prepares for the trek around Holyrood Park.

Three other Bideau-coached athletes have been included in the Edinburgh team with Melissa Rollison, Victoria Mitchell and Andrew Letherby to contest the terrain.

Rollison has emerged from a year of devastating injuries - hamstring tendon and stress fractures - and finished second to Donna MacFarlane in the 3000m steeplechase at the recent Australian Championships in Brisbane.

Mitchell, who competed in the steeple at the World Championships in August, finished third in Brisbane and is looking to turn the tables on what was a sometimes frustrating 2007.

The pair, along with Johnson, MacFarlane, Anna Thompson and Eloise Wellings, claimed an historic team bronze medal in Fukuoka, Japan in 2006. That combination will only miss MacFarlane and Wellings in 2008.

Thompson (18th) was Australia’s best performer at last year’s World Cross Country Championships held in Mombasa, Kenya held in oppressive heat. Letherby was the best performer of the men, finishing 45th in the field of 165.

These will be Thompson’s seventh championships, with her experience complemented by Canberra’s Martin Dent who will also make trip No. 7.

Dent enjoyed a solid domestic season, highlighted by victory in a strong men’s 3000m steeplechase field in Brisbane.

The man he finished second to in December’s 10,000m championship, Victorian Collis Birmingham, is an automatic selection after his victory in Saturday’s trials in the capital matched standards met over the summer.

The ever-improving Lisa Jane Weightman, who won the women’s trial, will contest her third consecutive World Cross Country Championships before tackling the London Marathon in April.

And Melinda Vernon, the national women’s 10,000m champion, will make her international debut a week before undertaking the World University Cross Country Championships in Mauquenchy, France.

Victorian Liam Adams is also a member of both teams.

World Youth Championships representatives Ryan Gregson, Richard Everest and Elise Clayton have been included in a promising junior contingent after good performances in Saturday’s trials.

Team manager and national distance co-ordinator Tim O’Shaughnessy has high hopes for the 2008 team.

“The inclusion of Benita and Craig will add even greater depth and strength to the Australian team,” he said.

“Edinburgh will be the total opposite of Mombasa. The course contains one reasonable hill, the surface will be very soft and, of course, the weather conditions will be vastly different.

“Having Sonia as team coach will be a great opportunity for the development of our junior athletes.

“Our juniors are a strong unit and the likes of Ryan Gregson will be able to match it with the best in the world.”

Team Australia
36th IAAF World Cross Country Championships
Edinburgh, Scotland
Sunday, March 30, 2008

Men (12km): Liam Adams (Vic), Collis Birmingham (Vic), Martin Dent (ACT), Andrew Letherby (Vic), David McNeill (Vic), Craig Mottram (Vic), Ben St Lawrence (NSW), Michael Shelley (Qld)

Women (8km): Benita Johnson (Vic), Victoria Mitchell (Vic), Melissa Rollison (QLD), Anna Thompson (Vic), Melinda Vernon (NSW), Lisa Jane Weightman (Vic)

Junior men (8km): Richard Everest (SA), Ryan Gregson (NSW), Ashley Watson (Vic), Duer Yoa (Vic)

Junior women (6km): Emily Brichacek (ACT), Tamara Carvolth (QLD), Elise Clayton (Vic), Alexis McKillop (NSW)

Held annually, the IAAF World Cross Country Championships have a rich history, pitting the world’s best distance runners against each other on demanding terrain in often arduous conditions.