EPACC Athletes Make Up A Third of GB & NI European Cross Country Team

A number of athletes from the Endurance Performance and Coaching Centre (EPACC) at St Mary’s University College, Twickenham have been chosen to represent Great Britain at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Serbia on Sunday 8th December. A total of 12 EPACC athletes have been selected to join the group of 36, making up a third of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team. This includes current St Mary’s students Michael Callegari, in the U20 Men’s category, and Richard Goodman, who will run in the U23 Men’s category. There are a number of former University College students also running in the competition, including Keith Gerrard, Andy Vernon, Commonwealth Bronze medallist Stephanie Twell and 2010 European Cross Country Champion Charlotte Purdue. They will be joined by fellow EPACC athletes Jessica Andrews, Olympic semi-finalist Julia Bleasdale, Jonathan Hay, Lily Partridge, Emelia Gorecka and Amy Griffiths. The EPACC is a world-class training centre and the coaching is delivered by Mick Woods and Craig Winrow at St Mary’s Strawberry Hill campus. Mick has coached many of the athletes competing in the European Cross Country Championships and will also be coaching the Senior Men's team at the championships. St Mary’s Director for Sport Andrew Reid-Smith added “St Mary’s EPACC athletes are generally well represented in the GB & NI squad for the European Cross. A number of the runners will be targeting individual medals and overall the team will be looking to top the medal table.” St Mary’s has run an endurance programme since 2001, with London Marathon as the principle sponsor, and support from the London Marathon has been renewed until 2017, enabling athletes to access coaching support, support services and accommodation, all of which are provided on campus. Around 500 athletes from 37 European countries will be participating in the annual competition in six categories: Senior Men, Senior Women, U23 Men, U23 Women, U20 Men and U20 Women.