UniRoos Impress in Portugal | FISU World University Cross Country Championships
Published Sun 13 Mar 2022
The FISU World University Cross Country Championships attracted many of the world’s emerging distance athletes to Portugal to do battle over a challenging 10,000m course, with the Australian men finishing in fifth place – lead by a top-10 finish from Tim Vincent.
The team consisting of Vincent (9th), Ed Goddard (14th), Harry Norman (22nd) and Harrison Bagley (31st) were met by only four countries better than them on the day, with the Moroccans clinching the overall title.
Vincent raced with confidence en route to ninth place in a time of 28:40 for 10,000m, embracing the team camaraderie and relishing the opportunity to race aggressively in the gruelling event.
“We said to each other before the race that no matter what happens, we've all got each other's back anyway and you run as hard as you can, and we did that pretty well,” Vincent said.
“We could hardly see in the race, it was pretty foggy but we all had a pretty good start. Once the pace quickened up a bit, it got pretty messy.”
The 23-year-old exercise physiology student at the Queensland University of Technology demonstrated his progress after previously competing in the championships in 2018, scrapping his way around the technical course before mustering a strong final four kilometres.
“The conditions were very different to four years ago, and there's plenty I can take away from this as I get into senior years of competition,” Vincent said.
Goddard’s versatility was on display as the Iona College product put the same aerobic prowess that saw him clock 2:15:13 in the marathon to good use in the 10,000m cross country bout – using his NCAA experience to deliver a valiant 14th place finish in a time of 28:56.
Norman completed the scoring trio of athletes for the Australian men, with the Melbourne University student crushing the course in a time of 29:32 to secure a vital 22nd placing, whilst Bagley rounded out the Australian action in 31st - the engineering student at the University of Adelaide crossing the line in 30:00.
The University of Queensland’s Samantha Phillips lead the charge for the Australian duo in the women’s 10,000m race, finishing in 27th place with a respectable time of 35:27 for the education student. Phillips added yet another string to her bow having previous experience in the green and gold at the 2019 World University Games in Napoli.
Meanwhile, commerce student at the University of Sydney, Emma Mahon, crossed the line in 33rd place in 37:12 much to the delight of her coach who had been assigned team manager duties – Olympian Ben St Lawrence.
The race provides invaluable international experience for the Australian women who proudly donned the green and gold, whilst Annabel White’s withdrawal meant she did not travel with the team.
The combination of Phillips, Goddard, Mahon and Vincent also competed in the 12,000m relay – consisting of two legs of 4000m and two legs of 2000m. Having already completed their individual races, the quartet enjoyed the opportunity to race in the mixed format and further cement the team culture – finishing in 11th place.
Many of Australia’s current and former distance running stars kick-started successful international careers with a senior debut at the World University Cross Country Championships, with the event a proven stepping stone to the elite senior ranks.
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 13/03/2022
