Bannister steps up and lands world title shot

2:52pm Tuesday 13th February 2001

Dominic Bannister, Shaftesbury Barnet's top cross-country runner, has clinched a place in the British team for the world championships in Dublin next month.

He had a fine run to take third spot in the trials at Nottingham on Saturday.

Bannister, who was in the British team that took the gold medal in the European Championships last season, won the Reebok Cross-Challenge for senior men for the third successive year, collecting a £2000 prize.

The Inter-Counties Championships were run in conjunction with the trials.

Representing the north-east counties, Bannister clocked 38mins 25secs for the 12km as he chased home Glynn Tromans, of Coventry Godiva Harriers (38-11) and defending champion Keith Cullen (Essex), who pipped the Shaftesbury star by a second for the runners-up spot.

Shaftesbury's Chloe Wilkinson seems to get better with every race.

Representing Herts, Chloe continued her excellent form with another success, winning the women's U17 race over 5km in 19mins 22secs.

In a terrific tussle with the Frost twins and Charlotte Wickham, she was four seconds clear of runner-up Wickham (North-East Counties), with K Frost (Hants) a close third in 19-27.

But Chloe might regret that she did not contest the junior women's (U20) run.

In the southern championships, she beat Fay Fullerton (Essex), who was fourth on Saturday and is in the team for the world event in Dublin.

In the men's U17 race, over 6km, Daniel Lewis, also running for Herts, went close to giving Shaftesbury an under-17 double.

He was runner-up in 21mins 29ses, behind Frank Pickner (Avon and Somerset), who clocked 21-20.

Shaftesbury's Tom Bedford was the unlucky runner in the race. He fell while with the leaders but picked himself up to finish seventh.

In the U15 girls' race over 4000m, Shaftesbury's Emma Hunt, representing Bucks, just missed out on a medal when fourth in 15mins 50secs, two seconds behind third-placed Sharon Lamont (Scotland East).

It was a good run by Emma, who beat seven girls who were ahead of her in the southern championships.

Another to run significantly better at Nottingham than in the southerns was Friern Barnet County schoolgirl Lindsay Barr.

Her seventh place in the U13 race was the best-ever performance by a Shaftesbury girl in that age group.

There were 293 finishers in the 3000m run, with Lindsay recording 12mins 30secs.

Other SBH runnrs in the first 20 in their races were Caroline Walsh and Lucy Elliott, tenth and 13th respectively in the senior women's 4000m race.

Sarah Stanmore came 11th (24mins 43secs) and Jo Ankier 20th (25-39) in the junior women's 6000m race.

In an indoor international at Cardiff on Saturday, Shaftesbury Barnet's Robert Mitchell and Julie Dunkley were winners, as was Jo Fenn, who lives in Barnet.

Mitchell took the high jump for Wales with 2.17m; Dunkley (England) threw 15.66m in the shot and Fenn (England) clocked 2mins 7secs in the 800m.

Fenn, who runs for Woodford Green and Essex Ladies AC, had too much class for her rivals in what was a useful warm-up for her big test this weekend.

She is preparing to take on the world's top two in the Norwich Union Grand Prix, Maria Mutola and Stephanien Graf, who were the gold and silver medallists in last year's Sydney Olympics.

Her target is a qualifying time for the World Indoor Championships in Lisbon next month.