WEEKEND ROUNDUP: Current Husky Brian Fay finishes tenth at SPAR European Cross Country Champs...
While we were busy with the Spokane Invitational, there were two significant competitions that happened over the weekend.
In Fingal-Dublin, Ireland, University of Washington grad student Brian Fay (Karen Mitchell photo) led the host nation to a fourth place team finish at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships Sunday with his tenth place finish.
Fay ran 30:45 for the 10k course on the campus of Sport Ireland, finishing 30 seconds behind winner and Tokyo Olympic 1500 meter champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway's 30:15.
As he did at the NCAA regionals and national championships, Fay worked his way toward the front, but staying within contact of the leaders.
At the 5400 meter mark, Fay was in 19th place in 16:38, ten seconds behind the leaders, but managed to pick up nine places in the second half of the race.
"I was happy. I thought the race would go off harder than it did and then it just kind of relaxed in that first K, and that let me get in to a good position and I went chasing that second group. I always felt like I had momentum throughout the race, but then that last lap I was just gassed, I was spent, but then you come around and everyone is cheering you on. Every time you get to that back straight its like they are cheering for no one else but the Irish, you get a second wind! I think Mayo from Spain was coming around me on the last lap and I was spent, and then I just see him on my shoulder and everyone was like, 'You gotta go'. I'm like I can't let the team down here, let the country down, so I gave it everything and it was a good performance and I'm really happy."
Rowe, the winner of the British trials, was the first one across the line for Team GBR, as they finished in sixth.
The individual medals went to Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway (30:15), Aras Kaya of Turkey (30:29), and Jimmy Gressier of France (30:34).
France placed three runners in the top ten (top 3 score) to win with 13 points, followed by Spain with 30, and Norway with 47.
Fay's Irish squad finished with 51 points, four points out of the podium, while Rowe's British team had 65 points in sixth.
Complete results of the SPAR European Cross Country Championships are available here.
In Tallahassee, Florida, Tom Anderson of Club Northwest finished fifth in the men's open 10k at the USATF National Club Cross Country Championships Saturday at Apalachee Regional Park.
Anderson ran 30:50, as winner Franklin Tonui ran 30:15.
Edmonds native and former Boise State standout Miler Haller, also competing for Club Northwest, was 12th in 31:02.
Washington alum Julius Diehr, competing for the Rhode Island based Ocean State AC, was 28th in 31:44, while Bellingham native and US Olympian Jake Riley of T.E.A.M Boulder was 42nd in 32:07.
Club Northwest finished ninth in the 35 team men's field with 269 points, as the Hansons/Brooks Distance Project won with 44 points.
In the women's 6k race, Natosha Rogers of Hansons/Brooks won in a time of 19:42, as she led her squad to the team title with 27 points.
Club Northwest was 16th in the 23 team women's field with 437 points, led by Juanita HS grad Emily Peterson in 89th place in 22:50.
Complete results of the USATF National Club Cross Country Championships are available here.
NOTE: European Athletics, British Athletics, Athletics Ireland, and USA Track & Field contributed to this report.
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