Hicks achieves first gold medal for country in division since 2015, helps team capture silver, with New Mexico standout Heckel earning bronze for Germany in women’s Under-20 event; Norway sweeps Senior level titles, as Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal and Jakob Ingebrigtsen triumph, with British quartet taking mixed relay

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Stanford sophomore Charles Hicks used a strong surge in the final 200 meters Sunday to secure the gold medal for Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the men’s Under-23 8-kilometer race in 24 minutes, 28.68 seconds at the 27th edition of the SPAR European Cross Country Championships at the Sport Ireland Campus in Fingal-Dublin.

Hicks, who finished fourth Nov. 20 in the 10-kilometer race at the NCAA Division 1 Championships at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla., became the fifth British Under-23 men’s champion and the first since Jonathan Davies prevailed in France in 2015.

Hicks was one of 32 current or former NCAA athletes to be competing Sunday in the Under-20, Under-23 or Senior races.

He helped Great Britain and Northern Ireland increase its all-time medal haul in the Under-23 men’s race to 17 medals, second only to France’s 20, including three courtesy of Jimmy Gressier, who captured the past three gold medals in the division, before earning bronze Sunday in his European Senior 10-kilometer race debut.

Hicks was able to pull away from Ireland’s Darragh McElhinney (24:32.08) and Ruben Querinjean of Luxembourg (24:35.65) on the final uphill straightaway, contributing to Great Britain and Northern Ireland finishing second to host Ireland by a 21-24 margin based on each team’s top three scorers.

Great Britain and Northern Ireland achieved eight medals overall at the event, increasing their all-time mark to 168, most of any country in meet history.

New Mexico freshman Emma Heckel, representing Germany, achieved a bronze medal in the women’s Under-20 4-kilometer race, clocking 13:45.29.

Megan Keith of Great Britain and Northern Ireland achieved gold in 13:40.87 and Norway’s Ingeborg Ostgard captured silver in 13:43.96.

It was the 10th bronze medal, most by any country in the women’s Under-20 race, and 17th overall in the division for Germany, which ranks second all-time to Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which have 42 following Keith’s victory.

Heckel led Germany to three athletes placing in the top seven, achieving the team title with a 15-27 victory over Spain.

Norway swept the Senior championship races, with Jakob Ingebrigtsen winning the men’s 10-kilometer race in 30:14.10, followed by Turkey’s Aras Kaya (30:28.84) and Gressier (30:33.13).

It marked the second Senior level gold medal for the Norwegian men, joining the victory for Filip Ingebrigtsen in 2018 in the Netherlands.

Gressier contributed to France earning the team title, leading three athletes in the top six overall for a 13-30 victory over Spain.

Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal not only produced the first Senior gold medal for the Norwegian women in the 8-kilometer race, she also added to her all-time female record of eight medals at the event, including the Under-20 title in 2009.

Grovdal, who triumphed in 26:33.16, had secured four consecutive bronze medals in the Senior women’s race from 2015-18, then earned a silver in 2019, before finally winning the title.

Sweden’s Meraf Bahta grabbed the silver medal in 26:43.52 and Germany’s Alina Reh took the bronze in 26:52.88.

Grovdal is responsible for all six career Senior women’s medals for Norway, which finished 10th overall as a team. Great Britain and Northern Ireland held off Germany for the team title by a 25-29 margin.

Italy’s Nadia Battocletti, winner of the past two Under-20 women’s titles, continued her success at the Under-23 level by prevailing in the 6-kilometer race in 20:31.16.

Slovena’s Klara Lukan was the silver medalist in 20:35.42, edging Portugal’s Mariana Machado in 20:35.93.

Battocletti led three Italian athletes in the top 11 to secure the team championship by an 18-25 margin over France.

Axel Vang Christensen of Denmark won the Under-20 men’s 6-kilometer race in 17:52.29, earning the first medal of any kind for his country in the division. Christensen also became just the second Danish male athlete to capture European cross country gold at any level, joining the Senior level title won by Carsten Jorgensen in 1997 in Portugal.

Denmark also secured bronze in the race, with Joel Ibler Lilleso running 18:20.57, just behind silver medalist Abdullahi Dahir Rabi of Norway in 18:17.90.

Even with a pair of medalists, Denmark only finished seventh with 64 points. Great Britain and Northern Ireland held on for a 34-35 victory over Ireland.

Abdel Laadjel of host Ireland, who competes for Providence, finished sixth in 18:29.60, and Germany’s Bastian Mrochen, representing NCAA Division 2 program Wingate, was 34th in 19:05.

Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s quartet of former New Mexico standout Hannah Nuttall, Luke Duffy, Alexandra Bell and Benjamin West helped capture the third gold medal in the past four European championships with a performance of 18:01 in the mixed 4x1,500-meter relay.

France’s Aurore Fleury, Azeddine Habz, Alexa Lemitre and Alexis Miellet secured the silver medal in 18;05 and Belgium’s Elise Vanderelst, Ruben Verheyden, Vanessa Scaunet and Stijn Baeten grabbed bronze in 18:06.

In the men’s Senior 10-kilometer competition, Washington All-American Brian Fay took 10th overall for Ireland in 30:45, with former Portland athlete Stuart McCallum finishing 27th for Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 31:32, one spot ahead of Irish athlete and Tulsa junior All-American Cormac Dalton in 31:33.

Iona graduate Johannes Motschmann, representing Germany, was 39th in 32:02, with Colorado alumnus Ryan Forsyth finishing 58th for Ireland in 32:58. Denmark’s Jakob Dybdal Abrahamsen, who competed for Eastern Kentucky, placed 71st in 34:00.

The women’s Senior 8-kilometer final also included reigning NCAA Division 1 10,000-meter champion Carmela Cardama Baez, an Oregon graduate representing Spain, earning eighth overall in 27:41. Portland All-American Anna Pataki, competing for Hungary, took 16th in 28:40.

Irish standouts Eilish Flanagan, Aoibhe Richardson and Roisin Flanagan all placed in the top 30. Eilish Flanagan (28:39) and Roisin Flanagan (28:54), both NCAA Division 2 national champions at Adams State, finished 15th and 26th, with Richardson – a Division 1 All-American at San Francisco – securing 23rd in 28:48.

Spain’s Blanca Fernandez, who attended Temple, was 33rd in 29:07, and Kate Avery, the 2014 Division 1 cross country champion at Iona, took 36th in 29:11. Alicja Konieczek, a Division 2 national winner at Western Colorado, placed 42nd representing Poland in 29:19.

Denmark’s Carolien Millenaar, competing for South Alabama, was 63rd for Denmark in 30:28.

Spain’s Aaron Las Heras, competing for Wake Forest, was eighth in the men’s Under-23 8-kilometer race in 24:49. Tulsa’s Michael Power, representing team champion Ireland, finished 13th in 25:03, with Oklahoma State’s Rory Leonard, competing for team runner-up Great Britain and Northern Ireland, earning 16th in 25:14.

Malte Propp, another athlete representing Tulsa, placed 32nd in 25:38, and fellow German Julius Hild of Cincinnati was 36th in 25:42.

Other collegiate competitors in the women’s Under-20 4-kilometer race included: Columbia’s Phoebe Anderson, representing Great Britain, finished 17th in 14:03, Providence’s Laura Mooney, competing for Ireland, was 55th in 14:36, Dutch athlete Yasmine Abbes of Florida State placed 64th in 14:41 and Greece’s Vasileia Spyrou, who attends Florida, earned 87th in 15:16.