Celtic Nations International Cross Country, Antrim - 23/01/2010

Emma Dunnett continued her winning streak by lifting the Celtic Nations International Cross Country title in Antrim at the weekend with an air of determination that unnerved her more experienced opponents. In Emma's first Scottish Athletics cross country selection, she want into the international race as one of the youngest competitors, having been moved up from the Under 15's to the Under 17's to allow her to compete.

In a 3.6K, 2 lap race, the Under 17's lined up along with the Under 20 athletes and this provided a perfect race situation for Emma. She started the race strong, heading out onto a fog bound course along with the lead pack which was made up of 5 Under 20 athletes and the Under 17 pre-race favourite from Wales, Ffion Price, who had won the event last year.

As the runners heading into a heavy uneven section of the course in the first lap, Emma took the opportunity as other runners struggled with the underfoot conditions, to pass 2 runners including Price. She continued to run comfortably during the second lap passing a further Under 20 runner to finish strongly in 4th place overall, taking the Celtic Nations title, 9 seconds clear of Price.

In a winning time of 13.53min, Emma was only 12 seconds behind the lead Under 20 athlete, Sarah Inglis also from Scotland. The Under 17 Scottish Women's team also picked up gold along with the Under 20 and Under 23 Women and the Under 20 and Under 23 Men, therefore retaining the Celtic Cup which they had won by Scotland the previous year.

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