Mutai to light up South Rift cross country meeting in Sotik tomorrow
Athletics
By
Gilbert Kimutai
| Jan 24, 2020
Former Africa Cross Country bronze medalist Beatrice Mutai returns to action at South Rift region cross country meeting at Sotik Cereals tomorrow.
She is targeting a place in the region’s team to national cross country championships set for Uhuru Gardens, Nairobi, on February 8, where Athletics Kenya will pick the national team to Africa Cross Country Championships in Lome, Togo.
Mutai said she’s optimistic about defending her regional title. She takes on world under-18 2,000m steeplechase champion Sandra Felis Chebet and 2013 Africa Youth 1500m silver medalist Eva Cherono.
Also in the mix are 2016 Africa cross country gold medalist Miriam Cherop, world under-20 5,000m champion Beatrice Chebet and 2014 5,000m Commonwealth Games 5,000mm champion Mercy Cherono.
Cherop, who graduated to senior ranks last year, hopes to improve her performance in Sotik after dropping out of the race last year at Kericho Teachers Training College.
She says she has trained well for the competition and would put up a spirited performance against her senior rivals.
“Ï have trained well and hope to perform better than last year so that I can book a place in the national trials team,” said Cherop.
Former world youth 1,500m silver medalist Davis Kiplang’ at, world under-20 3,000m steeplechase champion Amos Kirui will square it out in men’s 10km race.
Meanwhile, organisers of the PSD Bank Meeting in Dusseldorf have announced two high-quality fields for the 60m hurdles race at the World Athletics Indoor Tour meeting on February 4.
World indoor silver medallist Christina Clemons sits equal sixth on the world indoor all-time list with her best of 7.73. Before that, her PB was the 7.77 meeting record she set in Dusseldorf in 2018.
The US sprint hurdler will face Jamaica’s World Championships finalist Megan Tapper, and German duo Cindy Roleder and Pamela Dutkiewicz, the 2015 world silver and 2017 world bronze medallists respectively.
Jarret Eaton, who also claimed world indoor silver in 2018, will return to Dusseldorf with a point to prove. The US sprint hurdler lined up in Dusseldorf last year having won six of his seven indoor races that season, but he was disqualified in his heat for a false start.