ATHLETICS:IT WAS back to business as usual for Fionnuala Britton at Saturday's Antrim International Cross Country as she made it three wins out of four since her European triumph last month – and will now look to close out the season on a similar note.

There wasn’t the strong Kenyan presence of Seville last Sunday, where Britton finished eighth, yet Britton did defeat three emerging Ethiopians – while once again fending off the dogged challenge of Britain’s Gemma Steel, who was the only one to stick with Britton until the final lap.

“I struggled in Seville last week,” she said, “so I needed it this week. I suppose after one good race you forget about it quickly. One not so good race plays on your mind for a lot longer. This would get rid of last week.”

Britton beat Steel in similar fashion at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country, and likewise at the European Cross Country in Slovenia: “It was tough, a lot tougher than Edinburgh, I think. It was similar in one way because it was the two of us together, but that muck made it tough.”

“This time we ran together for a lot more of it, so it was tougher, I suppose, mentally as much as anything. Both of us are aware of the fact that there are people behind us. I suppose both of us are similar in a way, so if we get away we know we only have each other to battle against, where if we sit back and let others run the race we don’t know what is going to happen.”

In the end Britton had three seconds to spare, clocking 19:32, with Ethiopia’s Birtuken Adamu claiming third place. Next up for Britton is the IAAF Luxembourg Cross Country on February 12th, and finally the Almond Blossom in Portugal on February 26th, where she will get another shot at the leading Kenyans.

Kenya’s Mike Kigen produced a gun-to-tape victory in the men’s race in what was his third successive victory in Antrim – once again making light of the heavy conditions.

Further afield, Tori Pena improved her Irish pole vault record to 4.45m in Reno in the US on Saturday evening. Although short of the world indoor qualification standard of 4.52m, Pena bettered her record of 4.21m which she set in Seattle in January last year, and the vault is also higher than her Irish record of 4.40m.

Also, at the AAI Indoor Games in Nenagh, Claire Bergin won the women’s 400m in a time of 55.34, just outside her indoor best of 55.06, while in the Junior Indoor Championships world youth champion Kate Veale added another national title to her collection when she easily won the women’s 3,000m walk in a time of 13:29.37.