ATHLETICS/Irish cross country teams:It should be a good thing that Ireland's top distance running talents are young and maturing fast, but unfortunately that situation has backfired a little for the European Cross Country Championships, set for the Italian town of Legnano on December 10th.

Mark Christie and Fionnuala Britton, who were set to lead the Irish senior teams after winning the intercounties titles in Dungarvan on Sunday, have instead opted for the under-23 division at the championships, introduced this year on a pilot basis.

While that race will have medals and probably be quite competitive, it won't be an official part of the event until next year.

However, Christie (21) and Britton (22) - the first exciting products of DCU's new athletic scholarship scheme - reckon the under-23 race is more suited to their development. Their decision was also influenced by the fact that neither the men's nor the women's teams are particularly strong, and so there was no point sacrificing their individual chances in the underage race when there was little hope of team honours at senior level.

Still, their defection effectively robs the senior teams of their two top runners - with further withdrawals also confirmed yesterday. Gareth Turnbull, who took second to Christie on Sunday, reaffirmed his intention to skip the event and instead focus on his indoor preparations, while US-based Alistair Cragg has declined his place on the team because of some uneasiness over his form.

"I think if the likes of Alistair Cragg and Gareth Turnbull were there for the senior team then Mark would have gone for that race as well," explained Elaine Fitzgerald, high-performance manager with Athletics Ireland. "But because they're not there I think on reflection, he feels the under-23 race is the better option. It's not very often you get to contend for a medal, and that's definitely the case with Mark in the under-23 race.

"And it's the same with Fionnuala Britton, who will obviously be very competitive in her under-23 race. But we left the final decision with the athletes. We were always going to send teams in all the races."

As a result of all this the men's and the women's senior teams will be led by Gary Murray and Rosemary Ryan, respectively. Murray ended up third on Sunday but is still in good form, and could yet improve on his 12th place finish in last year's European cross country. The senior men's team also includes Martin Fagan, who finished an excellent fifth in the American collegiate cross country last week, and was 16th in Europe last year.

Ryan took second to Britton on Sunday, 45 seconds adrift, and it's a lot more likely that US-based Mary Cullen will be the top Irish finisher in that race (she took 11th last year). Nine-time intercounties champion Séamus Power is also selected despite carrying a hamstring injury into Sunday's race (where he finished seventh).

Irish team manager Ann Keenan Buckley is still hopeful of a strong show in Italy: "I have been very close to the action this year and feel the whole squad have been performing well all year," she said.

"Hopefully, we can get stronger and stronger as a team over the next two to three years and there is no reason why we shouldn't do that," she said.