Morocco won all but one of the team titles at the 2018 International School Sport Federation (ISF) World School Championship (WSC) Cross Country in Paris on Wednesday 4 April.
The event was organised by International School Sport Federation (ISF) and the French School Sport Federation (UNSS) to bring together young athletes from around the world, embracing the joy of moving, respect for cultures and promoting education through sports.
Cheered on by two-time Olympic gold medallist and current world record-holder in the 1500m, mile and outdoor 2000m events, Hicham El Guerrouj, the Moroccans posted impressive performances.
Morocco won the Selected Boys team title with 28 points on the back of the third, fourth and sixth place finishes by Hicham Boulkail (16:13); Abdellah Latam (16:17); and Mustaph Akkaoui (16:19) respectively.
Algeria’s 18-year-old Cherrad Oussama took home the Selected Boys gold medal, executing a controlled front-racing to finish in 16:09 ahead of Samuel Tanner of New Zealand, who took the silver in 16:10.
His other teammates, Abed Saber and Mich Abdelkader crossed the finish line in 8th (16:29) and 12th (16:44) respectively, to claim the bronze medal for the Algerian Team with 62 points.
Moroccan selected youth athletes at the 2018 International School Sport Federation World School Championship (WSC) Cross Country in Paris on Wednesday 4 April / Photo credit: Yomi Omogbeja
Tunisia finished in 16th place in the Boys Team standings with 321 points. Morsi Mannai was the fastest of the Tunisian boys, crossing the finish line in 77th position (19:51) ahead of teammate Anas Baklouti, who finished 78th in 19:56.
Australia’s Elia Heeney took the Selected Girls gold medal in 13:33 ahead of 16-year-old Meryeme Azrour of Morocco, who was second in 13:34. Francesca Brint of England was third in 13:40.
Australia won the Selected Girls Team gold with 29 points ahead of England (33 points) and New Zealand (49 points). Morocco finished just outside the medals in fourth place with 56 points, despite Azrour’s silver medal heroics.
Among the other African Selected teams, Algeria finished in 9th place with 155 points while Tunisia was 17th with 357 points.
School Girls Team winners, High School Qualifying Allal E IFRANE from Morocco, bunched together on the last lap at the 2018 International School Sport Federation World School Championship (WSC) Cross Country in Paris on Wednesday 4 April / Photo: UNSS
Moroccan school kids sweep team titles
High School Qualifying Allal E IFRANE from Morocco won the School Boys Team gold with 29 points with impressive performances by Anass Essayi (2nd in 16:28); Hamza Chahid (4th in 16:32); Hous El Azzouzi (6th in 16:43); Zakari Hmirouch (7th in 16:48); Zakaria Zeroual (14th in 17:02) and Mo Abouettahery (19th in 17:08).
Morocco’s High School Qualifying Allal E IFRANE also took home the School Girl’s Team gold with 19 points after placing four runners in the top ten positions.
Yasmine Bidekan led her teammates across the finish line, following home the winner, Abbey Rockliff of Australia (13:54), to claim the silver medal for the Moroccans in 13:55.
Houda Ahettiou claimed the final podium place in 14:03 while Chaymae Arrouf was 5th in 14:10. Zainab Hachlaf was 9th in 14:25 and Oumn El Azzouzi finished in 13th place in 14:39.
FULL RESULTS:
- RESULTS – SCHOOL TEAM BOYS – ISF WSC PARIS 2018
- RESULTS – SCHOOL TEAM GIRLS – ISF WSC PARIS 2018
- RESULTS – SELECTED TEAM GIRLS – ISF WSC PARIS 2018
- RESULTS – SELECTED TEAM BOYS – ISF WSC PARIS 2018
- TEAM RANKINGS – ISF WSC PARIS 2018
#Photo Gallery: ISF World School Championships Cross Country Paris 2018 #CrossISFParis #ISFWSC2018
(Photo Credit: AthleticsAfrica)
Posted by AthleticsAfrica on Friday, April 6, 2018
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