By John Kwoba
NAIROBI, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Kenya will pick a team of young and experienced athletes in its selection for the Africa Cross Country Championships in Chelf, Algeria in March 17.
Athletics Kenya (AK) Vice chairman Paul Mutwii said Kenya will select a team of 30 athletes for the continental Cross Country Championships on Saturday during the national cross country championships in Nairobi.
However, with top names like World Cross Country champion Geoffrey Kamworor missing the event, Kenya must look for budding talent to present to the continental arena.
"I will not compete at the Africa Cross Country Championships. I will leave that to the upcoming athletes. My focus is on representing Kenya and defending my title at the World Half Marathon in Valencia, Spain on March 24," Kamworor said on Tuesday.
Though Kamworor will not be heading to Algeria, he will be competing in Nairobi to gauge his fitness ahead of the World Half Marathon in Valencia.
However the African 10,000m champion Alice Aprot and former World Cross Country champion Agnes Tirop will be battling for a slot in the Kenyan team.
The Kenyan team will report to camp on Feb. 20 in Embu town, in eastern Kenya where they will be for three weeks before departing for Chelf, Algeria on March 14.
Some of the athletes expected to grace the annual event include World Youth 1,500m champion George Manangoi and Anthony Kiptoo.
Kenya will be looking forward to a repeat of its 2016 performance in Yaounde, Cameroon where the country took home the lion's share of the medals.
Team Kenya won all top podium places in each of the race categories to bag a total of 14 medals - eight gold, three silver, and three bronze. Enditem
