Cullen was an NCAA 5000-meter titlist for Providence College but her home country is Ireland, and she was dismayed to only place 12th in Dublin at the European Cross Country Championships in December. On Saturday, she got back on a positive track by winning at the Antrim International in Northern Ireland. It was a rout on the 5.4K course; Cullen's 18:45 was 31 seconds faster than runner-up Aniko Kalovics of Hungary. Hayley Yelling-Higham, the 2009 European Cross Country champ from Britain, placed fifth. "I wanted it so badly in Dublin that I think I might just have stepped it too far thinking that more, more, more instead of thinking less is more maybe," explained Cullen. "You live and learn through these things." She came to understand "you have to be just feisty going into a race and I just felt going into Dublin that I was almost tired and a little bit drained going in and you aren't going to get your best out then, unfortunately."

Full Article