SHILDON teenager Kate Avery received a huge boost on the eve of today’s English Schools Championships when she was picked to represent Great Britain in the World Junior Championships in Canada next weekend.

The 18-year-old Darlington College student has been a silver- medallist in the English Schools events, on the track and over the country, and this will be her final appearance wearing a Palatinate purple Durham County Schools vest in tomorrow’s 1500m at the Alexander Stadium, Birmingham, where she finished runner- up in the event in 2007.

Avery, who was second over 3,000m in the English Junior Championships and World Junior Championships trial last month has been picked to run over 5,000m in Moncton on the strength of her 16 mins 04.60 secs personal best recorded last year for the distance and her performance in this year’s World Junior Cross Country Championships, when she was the UK’s first finisher.

Avery looks to be the North- East’s outstanding medal contender at Birmingham, but another senior girl, Northumberland’s North-East and England AAA’s champion Rebecca Liddell - overlooked for Canada despite topping the UK rankings - should be a leading contender in the 100m hurdles, while Cleveland’s Ashleigh Wood, runner-up in the event at Sheffield last year, is also a medal hopeful.

The North-East could struggle to make an impact in in the boys’ events, but Northumberland’s Michael McArdle, the North-East Counties under-15 100m and long jump champion, won the Inter Counties Schools long jump title and cleared 5.93m in last weekend’s English Schools Track and Field Cup Final at Gateshead Stadium and could be in a position to figure prominently in the junior boys event.