A TEENAGER is heading for the US after landing a £1,000 travel scholarship.

Lynsey Carveth, 17, has won the Wilcox Scholarship, which is awarded each year to a student at Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, Darlington.

Lynsey, from Richmond, North Yorkshire, will set off in July after her A-level exams in PE, geography and leisure and recreation.

She will fly to Chicago, then spend a month travelling to Wisconsin, Minnesota, New York, Pittsburgh and Boston, spending time with US families and working in outward bound centres, sports clubs and summer camps.

Lynsey, who is planning to study for a degree in sports coaching and development at Sheffield Hallam University, said: "There's going to be so much to see and do but I think one of the highlights will be interviewing Liz O'Leary, the former US Olympic Women's rowing captain."

The Wilcox Scholarship was endowed by Ian Lambert, a former Darlington resident and pupil at the then Queen Elizabeth Grammar School.

The award is a tribute to his parents-in-law, Laura and Robert Wilcox, who welcomed him to the US in his youth.

Lynsey will visit Mr Lambert and his wife, Katherine, who live in Milwaukee.