The Junior Boys althletics squad from Laurence Jackson School, Guisborough, has beaten off competition from teams across the region to become the Northern winners of a competition held recently at the Gateshead Stadium.

The team of 12 and 13-year-old athletes is now preparing to travel to London next week to take part in the national finals of the Sky Sports Track and Field Schools Cup.

Les Thompson, the school's PE teacher, said: "It is the first time in the 20 years the competition has been running that we have got a boys' team through. We have had a girls' team get to the finals before."

The school is hoping its success will help in its bid for Specialist Sports College status.