STEEPLECHASER Chris Hart was said to be "thrilled to bits" after landing his second national title in a month.

The 16-year-old Burnley athlete added the AAA's Under-17 title to his English Schools win in the 1,500m chase.

There was a silver medal at the "Three As" for our other English Schools' Champion Laura Finucane - and the only girl to beat her competed in the Commonwealth Games.

The competition for Chris wasn't as strong as it had been at English Schools, and there were no heats, just a straight final.

However, he put in a powerful display of front running to split the field before braking the tape in 4:20.86.

Although it was marginally slower than his PB of 4:19.85, it gave him an eight second margin over the runner-up, and he was 15 seconds clear of third.

He has now run the two fastest times in the country this year. Before the end of the season he is hoping to break four minutes for the flat 1,500m.

Laura, 15, from Pendle AC switched events from the 800m to the 300m and came face to face with the exceptional Gemma Nichol from Dunfermline, who ran for Scotland's 4x400m relay team in the Commonwealth Games.

Gemma was drawn inside Laura and tracked her progress before easing away to win by half a second. Laura set a PB and club record with 39.03 seconds in the final, one of the quickest times in the country this year

She is now taking a short holiday in Spain, but aims to run a 400m before the end of the season to try and gain a place in the National Rankings List.

Pendle's Ben Rusius set a PB 4:16.29 as he finished sixth in the Under-15 1,500m final while Blackburn Harrier Matt Wood qualified for the Under-17 1,500m final but struggled home with a leg injury.

Park High School AC's Under-17 Louise Dickinson made it through to two semi-finals but just failed to reach the 200m and 300m finals. Hyndburn's multi-eventer Anna Griffiths was taking part in three events and reached the semi-final in the Under-15 75m hurdles, and Burnley's Danny Whittaker won his heat of the Under-17 100m to reach the semi-final.

Katie Ingram of Chorley Harriers has gained automatic selection for the England Under-20 Fell Team which will contest the World Trophy (fell running's World Championship) in Innsbruck, Austria on September 14 and 15.

She won her place by finishing second in the trial race at Keswick. It is the second time the 17-year-old has been chosen after she qualified at the minimum age last year. Selector Norman Matthews expects her to be one of the mainstays of the team and paid tribute to the extra work she has put in since failing to make the team for the Black Forest Teenager Games.