Anna Anderson made her return from injury and ran herself straight into the England Under-18 Fell Team.
The junior race at the Belmont Winter Hill Fell Race was the trial for the Marco Germanetto Races at Susa in Italy, and Anna took second behind Dionne Allen from Leigh Harriers to gain automatic selection.
The sixteen year old, who attends Westholme School in Blackburn, already has an England vest having run in the Home International last summer, and she becomes the second qualifier for Susa in successive years from the Pendle club following Ben Lindsay's success in 2005.
Anna has suffered a persistent achilles problem since December coupled with a pain down the outside of her other leg, and has been having intensive treatment from England physiotherapist Denise Park at Clitheroe.
She has been training on an exercise bike for three weeks to improve cardio-vascular fitness but ran at Belmont without a single track session behind her. She enjoyed her first race, an out and back three miles with 600 feet of ascent split into two climbs. It is a similar distance to the Italian course, although that will be over three laps.
With only two automatic choices and one at the discretion of the selectors, Anna is likely to be East Lancashire's sole representative this year.
Phil Bolton of Rossendale Harriers was fifth boy with Jack Thompson of Pendle sixth.
England will also send a Development Team of younger runners born in 1991/2 and Dale's Sam Tosh was fourth in the trial with clubmate Emma Flanagan fifth girl and Emma Thompson from Pendle eighth.
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