Wells Cathedral School pupil, Sophie Nicholls, who lives in the city, came in the top three out of 344 girls in the recent National Schools Cross Country Championships in Liverpool, and has subsequently been selected for the England Junior Cross Country Team.

Sophie, who is in Year 9 at Wells Cathedral School and is also a vocal specialist there, is not yet 14, but ran in the U15 category of the championships, a year younger than this age group.

Wells director of sport, Tom Webley, said: "In a field of 344 runners, all kinds of things can go wrong so it's quite an extraordinary achievement for Sophie. She is a real talent."

The National Schools Cross Country Championships, held at Sefton Park in Liverpool, featured six highly competitive races and represents the climax of the cross country calendar.

The two other Wells Cathedral School runners who represented Somerset at the championships, Upper Sixth pupils Matthew Howard and Ella Leonard, also both ran extremely well.