Pole vaulter Holly Bleasdale has won her first National Championship and in the process has earned a trip to Paris as a member of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team at the 31st European Indoor Championships.

The 19-year-old travelled to Sheffield on Sunday for the UK Indoor Trials and Championships in red-hot form having increased her personal best from 4.35m to 4.50m after just five outings this year.

And the Blackburn Harrier didn’t disappoint in the Steel City, scuppering Kate Dennison’s bid for a sixth straight title to take gold in impressive fashion courtesy of a best leap of 4.36m.

Bleasdale took only two vaults to win her title with first time clearances at 4.16m and 4.36m, while Dennison who was alone in clearing 4.26m, suffered three failures at 4.36.

Having never beaten the UK holder until this season, Bleasdale has now done so twice. She went on to try and raise her personal best to 4.51m, and after recent successes admitted to mild disappointment.

“I have been setting personal bests quite a lot so it’s disappointing not to set another one but 4.36m is still a good height and I am happy with that,” she said.

The qualifying height for Paris is 4.40m, but although she was just short, Bleasdale had the standard already and needed to finish in the first two to earn selection.

With no vault at the Indoor Grand Prix this weekend, Bleasdale has flown to Poland and was due to compete at Bydgoszcs last night.

Dennison, the Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, is yet to hit the mark required for European Championship selection, but with hers sewn up Bleasdale has vowed to learn how to cope under pressure.

“Competing against Kate spurs me on. She is a good friend and I have watched her for years and she has won this many times and now I am competing against her and it is great,” she added.

“There was a lot of pressure on me out there with lots of friends and family watching me but that is something I need to get used to and I need to get over the pressure of big competitions.”

On the week when the Olympic timetable has been announced, it is inevitable that the bronze medallist from the 2010 World Junior Championships is beginning to look ahead. Bleasdale believes that her gold at the UK Indoor Championships was just the reminder that she needed that reaching London 2012 is a very real possibility.

“2012 is a big aim for me, I am still young but I really want to be there. The aim would be to make the final, I just want to get there and doing well here is a confidence boost,” she said.