FIVE of East Lancashire’s top teenagers have been selected to represent their county at the English Schools Track and Field Championships at the Gateshead International Stadium on July 6-7.

Pendle duo Neng Wildman and Leah Hillman were picked by Lancashire Schools for the forthcoming championships, along with Chorley’s Luke Betts, Ribble Valley’s Amelia Wood and Elizabeth Greenwood of Blackburn Harriers.

There is set criteria for youngsters getting the nod by the Red Rose, although performances at the Lancashire Schools Championships in Wigan earlier this month and the Lancashire Championships in Blackpool in May will have gone a long way to their selection.

Betts, 18, the current county champion in the U20 800m and 1,500m, is in terrific form after registering a new 800m personal best on Tuesday at Stretford’s Longford Park.

He clocked 1.51.92, shaving more than a second off his previous best, to put him in the ‘Power of 10’ top 15 U20s in the UK and in the top 100 men.

Last month, 13-year-old throwing ace Hillman landed three gold medals at the Lancashire Championships and threw over 30m in the javelin – the English Schools qualifying distance – at Wigan.

Club-mate Wildman, 16, was a silver medallist in the U17 100m.

Wood, 14, was crowned Lancashire champion in the U17 1,500m and 3,000m in May.

Greenwood, 13, was also a double winner, proving her class in the U15 1,500m and 3,000m races.