Winchester and District AC trio John Beattie, James Ellis and Gavin Smith have all been rewarded for impressive recent cross country form by earning selection for Saturday's European under-23 International Cross Country Challenge in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Beattie and Ellis, representing England, will be joined in Germany by Smith, who will be running for the south.

Hampshire cross country champion Beattie, pictured below, is delighted to be making his England debut. "I've had several near misses over the last year or so and I'm obviously thrilled about being selected to run for England," said the Winchester runner.

"Many of the athletes I train with are internationals and I will now be able to say that I am too.

"This is what we train for, and it will be a proud moment when standing on the start line in an England vest hearing the national anthem."

Experienced international James Ellis will be looking to bounce back after missing the GB team for last month's European Cross Country Championship by one place at the trial.

He has been in good form so far this winter, with the highlight being a top-five finish at an international under-23 race in Holland in November.

Gavin Smith has finally put together an uninterrupted spell of quality training after suffering from a nightmare series of injuries over the last three years. He will be looking to build on his fourth place at the Hampshire Championships. "This will be my first race at this level and it's important that I justify my selection with a good performance," said Smith.

"Although the race represents a step up in class from the level I have been racing at, there's no point in going all the way to Germany to be scared of them. I plan to get stuck in and give everything I have."

England narrowly won the team race at the same fixture last year, just edging out Germany; though no doubt will be expecting tough opposition from the host nation as well as the other major European teams such as Belgium, Holland and France.

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