A Cumbrian Edge Hill University student is aiming to represent Great Britain on the world stage after enjoying success in her first international competition.

Middle-distance runner Tiffany Penfold, who is in the second year of a Sports Therapy degree, competed at the European Under-20 Cross Country Championships in Tilburg, Netherlands, helping GB earn team gold after an encouraging debut performance.

She impressed selectors at the European trials having already produced some eye-catching displays in 2018. A time of 9:37:25 in the 3,000m in July - her only track run at the distance - ranks her eighth in Britain. In her first road race, over 5k, her time of 17:02 sees her third-best in the Under-20 age-group.

These performances culminated in a sixth-place finish at the British Athletics Cross Challenge held at Sefton Park, Liverpool, in November.

Penfold, 19, from Egremont, admitted: “Leading up to the GB call-up, my coach and I agreed it would be unlikely I made the team, as it was the top five that got automatic qualification.”

But she did, in fact, get the unexpected nod.

Her journey has not been easy, though, having had to endure serious injury problems which made her consider a future without the sport she first took up at the age of eight.

But encouraged by a neighbour and her sister, she joined the Cumberland Fell Runners Club, and has gone from strength-to-strength since.

Penfold’s main early-year focus is on the World Cross-Country Trials at Prestwold Hall, Loughborough on March 9, with the main event being held at the end of the same month in Aarhus, Denmark.

“The trials will be difficult, as I will have moved up to the Under-23 age category. As the youngest, I expect the older girls will be stronger and more experienced. Nevertheless, I will give it my best shot,” she said.