KEIGHLEY & Craven Athletic Club's under-13 girls team produced a major triumph by winning the North of England Road Relay Championships last Saturday.

Rated by coach Will Smith as the club's biggest achievement in their 20-year history, the trio of Katie Atkinson, Angelina Bairstow and Lucy Fryers came first in their age group at Birchwood Park, Warrington.

Smith, who coached the team along with Scott Bairstow, said: "We're so proud of the girls who all train with the dedication and ethics of professional athletes.

"When you compare Keighley & Craven's catchment area to other northern clubs like Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds, it makes this team performance even more impressive."

Thirty-eight of the best teams competed in what is renowned as the most prestigious road-running event in the north of England.

Atkinson started proceedings, battling out the first of three 3km legs, against some of the top runners in the UK. The leading pace was exceptionally high but Atkinson picked off her opponents one by one to pass the baton over to Bairstow in second place, just four seconds behind Leigh Harriers.

Coming off a fantastic track season of PBs, she soon overtook the second leg Leigh runner but was caught by nationally-ranked athletes from Liverpool, Stockport and Sheffield. No one would have thought that Bairstow was only in her first year of competitive athletics as she kept her cool drafting behind these high quality athletes.

She waited until the last 600 metres to make it an exciting exhibition for the hundreds of spectators by charging up to the handover point at high speed, passing athletes and handing over to Fryers in second place.

Very quickly it became clear that the final leg was to be a two-team battle between Keighley and defending champions Liverpool AC. Fryers, the youngest athlete of the team, had it all to do racing neck and neck against a top-ten UK-ranked runner. With less than a kilometre to go, she gained a ten-yard lead and powered on to the finish line to take top podium honours.

After receiving their gold medals, the girls, who all attend Skipton Girls School, said it was the best day of their sporting lives.

They have now set their targets on the national road relays at Birmingham on October 4.