KATE AVERY is targeting a place on the British team for next month’s European Cross-Country Championships after triumphing at last weekend’s Cross-Country Challenge event in Milton Keynes.

The Shildon distance runner retained her place at the top of the Cross Challenge standings as she outperformed a top-class field to confirm her position as one of Britain’s leading cross-country specialists.

Avery stopped the clock in 18:14mins as her finishing kick proved much too strong for her closest rival, Jessica Piasecki. The 27-year-old finished five seconds clear of Piasecki, with Jess Judd a place further behind in third.

Having excelled at junior level, Avery spent time at Iona College in the United States before returning to England to tackle her senior career.

She has claimed two European Cross-Country gold medals in the team event, and feels she is in the form of her life as she looks ahead to next month’s competition in the Dutch town of Tilburg.

“I’m over the moon with that,” said Avery, whose best performances in recent years have come on the cross-country circuit rather than on the track. “Training has been going much better since I raced in Cardiff and I wanted to be really strong.

“I didn’t want it to be a slow pace from the start, so I tried to push it on a bit. It slowed down again, but I picked it up at the end when it mattered. It’s a little shorter than Liverpool and the Europeans will be, which is what helped make it so close, but it was still tough.

“Over the last two to three years, I doubted whether this would be possible – to run like I have been this season. I doubted I’d get back to winning, so I’d be over the moon to make the team for the European Cross.

“You question yourself when you’re not seeing the improvements that you’d like, but since the end of the track season, I’ve turned such a big corner, and to win here is amazing.”

Avery will return to action in the European Cross-Country Trials, which will be staged in Liverpool’s Sefton Park on Saturday, November 24. The Europeans take place in Holland two weeks later.