PROMISING Nestl Rowntree sprinter Richard Buck broke through the Under-23 European Championships qualification barrier to announce a resounding 'pick me' call to the selectors.

The 18-year-old from Pickering opted to run at the English Schools' Championship at the Birmingham Alexander Stadium instead of trying his luck at the AAA Championships and the move paid off as he won his heat, semi-final and the final.

The time in the 400m final was 47.22sec - just outside his 47.00 personal best - but well inside the 47.50 standard laid down by the selectors.

Buck must now play the waiting game to see if he has done enough to book his seat to Lithuania on July 20, but the odds are most definitely in his favour, with an individual and relay ticket on the cards just weeks after returning from an appendicitis-enforced ten-week absence.

His grandfather and coach Geoff Fairclough said: "He was thinking of doing the AAAs but I talked him round to doing the Schools' championship because at least he would get three runs in the heats, semis and final. He might have only got one race in the AAAs but it paid off and he got the time as well."

Buck wasn't the only North Yorkshire representative with something to celebrate.

Up-and-coming sprinting talent Becky Campsall featured in the race of the day. She came fourth in the junior girls' 100m in a personal best time of 12.23sec behind new European record holder Ashleigh Nelson.

Nelson left the rest of the field trailing after smashing the age group record, set by Katharine Merry in 1989 of 11.67, and recording a new European best time of 11.58 - a time that would have given her second place in the AAAs championship at Manchester behind Laura Turner's 11.55.

The standard of the field clearly lifted the Nestl Rowntree 14-year-old, leading her to a second PB of the day, having already taken it down to 12.28 in the heats. Her reward was a certificate presented by triple-jumper Ashia Hansen.

Andrew Lagan finished second in the intermediate boys' 800m in a time of 1min 57.35 sec, two places ahead of county team-mate Alistair Smith, who finished in 1-58.26.

Other notable results included Alex Wheatman, who came fourth in the junior girls' 1,500m in a time of 4min 41.78 sec, and Jenny Lumley cleared 1.69 metres in the senior girls' high jump for the silver medal.

Other Nestl results included hammer disappointment for Emily Gibbons in the inter girls, where she managed a below-par 34.32m to finish tenth, with Morgan Bell also coming tenth in the inter boys' with 46.71m.

Nathan Forrest came tenth in the senior boys' javelin after a 49.04 best on the day.

Jess Taylor, who is in the process of shifting towards multi-eventing, recorded 25.47 in the senior girls' 200m and missed out on a place in the final.

Updated: 10:50 Tuesday, July 12, 2005