Brilliant Baker wins Euro silver

The talented runner from Pett was part of the Great Britain junior women’s squad which came second in the team event in Hyeres on the French Riviera last weekend.

Great Britain’s junior women were edged out by a strong Germany team which scored 20 points to GB’s 40.

Baker’s contribution was a 44th place finish. After the race the 19-year-old was reasonably content, knowing that she could have given no more on the day.

She said: “It’s great to come home with a European medal, but in truth I was aiming for a top 20 finish. This was predicted by my coach, based on how I have been training.

“I hate making excuses, but on the day I had a stomach upset and felt drained. I gave it all I could, but the legs just weren’t working properly. I need to carry on learning.”

The Great Britain squad enjoyed a successful championships, topping the medal table and winning team medals in each category.

Baker is part of Mick Woods’ elite training group of top international runners based in Aldershot, where she travels several times a week from her student accommodation at Royal Holloway University of London.

Baker, a former Rye and Bexhill College pupil, will be in action at the Brooks Sussex Cross-Country Championships in Bexhill next month when she will move up to the senior women’s age group.

She has won this race for the past two years, but due to her young age was not give the full county champion title. This time she will face a tough test from Worthing’s Emma Macready.

Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.

Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on.

1 Make this website your homepage

2 Like our Facebook page at facebook.com/pages/Sport-Sussex

3 Follow us on Twitter @SportSussex

4 Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.

And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!