AMELIA Pettitt was part of a Great Britain women’s team that won a silver medal during the World University Cross Country Championships at the weekend.

The Vale Royal Athletics Club runner classified 17th overall after four laps of a challenging course at Cassino in Italy.

“It was tough, and speedy – but an amazing experience,” she said afterwards.

The 20-year-old, a student at Newcastle University, was the fourth British athlete to reach the finish after Jenny Nesbitt (Bath), Pippa Woolven (Birmingham) and Beth Hawling (Cardiff).

She earned selection for the six-strong line-up as a reward for ranking fourth in the women’s race at the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Cross Country Championships at Gloucester last month.

Japan took team gold, while hosts Italy claimed bronze.

Results

World University Cross Country Championships

Cassino, Italy

Saturday, March 12

Women’s race (6.2km): 1. Sevilay Eytemis TUR 21.57; 2. Moeno Shimizu JAP 22.00; 3. Mai Izumida JAP 22.01; 4. Jenny Nesbitt GBR 22.05; 6. Pippa Woolven GBR 22.20; 12. Beth Hawling GBR 22.36; 17. Amelia Pettitt GBR 22.56; 24. Rebecca Murray GBR 23.20; 25. Damaris Smith GBR 23.22

Teams: 1. Japan 13pts; 2. Great Britain 22; 3. Italy 41