MICHAEL Skinner has been selected to represent Great Britain in the European Cup 10,000m at Marseilles, France on June 5.

The Blackheath & Bromley athlete is part of a strong British quintet, which includes the nation's number one male endurance runner, Mo Farah.

Five athletes will run from each country with the top three’s cumulative times scoring to determine the winning nation.

As well as aiming to be part of the winning team, Skinner will have his eyes on the Commonwealth Games qualifying time of 28m50s.

He ran 28m58.43s for the distance in the United States last month.

While delighted to be selected for Britain, it does mean the Blackheath & Bromley captain will have to miss the club's opening national league match of the season at Cardiff on the same day.

Skinner represented England last Sunday in the 3,000m at the Loughborough international meeting.

The race did not go as he would have liked, though, as he finished in eighth place in 8m11.38s.

James Poole, competing as a guest, was 17th in 8m32.65s.

They were just two of a large number of the club's athletes in action, with five representing the Great Britain U20 team.

Second claim member Sophie Hitchon was just five centimetres outside her own British junior record for the hammer as she won the competition with a throw of 65.93m.

In the men's event, Andrew Jordon set an impressive new best of 60.18m.

Lorraine Ugen was fifth in the long jump with a leap of 5.89m.

Dan Putnam ran 49.14s as a guest in the 400m and Frederica Foster timed 25.09s for the 200m.

She then ran the fastest split for the GB junior 4x400m with a 54.8s clocking.

Tremayne Gilling continued his fine season by improving his personal best in the 100m to 10.34s, while Duayne Bovell was back under 11 seconds again with 10.99s.

For the women, Anike Shand Whittingham timed 12.13s and in the 200m, Amy Godsell ran 24.90s.

Serita Solomon ran a season's best of 13.91s in the 100m hurdles, just two hundredths outside her all time best.

Second claimer Matthew Walcott ran 14.54s in the U20 men's invitation 110m hurdles.

Katie Murray's 62.37s in the 400m hurdles was a new best, while U20 Katrina Cosby ran 63.52.

Ed Harrison ran 53.27s in the men's race and Savannah Echel Thompson timed 56.32 in the flat 400m.

Elsewhere recently, sprinters James Alaka and Dwayne Grant, who both come from Penge, have been in action in the United States.

At the PAC 10 Championships in Berkeley, Alaka ran 10.33s in his heat of the 100m before finishing third in the final in 10.42s.

He was third also in the final of the 200m in 21.15s having run 21.07s in his heat.

Grant ran in Orlando, Florida, timing 10.67s for 100m and 21.43s for the 200m.

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