KENT athlete Charlotte Dale has received a prestigious award and been tipped for the top by one of Great Britain’s finest ever distance runners.

Dale, 19, from Whitstable, was named the British Athletics Writers’ Association female junior athlete of the year at an awards dinner in London.

Her recent second place at the BUPA Great South 10-mile run in Portsmouth drew praise from former world and Commonwealth 10,000m champion Liz McColgan who finished behind her in fourth place.

McColgan, now 39, said: “She has the ability to make it to the top over 10,000m, and obviously in the longer distance road and cross country events, if she continues her progress.”

The award caps an excellent 12 months for Dale, a member of Invicta East Kent, who became European Junior Cross Country Champion in December. Among other successes, she also won a bronze medal over her less-favoured distance of 5,000m at the European Junior Championships in Finland during the summer.

She said: “It was nice that they voted for me. I was surprised because I had not done much over the summer, but they chose me for what I had also done during the cross-country season and on the road which is pleasing."

Dale’s fellow Kent athlete Kelly Holmes won the Norwich Union award for the best performance in a GB vest for her silver medal in the 800m at the World Championships in Paris.

Dale is now preparing for the defence of her European title in Edinburgh on Sunday, December 14. She will next be in action with two races in one afternoon at the Reebok Birmingham Cross Challenge on Saturday, November 1.