Great Britain's Warrington runner 10th in Edinburgh

The former Lymm High School student, 19, came home 10th in the senior women’s race at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country while running for Great Britain against athletes from the rest of Europe and the USA.

Knowles-Jones completed the 6km course in the Scottish capital in 21mins 40secs, beating two-time European champion Fionnuala McCormack by two seconds.

The Warrington Athletics Club runner, who won the junior women’s race at this meeting last year, started off strongly and was always a part of the chasing pack, with Turkey’s Yasmine Can stretching out to a slight lead.

As the pace picked up, the chasing pack spread out and Knowles-Jones found herself battling for position with Great Britain teammate Verity Ockenden.

However, she held on strongly to secure her place in the top 10, with Can winning in 20mins 58secs.

The race was Knowles-Jones’ first since exiting the junior ranks in style by scooping gold in the European Cross Country Championships in Samorin, Slovakia, last month.

Also running in Edinburgh was Knowles-Jones’ Warrington clubmate Katie Lowery, who had a choice of two teams to run for.

As she is currently studying at Edinburgh University, Lowery was selected by Scottish Students but chose to represent the guest North of England team.

Lowery ran well in the inter-district race and finished 32nd overall, which placed her seventh in the under 20s age group.

She was sixth counter as North of England came first in the team event, but they were not eligible for medals as guest entrants.