BECCA Croft was celebrating the biggest moment of her fledgling athletics career this week after clinching bronze in her first-ever international event.

The 13-year-old finished third at the Home Countries International in Antrim, Northern Ireland, on Saturday after being picked to represent England the previous week.

She was just pipped to silver by Katie Shield-Rankin from Surrey – who had done exactly the same thing at the English Schools Cross Country Championship, which acted as the qualifier for the England team, the previous week.

The Beaconsfield High School pupil said: “I was a little bit disappointed not to catch her but she’s been running well this season.

“To get a medal was a great feeling. It took a while to sink in. I was quite shocked at the end.

“All my friends have been very supportive and so have my teachers, they keep coming up to me and saying well done.”

Now that the cross country season is over, the Windsor Slough and Eton club runner is focusing her attention on July’s English Schools track championship and hoping to go one better than last time out.

She said: “I’m aiming to qualify and hopefully do well there. I ran it last year and came seventh or eighth but I hope to maybe get a medal this time.”

The Bourne End resident is due to enter the 800m and 1,500m events, the furthest distances competitors in her age category are allowed to compete over.

Proud parents Charles and Darleen flew over to Northern Ireland to watch her in action.

Mr Croft said: “It was a very exciting moment for her. It can be that turning point that makes her love the sport for the rest of her life.

“We were sprinting back and forth trying to cover as much of the course as we could. The finish was quite exciting, it was a shoot-out with her team-mate to get to the end.”