A SPORTING star has been ranked number one in the country, just four years after taking up the sport.

Rosie Townley, a student at New Rickstones Academy in Witham, showed a talent for running in the school’s summer competition and joined the athletics club.

Now, she has been tipped as the top young hurdler in England after winning her latest race.

Rosie, a member of Chelmsford Athletics Club, said: “I was doing well at sports day, so my teacher suggested I join a club.

“My school is really supportive of my sporting career. In my PE lessons, teachers set me specific challenges to help build my times up and set out goals for me to reach.”

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The heptathlete recently competed against 20 other under-17 hurdlers in Havering, coming first in the 300m race – with a personal best of 47.74 seconds – and achieving the top ranking in the country in her age group.

It was just the second time she had been old enough to compete in the event, and she will now run against older competitors.

Rosie is keen to follow a career path in sport but is also studying biology and chemistry to ensure she has a plan B.

The Year Ten student said: “I won the Havering event and 48 hours later my time was confirmed and I was put on the England rankings.

“I think this could be a career for me. Athletics is a break from everything. I have made so many friends through athletics.

“When the tracks were closed during lockdown, my dad coached me, so he is really proud of what I have achieved. We did not expect this yet.

“If I had gone a whole year without the track or coaching, my fitness would have gone down.”

Craig Ewing, PE teacher and head of Year Ten, said Rosie is a role model to her peers.

Mr Ewing added: “We are facilitating Rosie’s needs with timing her performances at school to help her to perform outside of school.

“We do not take any credit for getting her where she is now, but we support her and allow her to time herself, so she is constantly chipping away at her times when she goes to training.

“In her PE lessons at school, there is a focus on nutrition and that will help her when becoming a full-time athlete.

“The way she carries herself in lessons and is always focused on what she can achieve makes her a role model to her peers. They look up to her and aspire to be like her.”