Fantastic four; Delight for Gateshead as quartet join Team GB for Euro showdown.

GATESHEAD Harriers are celebrating after four of their athletes joined the Aviva GB and NI team for the European Junior Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia.

The championships, which start today and go on until Sunday, are the pinnacle of the season for the Gateshead quartet of Stacey Smith, Sally Scott, Niall Flannery and Ross Murray.

Only Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow, with six, and Sale Harriers Manchester (five) have more representatives in the squad than the Tyneside club.

"It's a fantastic achievement by the club to have, what I believe to be for the first time, four athletes going to the European Junior Championships," said chairwoman Janice Kaufman.

"The athletes selected are indeed role models for our younger athletes and hopefully many of them will aim to follow in their footsteps in the future.

"All four have been tremendous servants and terrific supporters of the club over the years competing as often as possible all through the age groups.

"Their selection is all down to the hard work they have put in with their coaches, who also deserve praise, so that they have been singled out in this way.

"The four athletes are competing in a variety of events so all have different coaches.

"That shows not only do we have talented athletes here at Gateshead, but also accomplished coaches to help them on their way in the early part of their career.

"Everyone in Gateshead Harriers wishes the athletes all the best and it would be nice to see at least one of them return home with a medal!" On paper the one most likely to return with a gong from the under-20 event is National and English Schools' 400 metres hurdles champion Flannery, who is ranked second in Europe behind Germany's Marc-John Dombrowski.

The German athlete, over a year older than Flannery, is the only athlete to have dipped under 51 seconds this season, while Flannery's best is 51.07 so he doesn't have to find much to lift the European title.

Smith goes in the 1,500m rather than the 800m, where she is ranked No 5 in Europe, and Murray also contests the metric mile as the seventhfastest in the field with a time of 3:44.93.

Scott contests the pole vault and will do well to make the final with 20 girls in the line-up ahead of her in the rankings.

However, if everything goes well, she will be hoping to at least erase her pb of 4.05m.

As well as the Gateshead quartet, the North East is also represented by Shildon's Kate Avery, who lines up in the 3,000 metres. Avery currently heads the European rankings with 9:15.42 which she recorded in May, and if she can repeat that sort of form then she could well be the athlete to beat.

To have four athletes from one club and five in total from the North East going to Serbia is a feather in the cap for all who have had an input into their success.

While the athletes get the recognition, those who are in the background should be happy that their charges have got where they are. It's a small reward to see their athletes take the step which could well see them on the greatest stage of all, the Olympics in 2012.

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OFF TO SERBIA: From top, Niall Flannery, Sally Scott, Ross Murray and Stacey Smith (right)