Rhona Auckland (Banchory Stonehaven AC) will have one final chance to secure a Commonwealth Games 10,000m qualifying time when she represents Great Britain in the European Cup at Skopje, Macedonia on June 7.
The 21-year-old north east athlete earned her selection for the race in Macedonia after setting a personal best time of 33min 9.58secs when finishing third in wet and windy conditions at the British championships in London earlier this month.
Her time was outstanding given the weather conditions, but left her short of the Glasgow qualifying standard of 32:50 which has to be achieved before the selection cut-off date of June 8.
Auckland and her coaches Ken and Joyce Hogg faced an anxious wait to hear about the GB selection which provides one last opportunity for the Torphins runner to secure the Commonwealth qualifying mark of 32:50.
Ken said: “We were waiting by the phone all day to hear if she had been picked, and it was a long anxious wait until Rhona called with the good news.
“We were already beginning to look at alternative options just in case she wasn’t selected, but thankfully these weren’t needed.
“Skopje gives her a real chance to go for the time as it will be a good quality field. Also, I would think the weather is going to be a lot better than it was in London when she smashed her previous best time.”