BASILDON Athletic Club's Nikki Twine will be travelling to the Czech Republic next week to represent England at the World Schools Cross Country Championships.

Langdon Hills-based Twine will be travelling with her school, Coopers and Coborn Company, Upminster.

They have been selected to represent England as a result of their success in the National Schools Cross Country Cup.

In the last four years they have been crowned national champions on three occasions and third on the other.

This is an excellent achievement in itself as over 400 schools from across the country enter this competion each year.

There will be over 30 teams competing in the World Schools event, with countries as diverse as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, China, Nigeria, Congo competing along with European line-ups.

Each country will submit a team of six athletes competing over a distance of 3,000 metres for the girls and 5,000 for the boys.

The course will be run over a rough and undulating course in the Bohemian Moravian highland of the Czech Republic.

The event, organised by the International School Sport Federation, will be held in the City of Zdar nad Sazavou, in the South Western area of the Czech Republic, close to the borders of Poland and Slovakia.

Although primarily a competitive sporting event, the championship will also entail a cultural exchange from countries across the globe where each competing nation will undertake a traditional demonstration to promote their country's cultural heritage.

The team have been kitted out in their England kit this week and will fly out next Tuesday.

Nikki, 15, will be away from April 22-27 with the official opening ceremony on Wednesday.

The main competition will take place on Thursday with the cultural exchange between the competing countries on Friday.

On Saturday a friendship relay with mixed teams from different countries will be followed by the closing ceremony.