ONE of Bolton's four athletes competing in the Commonwealth Games qualifiers made it into the England team.

Stuart Stokes made no mistake with an exciting run in the 3,000m steeplechase while Chris Mulvaney, Amy Spencer and Hazel Carwardine missed out.

Stokes, who lives in Bradshaw and works as a special needs assistant at Withins School, blitzed the field in front of around 18,000 spectators to confirm his place in the England Games team and his ranking as Britain's number one in the event.

The 25-year-old, the only runner who already had the qualifying time of 8.41, was 15 metres behind a guest runner going into the back straight on the last lap. But a sizzling turn of pace got the crowd to their feet and saw him storm into the lead and win the race by a distance.

The first two in each race were picked to represent England in the Games next month and selectors will decide who fills the third team spot in the near future.

Sixteen-year-old Spencer was using the qualifiers for experience after her preparations had been severely hit by her AS Level exams at Bolton School.

She made the final of the 200m where she came in fifth, 0.65 seconds behind winner Vernicha James.

Mulvaney was the unknown quantity in a 1,500m full of highly-rated athletes. But they all knew his name by the end of the final.

The 21-year-old from Heaton, who has been impressive on the American college circuit, showed confidence in his ability by choosing a tough 1,500m rather than the 800m which looked much easier to qualify in.

He made the final where he piled the pressure on, finishing fifth, less than a second behind winner Michael East.

Carwardine, aged 21, also used the biggest event of her career for experience and the Bolton Harrier will be much stronger for having sampled a taste of the big time.