1500m runner Chris O’Hare has got his eyes on team gold at the European Cross Country Championships after making the grade in only his second race of the season.

The 18-year-old former Peebles high School pupil has only just begun the winter season having pulled on the Scotland vest at the Commonwealth Youth Games in India in October.

But despite being well off the pace in terms of preparation, the Edinburgh AC star stormed to sixth at the under-20 Liverpool Cross Challenge – good enough to secure his place in the squad to compete in Belgium on December 14.

And O’Hare has targeted the championships as the perfect stepping stone as he bids to mount an assault on the European Junior Championships in March.

“I was absolutely ecstatic to do so well in the trials and get picked,” said O’Hare who finished eighth in India in October.

“I finished last season so late that it was only ever a distant hope, I really didn’t expect it at all. Cross country is all about building strength but I really haven’t had a chance to do much so far.

“But I can’t wait to get out there. The Commonwealth Youths was my first event out of the country and it’ll give my great experience in the future.

“In Belgium there will be some fantastic competitors, the real cream of the crop, and if I could contribute to a team medal it would set my year up brilliantly with the European Juniors coming around.”