A ST HELENS Star high-flier visited Washington DC after she was nominated for the title of Sales Executive of the Year 2013 by the newspaper owner’s parent company.

Mother-of-three Jane Ball, a senior sales executive at the Star, was a runner up for the prize presented by US media giant Gannett.

She was nominated following her outstanding contribution to Gannett’s UK subsidiary business Newsquest, which owns the Star. Jane was named the Newsquest Sales Executive of the Year in 2013.

Her achievement in being shortlisted was remarkable, given that Gannett is responsible for titles such as USA Today, websites and digital media organisations as well as 23 TV stations in the States watched by 21 million households.

The 36-year-old from Thatto Heath, who is entering her 16th year with the company, said: “It really was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I was so proud to head out there to represent the Star and my hometown going up against such big titles in the UK.”

Jane was the only employee from the UK to make the shortlist for the 11 award categories.

In her category she was up against salespeople working for television companies in Dallas and Phoenix and newspaper and Cincinnati, the third largest city in Ohio.

She met Gracia Martore, the chief executive officer of Gannett.

Jane added: “Gracia told me how she had Googled me that morning and read a story on the Star’s website about me jetting out there – it was great for the paper to get such recognition.”