TWO Rainhill High students are set to compete in one of the biggest athletics championships in the world.

Luka Sidebotham, 14, and Charlie Roberts, 15, will take to the track in the English Schools Athletics Championships to be held in Birmingham this weekend.

The event is described as the "fourth largest athletics competition in the world".

The boys' selection has been hailed "an amazing achievement" with only 40 athletes selected from the whole of Merseyside for all age groups and disciplines.

Luka will compete in the 300m and 4x100m relay events, while Charlie will take on the 800m.

Luke is in year nine while Charlie has just finished year 11 at the school.

Luka's mum Nicolette, 39, said: "He is really excited, he was over the moon (to be selected) and is a bit nervous.

"He's been looking to make the final and get a medal.

"The competition is a really high standard, especially with some of the children from the south and it is streamed live on the Internet."

Charlie's dad Ian, 45, added: "He is really looking forward to it, he is excited really.

"He runs for St Helens Sutton and runs in a training group so he can concentrate on the times of the year he can get faster.

"He has got a medal in northern championships but this is a bigger stage than that. He has competed in national championships at under 15s."

The championships are to be held over Friday, July 12 and Saturday 13.

The stream can be viewed on:

runjumpthrow.com/event/esaa-track-and-field-championships/