Hopes of a place in the USA National Collegiate Championships 10,000 metre final came to an end for Albuquerque, New Mexico-based Manx athlete Keith Gerrard.

He finished 29th in the west region championships in Austin, Texas.

Gerrard had qualified for the semi-final back in March, but has since had his training disrupted by injury.

He says, "I've had to limit my training and haven't been able to put in the mileage needed for this race, but I still wanted to try for a finish in the top twelve."

In a race in which the forty-eight competitors struggled in the 80 degree heat, the University of New Mexico student was still in contention up to the 6km mark, eventually completing the 25-lap race in 30.41.