High jumper has high hopes of continuing Miss England athletics trend

GREAT Britain high jumper Steph Pywell is hoping to do St George proud on two fronts this year - one will be at the ‘Friendly Games' but the claws could well be out at the other.

HIGH HOPES: British high jumper Steph Pywell is hoping to hit the right notes at Miss England (Action Images)

Having entered and won the 2010 Miss Newark & District award, 23-year-old Pywell, a double UK high jump champion, is one of the aspiring finalists in this year's Miss England competition.

She's far from a shoo-in, what with the likes of Miss Natural Curves and Miss Every Model providing fierce competition in a 60-strong field doing battle in Birmingham tonight.

Pywell's sporting career may be blossoming as she prepares for October's Commonwealth Games in Delhi - but she would do well to remember that the catwalk can be just as rough and tumble as the athletics track.

And aspiring athletes don't exactly have a squeaky clean record when it comes to Miss England.

If we cast our minds back 12 months we will all no doubt remember Londoner Rachel Christie - the niece of 1992 Olympic champion Linford no less - collecting the 2009 bestowal of beauty, but things promptly turned pear-shaped.

DISGRACED: Rachel Christie was forced to give the 2009 Miss England crown back after an alleged brawl with Miss Manchester

Christie became the first black winner of the Miss England competition [Rachel, not Linford] but her feat ended in disgrace when she was arrested on suspicion of assault, relinquished the crown and withdrew from Miss World.

The victim of the alleged assault was none other than Sara Beverley Jones - then Miss Manchester for those few who didn't know - clearly no love was lost.

The allegedly row reportedly came about over Gladiators star Tornado, a former partner of said Miss Manchester. This was evidently no storm in a teacup.

But I digress.

Back to the Miss England competition and as a result of Christie handing back the crown, the 2009 gong went to Katrina Hodge - a lance corporal in the British Army.

BATTLE OF BRITAIN: last year's runner-up Katrina Hodge took the title after Rachel Christie was forced to hand it back 

And one of her key accomplishments as Miss England was to ditch the battle of the bikinis round and replace it with a boot camp - a modern fitness challenge to decide the Miss England Sportswoman 2010 winner.

And low and behold it was Pywell who clinched victory earlier this month.

All she has to do is make sure she doesn't go and thump runner-up Abi Bridgeman and no-one can take that prize away from her.

UPDATED: No success for Steph, 21-year old aspiring solicitor Jessica Linley won the prize.

"I want to do the best by everybody and truly make a difference to peoples' lives," she said.

No further comment needed.