TRIBUTES have been paid to a talented young athlete who died suddenly during an athletics meeting in an Enfield park.

Shannon Powell, 14, suffered a seizure and collapsed in Trent Park on Saturday lunchtime as she competed in the Middlesex Cross Country Championships.

Paramedics rushed into the woods after she fell during a race, but despite frantic efforts to resuscitate Shannon at the scene and in the ambulance, the teenager died at Chase Farm Hospital later that afternoon.

The sporty teenager was also a committed member of Barnet Copthall Swimming Club, where she held two club records, and split her free time between swimming and athletics.

Graham French was her coach at Ealing, Southall, and Middlesex Athletics Club, and paid tribute to the teenager who joined the club three years ago.

He said: “Shannon was a lovely girl, she was cheerful and made friends with everyone she met at the athletics club.

“She had a great sense of humour and on top of that she was a great athlete.

“All of us, especially those who were there at the time, are devastated at what has happened, but what we are going through is nothing compared with what her family are dealing with.”

Shannon, who lived with her family in Northolt, was a “first class runner”, Mr French said, and had represented Middlesex County at cross country and track events.

Jacqualyn Pain, headmistress at Northwood College, where Shannon studied, said staff and pupils had been left distraught with the news of her death.

She said: "We are all deeply shocked and saddened by the tragic death of Shannon.

"Shannon joined us in Year Seven and very quickly established herself as an outstanding all round athlete, who showed complete dedication to everything she did.

"An exceptionally talented swimmer, Shannon was a role model to all with her commitment to training, perfect technique, strength and power in competition.

"She was a lovely girl whose ready smile and warm, kind nature was an example to us all. We will not forget her. The thoughts and prayers of our school community are with Shannon’s family and friends at this time."

The school, in Northwood, are planning to hold a memorial assembly next week to remember Shannon.

An inquest into Shannon's death was opened and adjourned at North London Coroners Court this morning, to prepare to investigate what led to the teenager's sudden collapse and subsequent death.

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