Incredible Isla smashes championship records in English Schools athletics

Teenage racer Isla Perry put South Devon Athletic Club into the national spotlight with a record-breaking performance over the two days of the English Schools Championships.

She smashed the championship record not once but twice in the course of a winning weekend.

Her winning time in the 300m race for her under-15 age group topped a national record, which had stood for seven years and placed her top of an honours list of runners including World Champion and Olympic medallist Dina Asher-Smith.

The previous record holder was Amber Anning, the current world champion over the 400m distance indoors.

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Racing in a high-quality field at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, Isla successfully negotiated the heats with a superbly controlled race. She won the heat in style and secured a new personal best time of 39.18 seconds.

The time made her the fastest qualifier for the final to be run the following day and set a new championship record.

And the big occasion spurred her on to even greater heights, winning the final and taking half a second off the previous day’s effort to lower the record to 38.61 seconds.