WARRINGTON Athletics Club’s under 17s runners Harriet Knowles-Jones and Carys McAulay have been crowned British schools champions.

They were victorious while representing English Schools in the Schools International Athletic Board Championships in Cardiff on Saturday.

Knowles-Jones took the lead from the start in the intermediate 3,000m and ground out a relentless pace to burn off her opponents and take the gold medal in a championship best 9mins 29.11secs.

The record broke the previous best time of 9mins 30secs set in 1983 by Yvonne Murray, who went on to win world, European indoor and outdoor titles as well as Olympic bronze over the distance.

In the 800m McAulay showed that she does not just rely on a fast finish. Taking the lead from the gun she controlled the pace throughout and then ran away from the opposition in the home straight to take the gold medal in a personal best 2mins 9.65secs.

The pair’s selection came on the back of winning gold medals in the English Schools’ Championships one week earlier.