LEXIE BULL maintained her fine form by posting a personal best by winning the South West Counties track and field championships 800 metres.

Bull,14, entered the race in Exeter on the back of reaching the final of the All England Schools 800m final last week in Birmingham and smashing her own Stroud and District club record for the 600m at Cheltenham - the fastest time for a 600m in the UK in 2019 by over a second, and just outside the all-time top 10.

The final on Sunday was hindered by windy conditions, but that did not deter Bull from leading the race from start-to-finish in a dominate display to take the victory and title with a winning margin of over four seconds to lower in a new personal best by 1.1s to two minutes, 14.25s.

Bull, coached by Chris Brown at Stroud AC, said: “Lexie was really inspired by the experience of the All England schools championships and by reaching the 800m final, that was clearly demonstrated on Wednesday night in Cheltenham in the 600m and again in Exeter in the 800m.”

Bull will now prepare for the longer distance of one mile on the track, after being asked to compete in the annual invitational only Frank Horwell track mile race at Birmingham University on August 2.

Meanwhile, David Bendle,17, who is a training partner of Bull at Stroud AC, also coached by Chris Brown, travelled to Exeter to compete in the regional championships 800m. In a slow tactical race, Bendle kept out of trouble at the back of the field before making a long sprint for home with 300m to pass all of the other runners except one to win the silver medal in a time a new personal best of two minutes, 01.99s.