Billie Jo's super silver

SPRINT starlet Billie Jo Harris sped to a new indoor best to take a silver medal at the National Indoor Championships — putting her second in the UK age group rankings.

The teenager from Swinton justified her selection for England against Wales a couple of weeks ago by claiming second in the 200m at Sheffield’s Institute of Sport.

Competing against the best athletes in her age group from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, she won her heat in a respectable 25.19, just 0.01 off her personal best.

The semi was the highlight of the day, needing to win her heat to guarantee a place in the final, she smashed her best by winning in 24.83.

Off the back of that great sprint, she knew the final was going to be tough to win as she was up against Ireland’s finest who already has a new best in the 200m of 24.01 and had won the 60m event the day before.

Knowing she had to take it out from the start, Billie Jo raced out of the blocks and opened up a 4m lead against the favourite and was only overtaken on the final bend, losing the race by a couple of metres in another sub-25 second time of 24.90. The winning time was 24.61.