GEMMA Shepherd won her second medal at the Sainsbury’s UK School Games – and 48 hours later soared to second in the UK rankings after smashing her personal best in the 1500m steeplechase, writes KEVIN FAHEY.

The 16-year-old Sheldon School sixth form student from Yatesbury launched her action-packed weekend in Manchester by winning a hard-earned bronze for Team South West in the 1500m on Friday.

That matched her third place at the same event last year and came after a family holiday which meant she hadn’t raced for over a month.

“It was really good to win another medal in this event,” said Shepherd.

“The time wasn’t as quick as I would have liked (4:36.82) but it wasn’t that sort of race. It was very slow to start and I then decided to pick it up but two girls sprinted by me on the last lap.”

On Sunday, Shepherd travelled to Birmingham to join the composite Team Avon squad for the U20/17 finals of the UK Youth Development League.

Firstly she won the 1500m in 4:37.54 and then, a couple of hours later, ran away with the 1500m steeplechase in 5:00.78 which slashed around nine seconds off her personal best and lifted her to second in the UK rankings for U17 women.

“I was actually a bit disappointed that I missed the league record by half a second,” added Shepherd.

“It is an event I really enjoy and I would like to do it more in the future and get into a race where I can run with someone as I am sure I can go faster. I will probably run it a lot more next year.”

n Lauren’s a class act: Page 15