MATT Smith will be aiming to continue his fine start to the season when he lines up for the Wiltshire Schools’ Championships on his home Swindon track on Saturday, writes KEVIN FAHEY.

A new approach to his running appears to be paying dividends as the 16-year-old Ridgeway School student from The Lawns has already won the Wiltshire U17s 400m title this summer, breaking 53 seconds for the first time with a PB of 52.71secs.

“Matt has really come on this season,” said Kevin Buttle, who is his coach at Swindon Harriers.

“In the past two years Matt has battled illness and injury and this year we seem to have found the right balance in his training.

“Matt has also been very conscientious in adjusting what he eats and drinks and we think that is also a factor.”

Smith revealed that bout of glandular fever laid him low last season so this winter he has effectively been playing catch-up with his rivals – and with some success as his county triumph lifted him to fourth in the South West rankings.

“I have worked hard in training over the winter but I thought I would be still slower at the moment,” said Smith.

“I was absolutely amazed with my time at the Wiltshire Championships. I thought I had run around 55 seconds that day and could hardly believe it when I heard it was 52.7.”

On paper, Smith should be contesting the medals again this weekend in the inter boys’ 400m though the multi-talented Rory Howorth from St Augustine’s Catholic College in Trowbridge will be hard to beat if he opts for the one-lap event as he has already run 51.51sec outdoors this summer.

But whoever turns up Smith and coach Buttle will be looking to continue their progress and give the selectors something to ponder when they choose the teams to represent the county at the South West and then English Schools’ Championships over the next month.

“My aim is to try and run the English Schools’ qualifying time of 51.1secs but first it would be good to qualify for the South West and we’ll then take it from there,” said Smith.

That time would represent a huge leap forward for Smith this year and it may be more realistic for 2019 but that is not to say he can’t go a lot quicker yet.

“We are really hoping that Matt can continue to improve and lower his time from 52.7 to nearer the English Schools’ qualifying time of 51.1,” added coach Buttle.

“We are hopeful Matt might then catch the eye of the selectors.”

The action on Saturday starts at 9.30am and entry to the stadium for over 18s is by programme costing £2, the proceeds of which go towards staging the event.