TWO Hyndburn athletes were record breakers at the North of England Indoor Championships at Sheffield at the weekend.

Olympic 2012 hopeful Robbie Schofield, 19, smashed the Under 20s 800m indoor record, knocking more than two seconds off the previous record with a superb run.

He took the lead with 400m to go and left the field behind him, winning the race by five seconds in a stunning time of 1.53.23, his personal best.

"He obliterated the field," said coach Don Lennon. "He has been working really hard and is in good shape.

"Last year in this event he came second in the 800m in one minute and 58 seconds so it shows how much he has improved."

Robbie had taken part in the 400m the day before where he finished a creditable fourth.

And fellow Accrington athlete Leigh Lennon was also in the gold medals and set a new record with another strong show.

She won both the 400m and the 800m last year in the Under 20 ladies and did the same this year - but with even more style.

Despite her favoured event being the 800m, she secured a championship record in the 400m by racing to 56.44 seconds - knocking a second-and-a-half off her previous best both indoor and out. And this time would have been good enough to win the senior women’s final.

That was on the Saturday and, on the Sunday, she displayed her front running skills to win the 800m in two minutes 14 seconds and she was more than a second and a half ahead of her nearest rival.

"It was a slower time for Leigh than expected but she just wanted to win the race," said Don.

Both Accrington athletes have high hopes of competing for Great Britain at the London Olympics and are certainly making people sit up and take notice.

Robbie is now ranked Number One in the United Kingdom Over 20s over 600m, 800m and 1000m.

Leigh is top of the Under 20 rankings for 400m, 600m, 800m and 1000m.

"I have coached them both since they were 10 and it is great to see how they have come on," added Don.

The duo have now been invited to compete at the Senior Indoor Championships in Belfast in February.

And Leigh has a dilemma whether to take part in the European Seniors Indoor trials at Sheffield, which are live on Channel 4, or in the Under 20s Championships at Birmingham - both are on the same day.

Others taking part at Sheffield were Ashleigh Williams who set an indoor personal best over 400m with a time of one minute.

Luke Watson was fourth in the Under 20 1500m while Nathan Riding, who is recovering from severe injuries, broke two minutes for the first time in two years.

He competed in the senior men’s 1500m and 800m and got a personal best in the latter event with 1:50:07.

Rishton’s Ian Yates raced in the 400m and got an indoor best with 52.44, just missing out on the final.

And Christie Leybourne was in two events in the Under 20 ladies. She got through to the 800m final - racing against Leigh - and finished fourth in 2:21 and then, 10 minutes later, was dashing over to the 1500m final where she came home third.