At the age of 12, Dunbar running prodigy Maria Lyle is already leaving all others trailing in her wake.

The disability athlete set a new world record in July, and her times over 100m and 200m this season have been so quick that had she competed in the Paralympics this summer and clocked the same times, she would have won gold in the 200m and silver in the 100m.

Now the Dunbar Grammar School speedster is preparing to head down to Manchester this weekend to train with the UK Athletics Talent ID Squad as she looks to cement her standing as one of the hottest young athletics prospects in the country.

Maria is one of the youngest members of the squad, which aims to nurture talented young athletes before they become old enough to move up to compete at a higher level.

But the mature Kellie Place resident - who suffers from cerebral palsy - and her parents Raymond and Susan are trying their best to keep their feet on the ground despite Maria's exceptional form this season.

"Everybody predicts great things for Maria, which is fantastic, but it's important to remember that she is young," Raymond told Courier Sport.

"Her school work has to come into things, she's got to have a life the same as the other kids.

"But she's a dedicated soul and she has no problem at all in committing to what is quite a significant commitment in terms of her training during the week.

"The commitment that she has shown so far belies her age. She realises that she has a fantastic opportunity and running is something that she genuinely enjoys doing. She's quite grounded for a 12-year-old." Maria and her family may be taking things slowly, but when the young sprinting prodigy is on the track she exhibits nothing but speed.

She might have only taken up running about two years ago after Susan - a PE teacher at Dunbar Primary School - noticed her impressive stamina, but she quickly shone, first in competitions with Dunbar Running Club and then in her first disability sport events.

She has won a host of titles this season, with the highlight her exceptional displays at the British Junior Nationwide Disability Athletic Championships at Warwick University in July, where she set a new world record of 15.68 seconds in the T35 100m, as well as a new personal best of 32.37s in the 200m.

Although Chinese athlete Ping Liu broke Maria's 100m record by clocking 15.44s in the Paralympic final, Ping's gold medal winning time in the 200m of 32.72s was actually slower than Maria's best time.

Maria was only denied the chance to compete in London this summer because of her young age, with athletes needing to be at least 14 to take part in the Games.

However, her incredible performances would seem to put her firmly in line to star the next time the Paralympics are held, in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, and if she can maintain her development she will find herself in the hunt for gold.

"Her times would have got her the gold in the 200m and silver in the 100m," said Raymond.

"Things can change, and she's got a lot of growing and developing to do, but providing she continues to train the same way then she is only going to get faster.

"I think Maria was disappointed not to be taking part in the Paralympics but she's quite mature in that respect, she realises and understands the system. She was disappointed not to go but it gave her a bit of a goal for the future and something to aspire to.

"It's a confidence boosting thing for any youngster and [her times compared to the Paralympic gold medallist's] have given her the confidence that she can do this." The icing on the cake of an exceptional season will come next month when Maria will be awarded the 'Most Outstanding Female Athlete' award at the Nationwide Disability Sports Awards at the Old Trafford cricket stadium in Manchester, where her whole family will be present.

She might be tipped for the top but there is still a long way to go before Rio, and so Maria has a number of other goals first as she looks to continue her development.

"The immediate thing is that she wants to consolidate her good performance of 2012 in 2013," said Raymond.

"She's only really got one more season before she can have an IPC classification [which would allow her to compete in the Paralympics], and that's something to look forward to as it will open up more competitions.

"But there's a lot of work to do before then and it's something we're trying to keep level-headed about."