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Masters Champions
Central AC ladies took the British Masters Cross Country Relays Championship title when it was held on home turf at Bathgate. Biggest satisfaction was in beating local rivals Falkirk who have been undefeated in team competition over the last two season’s at both Scottish and UK level and pushed Central’s team into second spot in the Scottish Championships.
Hazel Dean led off for Central and held on to Falkirk’s Fiona Mathieson with a time of 14.49 over a mesmerisingly complex 4K course with what turned out to be the second and third fastest laps of the day. Jane Waterhouse, took three seconds out of Caroline Lawless with her time of 15.36 though both ladies were overtaken by a youthful Garscube team. Central unleashed their new secret weapon on the last leg with Ainsley Normand, who moved into Master’s ranks two weeks previously, taking the championship title by 8 seconds ahead of Falkirk’s Janette Stevenson. Ainsley recorded the fastest time of the day with 14.28s. With Central taking the W35 title and Falkirk the W45 title it was local clean sweep of the ladies titles.
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London Marathon - 22nd April
Well done to the club members who took part in and completed the 2007 marathon. Available times as follows:
David Lindsay 2:48:11
Craig Walker 3:01:39
Stuart Watson 3:08:14
Mary Kerr 3:58:28
Adrian Louden 4:50:49
Brian Hodge 5:14:00
...and in the Mini Marathon
Well done to Sean Reilly, Scott McDonald and Alex Hendry who were selected to take part in the London Mini marathon on 22nd April. In the boys 15-16 race. Scott was first Scot home and 16th overall in 13.19, Alex came home in 40th place in a time of 13.44 and Sean was 75th in 15.43.
A fine reward for a good cross country season.
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Mens League 22 April 2007
There was a tinge of disappointment at the end of the first Match of this years Scottish Athletics Mens League. Central Athletic Club had been sitting in sixth place for most of the day but the final result placed Central in seventh place which is likely to make the rest of the Season an uphill struggle. There was however no criticism of the athletes who turned out as all gave of their best at this early season meeting at Grangemouth on Sunday 22 April, more perhaps of the gaps in many of the more technical events.
It was no surprise to see outstanding performances by Alastair Hay and Robert Russell in the 5000 metres and 1500 metres respectively. Alastair strode away from the field to win the 5000 in the superb time of 14mins 48.2secs, a significant personal best. Robert followed up his Grangemouth ‘Round the Houses’ 10K Road Race victory of the previous week with a fine second place in a speedy 1500metre race with 3min 56.11secs.
Elsewhere Gary Sweeney caught the eye with a fine series of throws – Hammer 29.96metres, Discus 30..metres, Shot Put 11.72metres and an excellent second place in the Javelin with 38.96metres. Ron Todd cast off the pain from his recovering ruptured Achilles tendon, weighing in with a Hammer throw of 30.15metres and a Pole Vault clearance of 2.40metres. It was also good to welcome back George McHardy, who had earlier run in the Balfron 10K, as he provided good back-up in the Shot Put (7.51metres) and Discus (20.55metres). Martin Crawford proved his depth of talent with a 26.48metre Javelin throw for second ‘B’ place. Gavin Hogarth also showed his worth to the Club’s effort with sixth place in the 800metres in 1min 58.41secs, a more than useful second ‘B’ place in the 1500metres 4min 17.59secs and a worthy High Jump effort of 1.50metres.
Youngster John Leiper showed excellent Pole Vault skills as he soared to a new personal best of 3metres and Triple Jumped out to 10.07metres, and will put his no height at 1.70metres in the High Jump down to bitter experience. Under 20, Michael Taylor showed good form in the 400metres (53.41secs), 400metre hurdles 60.3secs for an excellent third ‘A’ place and 5.16metres in the Long Jump. Kenny Morrison looked strong as he took first ‘B’ place in the 400metre hurdles (66.4secs) and Alex Milne showed all of his normal gritty attitude with fourth ‘A’ spot in the 3000metre steeplechase (11min 8.69secs). Thomas Stones ran a very useful 53.16secs for 400metres before limping off with an inflamed Achilles tendon while Lewis Millar showed great determination to run into second place in the ‘B’ 800metres (2min 7.68secs). Ross Houston was a welcome face as he shook off the effects of the previous day’s Hunters Bog Trot tounderline his fitness with a fine 5000metre run in 16min 21.5secs to win the ‘B’ race.
Ian McDonald and Andy Carroll shared sprinting duties with neither completely happy with their form; Ian running 11.72secs and 23.71secs and Andy 11.88 and 24.45 for the 100 and 200metres respectively. The 4 x 100metre relay team of Andy Carroll, Gary Sweeney, Martin Crawford and Ian McDonald ran a useful 47.33secs but had to settle for last place, however the 4 x 400metre team of Michael Taylor (55.07), Gavin Hogarth (54.0), Martin Crawford (53.41) and Alastair Hay (52.61) swept through for fifth place in 3min 35.09secs.
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Scottish Women’s League
Forth Valley women celebrated second place at their first match of the Scottish Women’s League at Meadowbank, only giving way to the newly combined Edinburgh Southern and Edinburgh AC super-club. Match points were; Edinburgh AC 472.5, Forth Valley 413.5, Lothian 400.5, Tayside 398, Pitreavie 371, Team West 362.5, Victoria Park/City of Glasgow 309 and Aberdeen 256.
Central athletes made major contributions to the Forth Valley team’s performances. Jennifer Hutchison led the team off with a top class performance as she took the under 17 300m hurdles with 47.0s, just outside her best. Rachel Adamson improved her personal best with 3rd place in the under 15 800m with a time of 2.26.41, followed up by Lorna Cameron who ran a first class race to win the B 800m in 2.28.52. Hannah Smith demonstrated her improving throwing with third place in the shot with 8.27m and then threw 20.34m to take first place in the B discus, again the third best throw of the day, both performances being personal bests. Sophie Brown gained 4th place in the under 13 shot put with new best throw of 6.54m and moved up to the under 15 high jump where her 1.30m gave her second place in the B event. In the sprints, Louise Anderson improved her best time with 14.11s for the under 15 100m and 5th place, whilst Lynn Harvey also improved her 100m time with 4th place in the B100m with a time of 13.11s.
In the senior 3,000m, Ainsley Normand, after a top class cross country season, was a shade disappointed with her 4th place in 10.36.41 and Fiona Thompson found herself a bit rusty for first track race of the season as she took 4th place in the senior 1500m with 4.52.7 with Ainsley taking 3rd place in the B 1500m. Both ladies showed great spirit to almost immediately team up with Ashley Madden from Falkirk and Kirkintilloch-based Jennifer Hannah to post a 4m16s 4 x 400 relay to bring the curtain down on a day that saw the Forth Valley team take another step up in standards.
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JSB Plumbing Forth Valley League
The Thursday evening JSB Plumbing Forth Valley League saw the Central AC development team, with a few more experienced athletes, take a comforting 4th place. Whilst, Kyle Henderson (first in high jump in 1.60, first in 100m sprint in 11.5s Hannah Smith (first in shot put with 8.06m), Matthew Smith (also first in shot put with 6.24m), and Kathryn Gillespie first in 800m in 2.41.6, it was new athletes who also shone. Roanna Fraser produced a remarkable debut in the under 11 800m with 2.58.6 to take second place in the B race. Sophie Brown confirmed her quality with a 14.3s 100m for 3rd place and 2nd place in the high jump. Chloe Rock produced an excellent a sprint finish to show her promise with a time of 2.55.7 for 4th place and Farren Parkins returned after serious injury to post . Rosie Hastings made her debut for the club on the track and always looked at home with a good run to return with 5.33.0 for her under 15 1500m. Sam Fraser also shone in the under 13 100m where his 14.8s was good enough for third place. Gordon Milne showed that hard work and persistence pay off, with a classy 800m run to finish third in the under 13 age group.
Lily Haylor and Isla Burns showed great promise in the under 11 sprints, both recording 16.2 with Isla taking 6th in the A race and Lily 2nd in the B race. Charlotte Burns, Chris Park, Neil Cameron, Conal Brosnan and Niamh Callan all performed their sprint and relay duties with great spirit. Martin Hall dotted between the high jump and the1500m where his 4.58.7 was good enough for 4th, supported by Logan Bonar.
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