Weekend action 5 – 6 August

A busy weekend of athletics saw Central AC in action on Saturday at Grangemouth stadium at the final meeting of the JSB Plumbing Forth Valley Junior League, performing at the final meeting of the Central and Southern Scotland Athletic League at Linwood stadium and at the under 15 and under 17 AA Championships in Birmingham.

Central junior athletes were on top form in their development team at the Forth Valley Junior League, being satisfied with fourth position in the league,. Final positions were ; Pitreavie 22,City of Edinburgh 21.5, Lasswade 16.5, Central 11, Livingston 8 and Corstophine 5.

Highlights amongst the junior under 11 age group featured Kathryn Gillespie with another gun to tape win in the 800m with another outstanding time of 2m 41s. Young Kathryn has another full year in this age-group and remains unbeaten over either cross country or the track since starting running at nine years old.

Conor Kerr also pushed the pace from the outset to record the win the under 13 800m with yet another great time of 2m 28s to match his time from earlier in the week.

Team man of the match award for the weekend undoubtedly went to Kyle Henderson, confirming his Dean Macey credentials as a multi-eventer with three wins in this Saturday match, with high jump, hurdles and sprint wins.

Central went into the third and final match of the second division of the Central and Southern Scotland League in equal first place and a comfortable margin from third placed clubs, East Kilbride and Lasswade. With a few crucial gaps, Central has been provisionally been given fifth place, but with just 10 points covering places second to fifth,. Nevertheless this should be enough to hang on to second place overall and gain promotion to the top division.

In a team with over 50 athletes, highlights were think and fast. Kyle Henderson stole the show with another three victories in 100m , 200m and long jump.and a scorching relay leg that helped his under 15 team take first place.

Elsewhere in the programme, Hannah Smith won the shot with a throw of 7.64m and Jennifer won her 200m in 27.1 s. There were impressive perfomances in second places from amongst Michael Gillespie in the senior 3,000m, Lynn Harvey in the senior triple jump, Lorna Frame in the under 17 200m and Gemma Miilne in the under 17 javelin.. Stewart Ardrey was another with an unblemished record taking wins in the both the 100m and 200m B races and contributing towards the under 15 relay win. Fiona Thompson set the pace for the senior 800m to be pipped on the line by Ashleigh Kennedy from Livingston as a trio including Central’s Ainsley Normand in the B event fought it out in one of the top senior races of the day.

Final points on the day were; Law and District 723, East Kilbride 555, Lasswade 549, Livingston 546, Central 545, Falkirk 465, Fife 358 and Irvine 286

Final League placings subject to scrutiny are; Law and district 23, Central 19, East Kilbride 18, Lasswade 17, Livingston 9, Falkirk 8, Fife 8 and Irvine 6.

Under 15 and Under 17 AAA’s Championships at Birmingham

Ryan Stewart once again proved to be a class apart from the other Under 15 athletes taking Gold with yet another superb throw of 55.74 metres in the Javelin, advancing his Scottish Record once again. Sean Reilly was another to advance his personal best with a qualifying run of 4minutes 3.6secs in the Under 17 heat of the 1500metres.  The final saw some bumping and boring with a trip sending Sean off balance at a crucial stage, ensuring no medal this year, but with another year left in this age group there is little doubt that a podium place should be on Sean’s agenda for 2007. Matthew Gillespie also made the long trip South to contest the 3000metres, starting off conservatively then moving sensibly through the field to record a more than useful finishing time of 9minutes 17seconds.

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Scottish Senior Championships and Junior Relays at Scotstoun.- 13^th August

Robert Russell won his first Scottish Senior Track Title with an excellent front running 10,000 metres win in 31min 29.37secs.  Robert ran well within himself for most of the race but his pace over the final five laps proved decisive and he displayed the widest smile of the day as he lifted the coveted trophy. In a new initiative by Scottish Athletics, Robert’s coach, Derek Easton, was also rewarded with a gold medal.

Elayne Henderson showed her continued development with a fine third place in the long jump with 5.84metres, just short of her personal best. Elayne will feature in the Triple Jump for the Scottish Development Team in Thursday’s televised Celtic Cup event at Grangemouth before heading off to France for coaching.

While not featuring in the battle for medals, Ainsley Normand found the fast pace and good conditions to her liking making a substantial improvement on her personal best with a fine 1500metre run in 4min 44.23secs.

Alistair Hay was pleased with his 1500metres, coming through the heats in style and showing signs of returning to form after a summer long struggle with injury, finishing in a very useful 3min 56.8secs.

Michael Wright may have been off the pace in a fast 3,000 metre steeplechase but showed his usual battling qualities to come home in 10mins 19.91secs.

Meanwhile the Junior relay action at Glasgow’s Scotstoun Stadium involved Central AC squads collecting the medals in the National Championships. The Under 13 quartet of Leila McLaren, Rachel Adamson, Louise Anderson and Stephanie O’Neil progressed from their heat with a first place time of 55.41s.  All four girls put in strong performances to further improve to a 54.8s timing when taking silver medals place behind Pitreavie in a close fought race for top position in the final. 

The  Under 13 boys squad of Matthew Mills, Martin Hall, Roddy Irvine and Neil Cameron were less fancied for top honours. But they showed they were also keen to take home some prizes when the well balanced team took bronze medal place in the final with 54.91s.

The under 17 women’s relay squad showed they too were competitive at the top level with Nicolle Guliani, Lorna Frame, Amanda Hewitt and Lynn Harvey making it sixth place in their final with a time of 53.0s.

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Scottish Mens Athletic League – Sunday 20^th August 2006 – Grangemouth

Central Athletic Club fought off any thought of relegation finishing in fifth place in the final match of the First Division of the Scottish Athletics League at Linwood on 20^th August and ending the Season in overall sixth place opening a satisfying seven point gap on their relegation rivals.

All Central’s athletes demonstrated a ‘can do’ attitude throughout with many stepping outside their normal events to gain valuable points. Under 17 athlete Sean Reilly showed good racing judgement in the blustery conditions, reducing his personal best for 800metres to 1min 56.6secs in finishing second in the ‘B’ event. Craig Ruddy was another to underline his class with an excellent and competitive 1min 57.49secs ‘A’ 800metres run for fifth. Alastair Hay showed he was getting closer to his best with a very useful 1500metre run in 3min 58.5secs for second ‘A’ with Ian Towle providing the back-up with fourth in the ‘B’ event.  Michael Gillespie made his debut in the Mens League and looked good throughout, only losing out in the final laps and finishing fifth in the ‘A’ race in 16min 13secs.  Murray MacLarty also pushed hard throughout the 5000metres to finish fifth ‘B’ runner in 16min 59secs. The 3,000metres Steeplechase was run in almost farcical conditions with no waterjump, however Michael Wright made full advantage in taking third ‘A’ in 9min 54.67secs with Steve Laing again rolling back the years for third ‘B’ place in 10.36.27.

Craig Eaglesham shouldered the responsibility of ‘A’ 100 and 200metres against many of the best Scottish sprinters and finished in highly respectable sixth and fifth places respectively in 11.79 and 24.33secs.  Gavin Hogarth is prepared to take on most events and here finished seventh in the ‘B’ 100metres in 12.45secs. Frank Houston showed good form in what is likely to be his last meeting for the Club finishing the 200metres in sixth in 26.97secs. Gary Sweeney (54.52secs) and Gavin Hogarth (53.54secs) showed good competitiveness in their respective 400metre runs while it was Michael Taylor (62.00secs) and Frank Houston who picked up valuable points in the 400metre hurdles. Michael Taylor never recovered from a poor start in the 110metre hurdles but Colin Christie came through well for third in the ‘B’ event in 20.07secs

Ron Todd again weighed in with a big effort covering the four throws with a Hammer throw of 23.91metres, Shot Put of 8.95metres, Discus of 34.21metres and Javelin of 33metres. Gary Sweeney also showed excellent throwing form with an improved Shot Put of 11.35metres, Discus of 30.07metres and Javelin of 35.60metres.  Frank Houston proved his versatility, with useful performances in the hammer and triple jump (10.87metres).  Elsewhere in the jumps Colin Sharp proved a useful addition to the team with a 1.70metre High Jump and 10.52 Triple Jump. Michael Taylor (5.02metres) and Ian Towle (5.00metres) also showed useful form in the Long Jump while Colin Christie produced a 1.60metre High Jump.

The facilities at Linwood leave much to be desired and an early blow to the Club was the cancellation of the Pole Vault due to an inadequate landing area.

The much changed 4x100metre team of Gary Sweeney, Michael Taylor, Frank Houston and Craig Eaglesham showed some slick changeovers in finishing seventh in 47.56secs.  The 4x400metre team was also significantly different from the previous meeting and it was Alastair Hay, Sean Reilly, Ian Towle and Gavin Hogarth who produced the Club’s best timing for the season with 3min 34.95secs for fifth overall.

Once again Central’s officials, provided superb back-up from Shona Malcolm, Tom McMenemy, John Dickson, Iain and Meg Sweeney.

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The Final match of the Scottish Women’s Athletic League saw Central AC combine with the Falkirk Victoria Harriers and Dunfermline and West Fife clubs in the Forth Valley team to record a third place in another high quality match at Grangemouth.

Match results were; Edinburgh SH 523; Team West 450; Forth Valley 424; Tayside 367; Lothian 366; City of Glasgow 299; Aberdeen 296 and Pitreavie 267. The top three teams on the day finished in that order overall.

Central hurdlers were on top form again with Jennifer Hutchison winning her 300m hurdles event in a new personal best of 47.03s and running well in the sprint hurdles for fourth place in the A race. But it was Stephanie O’Neil who again took the headlines with another clocking under the old Scottish record for under 13 hurdles. This time it was 11.43s compared to the record of 11.48s set in 1988, with a legal wind speed, Stephanie looks certain to have one of her three sub-record times accepted for the record books.

Lynn Harvey stepped up to the senior ranks and performed to order with a triple jump of 9.40metres for second in the B event and performed season’s bests in both the 100m and 200m. Fiona Thompson took a fine second place in the 1500metres with 4m 47.66s. Ainsley Normand had top opposition in the 800m with internationals Hayley Ovens and Kathryn Evans fighting for top spot, nevertheless Ainsley reversed recent results against top junior Ashleigh Kennedy to beat her to fifth place. Christine Bertram and Elizabeth Normand have transformed the situation in senior throwing in the Central ranks, covering all four throws with useful points throughout. Jennifer Emsley was once again the furthest travelled, from home on the west coast of Arran, to take third place on the 3000m.

Nicolle Guliani showed improvement in her long jump when recording 4.50metres to take 4^th place in the under 17 age group. Kirsten Phillips continues to develop in high jump taking third in the B event with 1.40m. Gemma Milne ran a mature race overtaking three runners in her final 200m to gain third place in the B 800m race with 2m31.39.

Jemma Stevens had to settle for third place in the under 15 high jump with 1.45m and a fourth place in the javelin with 18.44m with sister Amber covering the B high jump with 1.25m. Hannah Smith won the B shot put with 7.52m.

In the under 13’s, Leila McLaren showed her continuing improvement with a good 5^th place in 100m B to set a new personal best of 14.71s. Louise Anderson performed to a good level in the shot put with 5th place to 6.62m. Rachel Adamson bravely fought through the pain to finish her 800m race after a niggling injury flared up in her race, came home with an uncharacteristic placing down the field to contribute to team points.

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Bank of Scotland Under 13, Under 15 and Under 17 Track & Field Championships – Grangemouth 26 and 27 August 2006

The final Scottish Track & Field Championships of the Summer saw some magnificent performances from Central Athletic Club's young athletes including a number of Scottish age group records. The Bank of Scotland Under 13, Under 15 and Under 17 Track & Field Championships were held at Grangemouth on Saturday 26^th and Sunday 27th August 2006 with relatively benign conditions on the Saturday but blustery weather on the Sunday playing havoc with times in the distance races.

Saturday’s performances saw Stephanie O’Neil crossing the line in a photo finish for first in the Under 13 Girls 70metres hurdles with Emma Dawson from Perth, both girls recording new Championship Best figures of 11.30seconds although Stephanie had to settle for Silver by the narrowest of margins on this occasion. Stephanie went on to record a superb 4.60metre long jump, again taking Silver.

Gemma Milne was Central’s other medal winner on Saturday with an excellent Javelin throw of 18.21metres for Bronze in the Under 17 Girls event. There were some close misses with Adam Innes perhaps the unluckiest athlete on the day with two Under 13 Boys fourth places running excellent times of 13.51secs for 100metres and 27.84secs for 200metres, following wins in both his heats. Ross Milne was another to finish just out of the medals but continues to show improvement as he finished fourth in the Under 13 Boys 800metre final in an inspired 2min 23.55secs, followed closely by Roddy Irvine (2min 24.81secs) in sixth overall, while Conor Kerr was disappointed when his useful 2.29.95 was not quite enough to progress to the final. Roddy went on to prove his versatility with fourth in the Under 13 Boys High Jump, clearing 1.30metres.

Jennifer Hutchison was another to miss out by the narrowest of margins as she once again reduced her 300metres hurdles time to 46.62seconds in finishing a very close-up fourth.  Kirsten Phillips is starting to make an impact in the Under 17 Girls High Jump and here she cleared 1.45metres to finish sixth in this highly competitive age group.

Sunday morning dawned with an early Gold medal and Championship record for Ryan Stewart in the first Field event of the day, the Under 15 Boys Javelin, with an outstanding 53.98metres, some four metres over the Championship Best. Ryan went on to take the Shot Put Gold with a tremendous 14.65metre effort and rounded off his day again beating the Championship Best in the Hammer (49.18metres), but having to settle for Bronze this time around.

Kyle Henderson weighed in with a superb last round Long Jump for Under 15 Boys Gold and yet another Championship Best of 6.14metres to round off a high quality competition.  Kyle also proved highly competitive in the 100metres taking Silver in the excellent time of 11.69secs. It was also good to see Martyn Paterson making progress with his jumping recording a fine personal best of 5.07metres in the Long Jump and launching himself out to 10.29metres for fifth in the Under 15 Boys Triple Jump.

Sean Reilly must be Central’s unluckiest athlete of the Championships, miss reading the timetable to turn up too late for Saturday’s Under 17 1500metres he then qualified for Sunday’s final of the 800metres as the second fastest athlete (1min 59.86secs) the effort making him physically sick, and looked a pale shadow of his best in the final (fifth in 2.05.08) in very windy conditions.

Jemma Stevens is another young athlete who is maturing well and here finished sixth in the Under 15 Girls Javelin with a best of 19.22metres. Alexander Hendry tackled the tough 1500metres Steeplechase and came through with a much improved time of 5min 3.84secs in fifth place.

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