Grangemouth Open Graded Meeting  - 6th August

There were some tasty performances at the most recent Open Graded Meeting on Wednesday  in spite of heavy rain and a flooded track.

Sarah Dick tackled the Under 15 Girls 75metres hurdles and made light of the conditions as she showed good form in returning a time of 14.20secs.  Under 15 Ryan Calder tackled his first ever competitive 100metres and should be pleased with his 13.92secs performance as should Under 15, Sophie Brown, clocking 14.50secs.  Under 13 Girls Chelsea Whyte (15.48secs) and Kirsty Forsyth (16.03secs) also performed promisingly along with Under 11, Isla Burns (16.40secs).  Laura Nicholson also ran well to finish with 16.54secs.  The conditions also affected the 800metre races and it was good to see Martyn Paterson (Under 17) moving up to this distance and clocking a useful 2min 11.9secs.  Kathryn Gillespie (Under 13) continues to show excellent form and here won her race with an excellent 2min 28.9secs.  Tara Walls is another Under 13 who continues to make progress and here finished in 2min 56.8secs while Philip Wright, also Under 13, came home in a useful 2min 52.2secs.  Sarah Dick was another to move up a distance, tackling the 300metres and finishing in a tasty 48.55secs.  Under 20 athlete Michael Gillespie dipped under 9mins for 3000metres with an 8min 59secs timing in a quality race.

Amongst the Field events Sophie Brown cleared 1.45metres in the High Jump with Isla Burns also showing her range of talent clearing 1.15metres.  The difficult conditions did not deter Senior athlete Elizabeth Normand as she sent the Hammer out to a best of 30.34metres.

Congratulations to Robert Hutchison who headed home the Veterans in the Broadwood 5 kilometres Road Race held at Cumbernauld on Thursday 14^th August with an excellent run of 18min 10secs.

Following the World Mountain Running Trophy Trial at Cairngorm on 9^th August Central athlete Alasdair Anthony has been selected to compete for Scotland’s Senior Team in the 24th World Mountain Running Trophyin Switzerland on September 14th.  Scott McDonald and Alexander Hendry will also be flying the flag for Scotland in the Jumior (Under 20) Mens Race and will be hoping to better the team’s 12^th finishing place from 2007.

George Duncan Testimonial - Perth

Central Athletic juniors showed that they were a force to be reckoned with when they competed in the George Duncan Testimonial Athletic Competition in Perth. After a fiercely fought match, Central A.C.  finished joint second, just 1 point behind the winners Perth Strathtay Harriers in what was an excellent days action.

The performance of all the athletes and the team camaraderie was outstanding, starting with the Under 15, 75m Hurdles Race, Sarah Dick came home in 14.5s taking 3^rd spot backed up by Neil Cameron taking 3^rd in 18.2s in the 80m hurdles. Next up was the 200m series with the Under 11 Girls, which saw Isla Burns storming to victory in 32.8s in the A string and Jennifer Downie with a superb 1^st in the B string with 33.2s.  Jack Kerr performed well to gain 5^th place in 34.8s in the Under 11 Boys. 

Aimee Bilsland and Tara Walls both showed good form to place 4^th in both A and B strings with 32.1s and 34.2s respectively.  Under 15’s showed the talent on offer with Louise Anderson (28s) and Sophie Brown (29.2s) both gaining 1^st  in  A and B string, with Sanju  Siriwardena (25.3s) and Neil Cameron (29.8s) both coming in 3^rd place.The 800m series started with exceptional performances by Under 13 girls with Kathryn Gillespie gaining 1^st in A string with 2m30s and Roisin Bonucchi 3rd in B string with 2.50, Under 13 boys saw Malcolm English lower his PB to 3.16 taking 2^nd in B string. Under 15 girls continued the excellent form with Julie Cook running 2.40 in the A String to gain 1^st  and Rachel Adamson gaining 1^st in the B string with a superb 2.29. In the Under 15 Boys  Sam Fraser gain a 2^nd  place in the A string (2.44) and Roddy Irvine coming 2^nd  in the B string with a new PB of 2.15.

First race in the 100m started with the Under 11’s where Robert Burns turned in a solid performance with 5^th place in 18.2s. Bevhan Trevis ran her debut for the club with an excellent 4^th in 16.9s backed up by Anna Clelland in B who came in 2^nd  in 17.5s. The Under 13 Girls  saw Kirsty Forsyth run her debut race for the club coming 3^rd in the A with 15.2s and Laura Clarke with a 1^st in the B string with a clocking of 15.6s. Carrick McLelland and Philip Wright placed 4^th in 15.5 and 1^st in 15.3 respectively. Under 15’s saw a fantastic A race for Louise Anderson winning 2^nd in 13.9s backed up by Stephanie English 4^th with 16.2 in the B. Sanju Siriwardena ran an impressive 12.7s taking 2^nd place in A string this was followed by an equally impressive run by Billy Elliott to take 1^st in the B with 12.8s.

U15 girls 300m showed the excellent form of Rachel Adamson taking 1^st in the B with 45.3s and Sarah Dick with a 2^nd in the A string with 47.8s.

Under  15 Boys 400m was a hotly contested race with Roddy Irvine rising to the challenge achieving 2^nd place in 59.5s.

In the field events Under 11 girls, Isla Burns jumped a huge 1.92 in the Standing Long Jump to take 1^st place followed by Jennifer Downie taking 4^th with 13.08 in the cricket ball throw. Under 11 boys Robert Burns threw a massive 31.22 to take 1^st in the cricket ball throw and Jack Kerr earned a 4^th place with 1.66 in the Standing Long Jump.

Under 13 Girls Shot Putt had Aimee Bilsland place 2^nd with 5.00m, Charlotte Burns take 4^th in the long jump with 3.20m and Kathryn Gillespie 2^nd  in the Javelin with a throw 16.32m. Equally competitive was the Under 13 Boys with Malcolm English throwing 5.24m in the Shot Putt to take 2^nd place and Dean Cartner achieving 4^th in the Long Jump with 3.25m.  Carrick McLelland debuted  in the High Jump with a 1.10m 4^th place and Malcolm English competed well in the Javelin, throwing 17.74 to earn a 3^rd.

In the Under 15 girls events Louise Anderson gained 2^nd in the Long Jump with an impressive 4.79m, Sophie Brown won a 3^rd in the High Jump with a solid 1.45m jump and Sarah Dick took 6^th in the Javelin with 13.58m. Under 15 boys Long Jump saw Neil Cameron earn 5^th jumping 4.01m, Billy Elliott took a well earned 3^rd in the Shot Putt throwing 7.97m, Roddy Irvine  jumped  well in the High Jump snatching 3^rd with 1.40m and  Billy Elliott performed well to gain a 2^nd in the Javelin with 23.95m.

With only 10 points separating  the first 3 teams, the final 4x100m relays were a very tense affair, kicking off with the Under 11 girls, Isla Burns, Bevhan Trevis, Anna Clelland and Jennifer Downie had an outstanding performance gaining 1^st place in 1.06.7s, this was then followed by an impressive run from the Under 13 girls, Charlotte Burns, Tara Walls, Roisin Bonucchi and Kathryn Gillespie who brought the team home in 2^nd (1.03.3s). Under 15 Girls, Rachel Adamson, Sarah Dick, Louise Anderson and Sophie Brown again impressed with another 1^st (55s), the relays then finished with the Under 15 Boys team, Sanju Siriwardena, Billy Elliott, Sam Fraser and Roddy Irvine  again bringing  the team home in 1^st place (53s).

Weekend Report – 9 and 10 August 2008

A busy weekend of athletics saw three of Central’s young athletes competing for Scotland in the Under 23 Inter Territorial Track and Field Event in Derby on Sunday 10^th August.  Morag MacLarty proved to be the pick of Central’s athletes winning the 1500metres in 4min 24.31secs.  Fiona Thompson did well to finish first B runner in the 3000 metres with a time of 10min 35.35secs while Michael Wright was third B in the 3000metres Steeplechase, finishing in a time of 10min 31.10secs.

The World Mountain Running Trial was held on Cairngorm on Saturday 10^th August and saw the athletes having to endure heavy rain and blustery wins.  The conditions did not appear to deter Central’s athletes with Alasdair Anthony booking his place on the plane to Switzerland with a close second place in 48min 27secs over the 10.5 kilometre course, which incorporated 1,020 metres of climbing.  Scott McDonald (43min 45secs) and Alexander Hendry (44min 25secs) also staked strong claims for selection for Switzerland, finishing second and third in the Junior Mens Race, held over 3.6 kilometres with 300 metres of climb.  Jonathon Tolson also had a good performance to finish eighth in 52min 55secs.  The Womens race was held over 8 kilometres with some 950metres of climbing with a high quality field and saw Alison Docherty come home ninth in a time of 51min 53secs.

Ross Houston continued his excellent season winning the Abernethy 10mile Road Race in Nethybridge with a high quality run 55min 14secs.  Robert Russell also underlined his form with a new course record in the Helensburgh Half Marathon of 66min 22secs.  Alastair Hay made the trip to the British Milers Club Grand Prix Final in Eton and should be pleased with his run of 3min 51.46secs in the difficult conditions.

Stewarts National Track and Field Champs and Relays – 31 August

Central AC’s Morag MacLarty continued her return to top flight athletics with a fine win at the Stewart’s National Championships at Pitreavie where she took the 1500 metres title against a strong field. Nicola Gauld, who has dominated the domestic Scottish races for the past three seasons, led out Morag until the final bend when she cruised past to win with 4:15.85s, her best time for 3 years. Fiona Thompson took her personal best down a further notch to 4:37.89 as she finished 12^th.

Central athletes picked up a series of bronze medals in other races. Alastair  Hay  gave it a good go in a top quality men’s 1500m, leading out to front group for much of the race. The final lap pace of winner Collis Birmingham, just back from Beijing where he represented Australia, proving too much for Alastair as he clocked 3:50.46. Michael Wright also took bronze in the mens’s 3000m steeplechase with 10:10.80.   Emma Waterhouse made it the same position in the women’s race recording 10:58.2 in a race won by Nicola Hood of Glasgow in a new Scottish record.  The Men’s 5000 metres featured two under 20’s from Central who both took down their personal bests  in one of the races within the main race, with Scott McDonald coming in 8^th with 15:01.89s and Michael Gillespie next placed with 15:08.60s.

The Scottish Junior Relay Championships in the same programme featured some fine running by Central squads with three of the four squads progressing to their finals. Under 13 quartet of Hannah Worsley, Lily Cairns-Haylor, Eilidh Ironside and Agatha William-Kelly had a long wait to be fastest losers after their heat and in the final made it fifth place with 59.36s. The under 15 boys of Ryan Calder, Neil Cameron, Roddy Irvine and Billy Elliot depended upon a final leg run by Billy as he won the race for third place to gain a place in their final, where they made it 5^th with 51.84s. Central’s under 15 girls had a more assured journey to their final with a comfortable third place in their heat. Sarah Dick, Sophie Brown, Rachel Adamson and Louise Anderson then also took 5^th place in their final with 53.20s. In the heats of the Under 17 women, Lorna Cameron, Georgia Quin, Rosie Hastings and Rachel Mills came 4^th in their heat but could not progress further.