Schools Pentathlon International - Kelvin Hall, Glasgow 3/12/2011

Central AC was well represented at the home nation’s schools pentathlon international at the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow on Saturday.  Daniel Polatajko and Emily Batchelor from Dunblane along with Balfron’s Tom Chandler got their first taste of international action representing Scottish schools in the annual 4 nations match against the best from England, Wales and Ireland.

Tom & Daniel competing in the under 16 boys event got off to a good start with personal bests in the 60m hurdles, Tom running 9.29s to win his heat and Daniel ran 9.52s to finish well.  They followed this up with strong performances in the Long Jump (Daniel 5.09m, Tom 4.86m) then Daniel lifted the Scottish team with a storming victory in his 200m heat seeing off high class opposition in a superb pb 24.48s.  Tom also ran a pb 26.17s then both athletes threw personal bests in the shot (Danial 10.95m, Tom 9.92m) then rounded off their day well in the 800m, Tom winning his heat in 2:23.43min and Daniel 3rd in 2:27.54min.  Overall Daniel finished top placed Scot in 11th place with an excellent personal best 2581pts with Tom closely behind as 2nd placed Scot also in a personal best 2436 pts.

Emily Batchelor was competing in a high class under 16 girls event and helped the Scottish team to a bronze medal overall recording personal bests in the 60m hurdles (9.83s) and High Jump (1.41m) along with strong performances in the Long Jump (4.66m) and Shot (7.22m).  She then sliced 7 seconds off her best in the 800m (2:37.51mins) to finish in a personal best score of 2687 points.

All 3 athletes exceeded the club records in their respective age groups but as the event used under 15b implements

The event used under 15 implements for a non-standard under 16 age group so only Tom Chandler, who is still in the under 15 age group was young enough to set a new club record which he did, smashing the previous mark by 400 points.  Daniel and Emily who have only just moved into the older under 17 age group both exceeded the club records in that age group and will surely break the records once they get the opportunity to compete in a pentathlon on the normal hurdles and shot for that age group.

Central AC continued dominance of  Mens endurance racing in the East of Scotland in winning the Senior Men’s title at the East District Cross Country Championships at Aberdeen, with a third placing  for the Masters Mens Team a welcome reward.  These races were also the selection races for teams of fifteen for the Inter-District match at Holyrood on January 7th as part of the televised Edinburgh Cross Country and a number of athletes were able to make a strong case for selection.  The races were held in freezing conditions over a testing course with hard underfoot conditions and each race featuring a long uphill finish.

The Senior Mens race incorporated the Under 20 and Masters Races over a course of some 9.6 kilometres.  Central’s Alex Hendry and Ross Houston underlined their recent quality form as they battled round in the leading group of athletes.  As the race unwound it found Alex locked in contention for the Gold and Silver medals with the experienced Murray Strain (Hunters Bog Trotters).  Try as he may Alex could not open a telling gap on his rival as they sped round the final lap and, in spite of a spirited finish on the uphill stretch, had to settle for Silver (31min 31secs).  Alex did however have the consolation of leading his Central’s Mens colleagues to Team Gold through good runs from Ross Houston (sixth, 32.36); Matthew Sutherland (eighth, 32.58); Michael Wright (twelfth, 33.24), Lewis Millar (18th, 33.55) and Scott McDonald (19th, 33.57).  Alasdair Anthony provided the back-up in 24th (34.19) while Alex Milne (78th, 39.55), Under 20 runner David Lindsay (79th, 40.01), David Eckersley (84th, 40.34), Hugh Buchanan (89th, 41.01), Alan Gall (115th, 46.21), John Millar (128th, 50.03) and Kenny Hislop (134th, 54.20) proved their fitness in the freezing conditions.  Indeed Alex Milne, David Eckersley and Hugh Buchanan finished as third Masters Team on the day.

Jennifer Emsley and Lindsay Morrison also battled hard in the Senior Womens race (6.5 kilometres) finishing ninth (24.48) and twelfth (25.22) respectively with a much depleted team completed by Jane Waterhouse (47th in 29.53.  Both leading Senior Ladies will be hopeful of making the East team for the Inter-Districts.

Matthew Crawford was Central’s only runner in the Under 13 Boys Race over a testing 3.2 kilometre course.  In an exciting race Matthew moved through the field with confidence to come home in fourth overall (11min 39secs) to ensure selection for the Inter District match. In the under 13 girls race Eilidh Russell was also the sole Central runner and finished a competitive 13th place in 13.46

The Under 15 Boys faced a 4.3 kilometre challenge and on the day Aidan Cameron was Central’s top finisher in a very handy 14th place (16.29).  Iain Davies was making a comeback after illness and here had to settle for 21st (17.40) ahead of a gritty effort from Kieran Potter (23rd, 17.56), while Gary MacFarlane stuck well to his task to finish 36th (19.11) as the Central Team finished sixth overall.

For the Under 15 Girls, Eilidh MacCorquodale had to battle a cold as she finished tenth in 18.36.  Roisin Bonucchi had an improved run as she stuck in well behind Eilidh to finish twelfth in 19.05 and Shannon MacFarlane gave another solid performance in 16th  place with 21.41.