January 2005

Scottish Inter District Cross Country Championships, Edinburgh, 15 January, 2005

The bright but muddy conditions of Holyrood Park, Edinburgh seemed to suit the Central Athletic Club athletes competing in the Scottish Inter District Cross Country Championships on Saturday 15 January.

Lorna Cameron, making her first appearance in an East of Scotland vest, had a superb run in the Under 13 Girls race over 3000 metres.  Lorna was with the leading athletes for most of the race and, following a determined last lap run, looked as though she would take fourth place, however a mix-up in the final run-in saw her having to settle for sixth, finishing the course in 13mins 26secs and helping the East District to overall Team victory.

The Under 13 Boys race was a personal triumph for Anthony Gillespie running over the same 3000 metres course.  Anthony put the disappointment of the East Cross Country Championships behind him and ran strongly throughout to take sixth place and first East District counter, in 12.16.

Matthew Gillespie once again underlined his top class credentials with a battling run in the Under 15 Inter District race.  On this occasion Matthew had to settle for a close up second place, covering the 3000 metre course in 11.04.  Sean Reilly also showed his potential with 15th overall and fifth counter for the East Team in 12.18.

The Under 17 Ladies Race saw Rowena Bell-Scott taking an excellent 8th place, assisting the East Team to the gold Team medals, with a 18.15 run over the 4000 metre course.

Michael Gillespie stayed completely focussed throughout his 4000 metre race as he pulled away from a high class field to take Gold in a superb 13.53, leading the East District team to victory.

The televised Mens 9 kilometre race saw some fine early running by Robert Russell.  However Robert’s recent superb form appeared to desert him on this occasion having to settle for 8th place in the Inter District race (32.22) but helping the East Team to first place.  Alasdair Anthony, representing Scottish Universities, worked through the field to finish 13th in the Intert District race in 32.54.

The Womens race, over 6 kilometres, was also televised and it was Hazel Dean who caught the eye as she came home in 13th place in 26.16, Jennifer Emsley was representing Scottish Universities, shrugging off a cold to finish in 19th place in 28.03.

The associated 5 kilometre Great Edinburgh Run saw an excellent set of performances from Central’s athletes, in a field of some 800 runners.  There was a set of second places from Ross Houston and Ainsley Normand.  Claire Waterhouse and Jane Waterhouse finished third and fifth respectively in the Womens Race while Michael Wright worked well for eigth.  Further placings were Lewis Miller (10th), Alex Milne (13th), Murray MacLarty (14th) and Ian Beattie (20thish).

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Round-up of East & West District East and West Indoor Athletics Championships

The weekend of 15/16 January saw many of Central Athletic Club’s young athletes competing with distinction at the DM HALL East and West District Indoors Championships at the Kelvin Hall, Glasgow.

The highlights of Saturday’s competition saw two Gold medals for Kyle Henderson in the Under 13 Boys West District Shot Putt with a superb throw of 9.15metres for a new Scottish Indoor record; followed by an excellent High Jump victory with 1.48metres.  Fine sprinting, over 60metres by Martyn Paterson (8.56secs) saw Martyn take Silver in the Under 13 East District Championships.  Martyn then followed this with a superb Long Jump of 4.31metres, again to lift the Silver medal.  Roddy Irvine was another to make an impact at this level with a fine High Jump Silver (1.30metres) and a good run of 9.00secs for the 60 metres.  Jack Dawson made his debut in these Championships with a fine run of 9.22secs.

In the Under 15 age group Ryan Stewart won bronze in the East Shot Putt with a throw of 11.46metres.  Hilary Warkentin was very competitive in the Under 15 Girls Long Jump with 4.07metres.  Dee Henderson contested the Under 15 Girls West District Shot Putt with a fine throw of 7.04metres.

There was some good sprinting in the Senior Mens East District 60metres through Calum Laing (7.29secs) and Ian McDonald (7.47secs).

Sunday also produced further excellent performances from Central’s athletes.  Karen McClymont underlined her talent with two Silver medals in the Under 17 East District Championships through a 4.86 metre Long Jump and a 10.52 metre Triple Jump.  Elayne Henderson produced a fine Shot Putt of 9.73 metres for Bronze in the West District Senior Womens event; Elayne also produced some good sprinting for 27.09 in the 200metres.

A brave effort from Under 13 athlete David Hutchinson saw him just miss out on a medal in the East 800metres (2.40.04) and Hilary Warkentin’s High Jump of 1.40metres was also only sufficient for fourth in the East Under 15 competition.  Jennifer Hutchison also had to settle for fourth in the Under 15 East District’s 60metres Hurdles with a good run for 10.30secs.  Jennifer also had a good run of 29.71secs in the 200metres.  There were also some good quality sprinting from Dee Henderson in the West Under 15 Girls 200metres (28.97secs), and Ian McDonald in the East Senior 200metres (24.12secs).

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Scottish Junior Indoor Relay Championships at the Kelvin Hall - Sunday 23 January 2005

In a day of high drama there were new records, gold medals and all round excellent performances from Central Athletic Club’s young athletes.

The  meeting saw a superb Scottish Record for the Under 13 Boys 4x200metres with a run of 1min 54.91secs in the competition’s heats.  The final also produced a fine time of 1min 55.00secs and a large winning margin as the team of Christopher Clarke, Kyle Henderson, David Scott and Martyn Paterson swept to well deserved gold medals.  Central’s ‘B’ team in this age group, Roddy Irvine, David Hutchison, Ross Milne and Jack Dawson also performed superbly, winning through from their heat (2.03.85) to take fifth spot in the final (2.04.22).

The Under 13 Girls ‘A’ team looked a highly competent quartet as they qualified for the final in an excellent 2.01.72.  The team of Jennifer Kean, Lorna Cameron, Georgia Quinn and Rachel Mills then crossed the line in third place in the final in a time of 2.01.39, only to be disqualified for a minor discretion at the break point from lanes, a tiny advantage that in no way equated to the four metre margin by which the girls appeared to have taken the bronze medals.  The Under 13 Girls ‘B’ team also acquitted themselves well through Katie-Mairi King, Stephanie O’Neil, Rachel Adamson and Louise Anderson racing round to 2.13.15 in their heat.

The Under 15 Girls team also produced two excellent runs with a 1.56.12 heat time to take the girls to the final.  The team of Jennifer Hutchison, Hilary Warkentin, Dee Henderson and Lynn Harvey made a strong bid for medals but had to settle for fifth on this occasion in 1.56.99.

Meanwhile Central’s athletes were also involved in cross country action in Portugal and Wales.  Morag MacLarty again underlined her International credentials with an excellent run for Great Britain in Lisbon to take second place behind a Spanish athlete who had finished third in the European Junior Championships.  Morag’s run was sufficient to lead the British Team to the first team prize in the triangular match against Portugal and Spain.

The Cardiff connection saw Michael and Matthew Gillespie representing Scotland in the Under 17 Celtic Cross Country against Wales, Northern Ireland and Eire.  Michael showed a further step-up in maturity taking an impressive victory in this match while younger brother Matthew, moving up a full age group, battled through well for a memorable sixth place.  This fine showing helped in bringing home a set of gold medals for the Scottish Team.  Also in Cardiff Robert Russell showed a quick return to form with a brilliant run in the Senior Mens Reebok International race for an overall thirteenth place in a high class field.

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Scottish 4 kilometre Cross Country - Sunday 30 January 2005. Robert Russell was the toast of Central Athletic Club through a terrific win in the Scottish 4 kilometre Cross Country held in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow on Sunday 30 January.  Robert ran with the leaders from the start and his relentless pressure in the second half of the race told as he pulled away from his rivals over the final kilometre to win by over 50metres in 12minutes 35seconds to take his first Scottish Senior title.

There were also some excellent back-up performances from other Central athletes as John Burke came home in ninth in 13.03 while Ross Houston had a solid performance in 24th (13.27).  Visiting Australian Under 20 athlete Luke Stokes adapted well to the unfamiliar cold and windy conditions with a handy 25th position in 13.30 while Steve Laing was another to provide a useful run in 47th in 14.18.  Indeed the team of Robert Russell, John Burke, Ross Houston and Steve Laing were rewarded with the Team Bronze medals for Central AC.

Murray MacLarty saw further improvement with 48th in 14.20 and Alex Milne produced another fighting run for 51st in 14.28.  Lewis Millar stayed competitive throughout, coming home in 14.35 for 53rd and Robert Hutchison also produced a good effort as he finished in 15.10 for 67th.

The Club’s Run, Jump, Throw competition for young athletes at Stirling University was well attended with many of the athletes producing useful performances and thanks are due to the parent helpers who made this such a successful and worthwhile event. Full results:_

 

Name

Age Group

200m

800m

Long Jump

Shot Putt

Tammy Breingan

U17 Woman

28.75

 

3.93

 

Lisa Garrow

U15 Girl

29.95

 

3.38

 

Ellen Houston

U15 Girl

28.44

 

3.46

 

Rachel Hunter

U15 Girl

29.38

2.42.1

3.42

 

Dawn Kerr

U15 Girl

 

3.20.4

2.55

3.63

Louise Anderson

U13 Girl

35.90

 

3.00

5.67

Fiona Cameron

U13 Girl

 

 

2.20

3.09

Lorna Cameron

U13 Girl

31.70

2.35.4

3.60

4.98

Mairi Gillespie

U13 Girl

34.70

3.04.1

3.15

5.10

Sarah Hamilton

U13 Girl

33.30

2.54.9

3.15

4.25

Megan Jardine

U13 Girl

34.40

 

2.85

3.72

Katie-Marie King

U13 Girl

32.00

 

3.70

 

Becky Stevens

U13 Girl

36.30

 

2.97

 

Stephanie Holman

U11 Girl

36.30

 

2.85

3.48

Abbey Housego

U11 Girl

38.10

 

2.77

4.61

Becky McNally

U11 Girl

44.90

 

2.00

2.81

Megan Thompson

U11 Girl

40.00

 

2.48

 

Kathryn Gillespie

U9 Girl

37.90

2.59.9

 

 

Jack Dawson

U13 Boy

32.15

 

2.95

4.65

Josh Fraser

U13 Boy

33.60

 

3.22

5.80

David Hutchison

U13 Boy

31.00

2.42.8

 

5.42

Ross Milne

U13 Boy

 

2.49.5

 

5.69

Neil Cameron

U11 Boy

32.59

 

3.33

 

Conor Kerr

U11 Boy

34.05

2.50.1

 

4.30

Gordon Milne

U11 Boy

35.80

 

2.20

5.11

Jack Kerr

U9 Boy

45.10

 

1.95

2.66