Young Athletes League – Linwood – 2^nd July

Top class performances matched with team sprit gave Central girls the edge in the final qualifying round of the Young Athletes League match at Linwood. With all teams badly affected by the holidays, the second place target was achieved in a nail-biting finish going down to the final relay.

The Final team result was an enormous leading win by Kilbarchan with 369 points from a full teamsheet, but with Central second with 242, Falkirk 236, Victoria Park 185, Perth 175, Livingston 154 and Kirkintilloch 18.

The under 13 age-group were again to the fore with Stephanie O’Neil winning the 75m  (10.6s) and 150m (20.8s) races with fine sprinting as she returns to full fitness.

Lara Roessler bade her goodbyes in her last match for Central with a second place in the hurdles (12.8s), second in the shot put (7.90m) and a fine long jump (3.93m) for 4th. Shona Buchanan made her track debut over the 800m with a 2min 58s run and was third in the B shot put. Ruth McCabe performed well with a new personal best in the hurdles (15.1s) and a fine 2^nd in the B 75m. Becky Stevens was third in the B 150m (24.7s) and then teamed up with Stephanie, Lara and Ruth to win the relay by an emphatic margin.

In the under 15 age group, the Steven’s twins scored highly with Jemma taking second in the hurdles, the high jump and the long jump, whilst Amber was first in the B high jump and 3^rd in the discus. Hannah Smith took first place in the B discus and earned a massive new PB in the 200m with 28.8s. Ashley Smith followed up with a second place in the B 200m with 30.7s. Ruth Clarke and Georgia Quinn took on sprints and long jumps and then teamed up with Hannah and Amber to earn a valuable second place with an excellent relay run.

In the Under 17’s Jennifer Hutchison showed further improvement in hurdles with a fine 47.7s for second, a third in the sprint hurdles and an excellent second place (43.6s) in the 300m. Kirstie Graham made a debut featuring third and fourth place in the 100 and 200m. Lynn Harvey showed she was back in form with 13.6s in the 100m and 28.6s in the 200m and a good long jump of 4.45m for 2^nd place. Hannah Buchanan made a great contribution by linking up with the other girls to achieve a 4^th place in final relay to gain the six point margin that sealed the victory over local rivals Falkirk.

Though final qualification for the eight team Scottish Finals will have to await full scrutiny of results from the three match series, Central team managers were confident that the girls had done more than enough to be rewarded with this step up after three years absence.

For the boys it was a matter of personal performances, but it was gratifying to see them take a third team place behind Kilbarchan and Victoria Park teams. Highlight performances were evident through the team.

Roddy Irvine showed his versatility with a win in the high jump (1.35m) and then outclassed the field in the under 13 1500m. In the sprints Adam Innes was just edged into 2^nd in the A 200m race with 27.8s, a new PB and then came second in the shot. Matthew Mills earned a 3^rd place in the 100m and won the B 200m (28.9s). Kelly Carruthers sprinted well to earn 3^rd place and gave a good account in the 800m with 2min 48s. The relay team earned second place with a fine team performance.

Kyle Henderson is becoming an awesome prospect across a whole range of events and here he won his high jump (1.60m), 100m (11.8s) and shot put showing further quality form. Stuart Ardrey ran well to gain second place in the 200m with 26.3s with a further lift in his performances. David Hutchison and  Sandy MacLarty took on the 800m, with David following up with a further 1500m run, showing good form throughout.

Under 17 newcomer Daniel Carruthers showed real class with a win the 200m (23.8s) and 2^nd in the 400m (53.5s). Alexander Hendry showed his mettle with a fine second places in both 800m and 1500m. Ewan Hamilton won the shot with an impressive 10.1m and gave his all in the sprints with his 200m race again showing his highly competitive character.

The boys also had the fun of racing against top Australian visitors, hosted by Central AC families, who were guesting in many events.

Points total were Kilbarchan 444, Victoria Park 346, Central 206, Livingston 176, Perth 136, Falkirk 70, Kirkintilloch 51.

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Scottish Women’s Cup – 16^th July

Top quality performances by the Central duo of Stephanie O’Neill and Rachel Adamson were amongst highlights of Central AC teams in the Scottish Women’s Cup match at Grangemouth Stadium. Stephanie beat a Scottish record time that has stood for 18 years with a run of 11.4s in the 70m hurdles, taking almost a second off her own best time after an injury enforced lay-off from the event. Ratification of the record may prove difficult, as the photo finish equipment was out of action for this race. Stephanie added a new personal best of 4.54m in winning the long jump. Rachel Adamson excelled with a fine win in the 200m with a top ranking 28.22s and 30 minutes later had a tough race taking second in the 800m. Rachel showed her versatility by winning the high jump earlier in the day. The girls teamed up with Leila McLaren and Romy Berits to post another great time in coming second in the relay. With just three points behind City of Edinburgh, with their total of 65 points, the girls just missed out on taking the national under 13 trophy.

In the under 15 age groups, strong opposition saw the Central girls finish sixth. Many good results included Jemma Stevens taking third in both high jump and javelin, Kate Morris taking fourth in the 1500m in 5m28.9 and Lorna Cameron producing another strong 800m with a time of 2m31.57. In the under 17’s, Jennifer Hutchison won the 300m hurdles in 47.78s, just a shade outside her personal best and then went on take third in the sprint hurdles. Gemma Milne produced another strong run in the 800m to achieve 3^rd and took second place in the javelin with 19.53m. Fifth equal place in the team event was the reward for a strong squad performance.

In the senior cup match, Central could not muster sprinters to perform at this level and team managers decided to use the event for individual performances, with Ainsley Normand (1500m, 4^th in 4m49.6s,) Fiona Thompson  (800m, 4^th in 2m19.84s) and Rowena Bell-Scott (3,000m, 3^rd in 10.m51.34s) putting in good quality performances. Rowena in particular was pleased to achieve her first sub 11minute time. Kirsten Phillips performed well in the senior ranks with a 1.40m high jump, whilst in the throws Christine Bertram (discus 20.86m, 5^th, javelin 29.5m) and Elizabeth Normand (Shot  8.56m, Hammer 22.8m, 6^th) mixed it with the best throwers in Scotland. .

Other performances;

Under 13 Leila McLaren 100m 15.07s, Romy Berits Javelin 9.12m

Under 15; Georgia Quinn 200m 31.56s, Long Jump 3.21m, Shona Frame 100m 15.03s, Shot Put 5.91m

Under 17 Lynn Harvey 200m 28.32s, Long Jump 4.62m, Nicolle Guliani 100m 13.84s, High Jump 1.35m, Lorna Frame 300m 46.0s, Melissa Mowat shot 6.08m, discus 15.38m, Relay 4^th place.

Other News

• · Also at the weekend Elayne Henderson Long Jumped out to 5.84metres, equalling her last season’s best,  to take a Bronze medal at the AAA’s Under 20 Championships in Bedford.
• · Alasdair Anthony finished third Scot and eighteenth overall in the punishing Snowdon International (10miles with 3250 feet of climbing) finishing in the excellent time of 74min 46secs.
• · The recent Schools International against England, Ireland and Wales also saw some excellent performances from Central athletes, representing Scottish Schools. Ryan Stewart launched the Javelin out to 51.70metres to take fourth place, while Sean Reilly reduced his 1500metre personal best to 4min 4.66secs in taking a close fifth place.

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Scottish Mens Athletic League – Sunday 16^th July 2006 – Grangemouth

It was again a combination of youth and experience that saw Central Athletic Club Mens Team bounce back to third place in the penultimate league match in the First Division of the Scottish Athletics League at Grangemouth on Sunday 16 July, leaving the Club still in overall sixth place but now four points away from the relegation zone.

Ron Todd personified the attitude on the day competing in no less than eight events, collecting a massive personal haul of points with first in the Pole Vault (3.25metres); third in the Hammer (31.68metres), Javelin (33.57) and Triple Jump; fourth in the Discus (32.50), Shot Putt (9.78) and Sprint Hurdles and sixth in the High Jump. Alex Milne again filled in with his ‘can do’ attitude to dip under 11minutes in the punishing 3000metres Steeplechase for sixth overall, a fifth ‘B’ place in the 400metres hurdles and second ‘B’ placing with an improved performance in the Hammer and third ‘B’ in the Shot Putt.  Under 20 athlete Gary Sweeney once again proved his worth with first and third ‘B’ respectively in the Discus (28.57) and Javelin (37.01), and some fine sprinting in the 100metres ‘B’ (11.76secs) and 400metres (55.25secs). Gavin Hogarth was not feeling at his best but willingly filled in with third, fourth and fifth ‘B’ places in the Triple Jump, Long Jump and High Jump, and another excellent haul of points.

On the track it was once again the front running Robert Russell who ran away from the fields to win the 1500metres (3.58.8) and 5000metres (15.09.96) in fine style. Ross Houston made a welcome return to the team and weighed in with an excellent run of 16min 11.91secs for third ‘B’ placing in the 5000metres. Ian Towle found the early pace of the ‘A’ 800metres just a little too fast but rallied well to finish sixth in 2min 2.86secs.  Ian then went on to Long Jump out to 5.26metres for a very useful fifth ‘A’ placing.  Craig Ruddy proved the quality athlete in the ‘B’ 800metres taking the lead early in the race to front run to an excellent win in 2.00.2.  Kenny Morrison was another to bring his experience to bear with an improved run in the 400metre hurdles for a superb fourth ‘A’ placing in 61.84secs.

Ian McDonald showed improved form for two fine fourth ‘A’ places in the sprints, speeding to 11.48secs for 100metres and 23.34secs in the 200metres.  Martin Crawford stepped in the fill the ‘A 400metre slot with an excellent 53.57secs clocking and moved down in distance for 25.09 in the ‘B’ 200metres.

It was the Club’s youngsters that strengthened the relay teams with sprinter Daniel Carruthers and middle distance runner Sean Reilly making their presence felt. The 4x100metre team of Martin Crawford, Daniel Carruthers, Gary Sweeney and Ian McDonald powered round in 46.39secs for a fine fifth place.  Martin also stepped forward for the 4x400metres again shouldering the first leg responsibility and it was good to see Martin, Sean Reilly, Ross Houston and Robert Russell staying in contention to the very last stride and tying on times with City of Edinburgh in sixth place with 3min 40.36secs.

On an exceedingly warm day it was great to have back up from Central’s officials, Shona Malcolm, Tom McMenemy, Iain and Meg Sweeney.

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