Scottish Senior Athletic Championships, Scotstoun 17th July

Kyle Henderson proved to be Central Athletic Club’s top competitor lifting the Gold medal and the JA Hope Challenge Cup for the Long Jump at the Scottish Senior Athletic Championships held at Scotstoun, Glasgow on Sunday 17 July.  Kyle leapt out to a new personal best of 7.51metres, another significant step forward for this talented 18 year old.

Another teenager, Louise Anderson, also left with a broad smile having won the Bronze medal for the Senior Womens Triple Jump.  Louise, still recovering from a persistent injury, had a best of 10.63metres in a quality series of jumps.  John Newsom added a Bronze medal for the 5,000metres to his 10,000metres Gold won earlier in the season with a strong run, finishing with 14min 45.61secs.  Alex Hendry was one of a trio of Central athletes to have to settle for fourth placing in the Senior Championships as he finished with 14min 53.62secs in the 5000metres. 

Another teenager, Martyn Paterson, again reduced his personal best in a highly competitive 400metres final and although finishing fourth had every reason to be pleased with his 48.58secs performance.  Andrew Butchart is yet another Central AC teenager with great potential and here Andrew was involved throughout the 1500metres final and will improve on his fourth placing (3min 59.40secs) in future Championships. 

Tom Watson was one of the youngest athletes on show at these Championships and had a busy day on Saturday qualifying through the heats and semi-finals in the 800metres as he left established international athletes in his wake.  The final was hotly contested and Tom was run out of the medals in a race won by collegiate athlete Kris Gauson in 1min 50.73secs with Tom hitting a best of 1-53.95 in his semi final.  Michael Wright challenged well in the 3000metres Steeplechase but his early effort took his toll as he finished fifth in a commendable 9min 59.05secs.

The Junior 4 by100metre Relays were held in conjunction with the Championships and Centrals Under 16 Girls Team of Emily Batchelor, Emily Boyle, Caitlin Watson and Lydia Simpson ran an excellent race with some slick changeovers to take home the Silver medals in a time of 53.06secs.

The Scottish Under 14 Championships were held on Saturday and here Sarah Pearson proved to be Scotland’s top athlete in the 75metre hurdles (11.79secs) and the High Jump (1.45metres) with two Gold medals from her busy day.  Robert Burns also struck Gold in the Shot Put with an excellent 9.50metre throw and followed up with Bronze in the Javelin (28.65metres), also just falling short in the Discus with fourth place and a best of 19.24metres.  Cameron McCorgray also underlined his growing talent with a best High Jump clearance of 1.45metres for Silver and a Long Jump of 4.49metres for Bronze.  Cameron also ran 14.28secs in the 100metres just missing out on a place in in the final.  Amy Gullen ran well in the 100 and 200metres with bests of 14.32secs and 29.33secs in a busy day that saw her contest heats and semis for both events without quite making either final.  Qualifying standards for the Under 14 Girls 800metres were the most cut-throat of the weekend and Eilidh Russell’s determined effort of 2min 54.56secs fell short on this occasion.

Central Athletic Club completed a hat trick of wins in the Round Arran Relay on Saturday, improving on their previous times and exceptionally posting the fastest times on each of the six legs.  In near perfect conditions the Central Team of Ross Houston, Michael Wright, Lewis Millar, Ross Milne, Craig Neal and Alex Hendry completed the course in 5hours 18mins 20secs, over 25 minutes ahead of second place Garscube Harriers.

Central’s ‘Old Boys’ Team of Roger Greenaway, Alex Milne, Richard Coombs, Derek Easton, John Millar and David Eckersley also acquitted themselves well finishing in ninth overall in a cumulative time of 6 hours 47mins 59secs.

Elsewhere Lyndsay Morrison was the proud winner of the Gold medal at the East District 10K Road Race Championships in Musselburgh finishing in 37min 44secs.  19 year old Catriona Buchanan led Scotland’s Senior Women’s Team to victory in the International Snowdon Race finishing in second overall having to concede victory to England’s World Long Champion Pippa Maddams.  Catriona was ably backed up by Christina Rankin (Kilbarchan AC) in third and Fiona Maxwell (Shettleston Harriers) in fifth.

A number of Central Athletic Club athletes competed in the Scottish Age Group Championships at Scotstoun, Glasgow with success across the age groups.

Kyle Henderson followed up his Senior Championship Gold with Under 20 victory in the Long Jump (7.20metres) on Sunday rounding off a busy weekend which had seen him compete at the Senior World Championship Trials in Birmingham on Saturday finishing in a highly creditable eighth with a best effort of 7.16metres.  Louise Anderson tackled both Under 20 Triple Jump and Long Jump winning the former with 10.33metres and lifting Bronze in the Long Jump with 4.99metres.  Martyn Paterson was another athlete to leave with Gold as he strode to victory in the Under 20 400metres in 49.35secs.  Scott Green also lifted Gold in the Under 20 2000metre Steeplechase with a fine run  (6min 00.46secs).  Tom Watson looked good as he pushed hard for victory in the Under 20 800metres but in a sprint to the line with another three athletes was just out dipped in the final two strides to take Silver with 1min 53.61secs.  Chloe McGregor had to settle for fifth in the 100metre hurdles, finishing in a personal best of 17.34secs while Craig Ritchie also lowered his best in fifth in the 400metre hurdles (59.12secs). 

Kathryn Gillespie stood out in the Under 16 age group with a runaway victory in the 1500metres (4min 43.49secs) while Hamish Innes also underlined his promise as he strode to Gold in the Under 16 400metres with a personal best of 54.63secs.  Under 14 Champion Sarah Pearson moved up an age group to tackle the Under 16 80metre Hurdles and gained excellent experience in finishing fourth (13.07secs).  Emily Batchelor also looked good in the hurdles with a best of 13.50secs and second place in the B final; rounding off a busy day with a Long Jump personal best of  4.78metres.  Emma Boyle qualified for the 100 and 200metre B finals and finished third (14.25secs) and fifth (28.98secs) respectively.  Laura Clarke bravely tried to hang into the medal positions in the 1500m before fading in the final lap in a fast race.

Central were not so heavily represented in the Under 18 Age Group but here Kirsty Forsyth finished seventh in the 200metres Final in a time close to her personal best (27.17secs), while Ryan Calder Long Jumped out to a respectable 5.41metres.

At the UK Athletics Championships and World Trials in Birmingham Emma Raven was part of a Scottish 1-2-3 in the 3000metre Steeplechase taking Silver with a Season’s Best of 10min 24.24secs.

Lewis Millar continued his impressive Road Race Season repeating last year’s victory in the John R. Weir Tour of Fife (5 Race) Series winning all five races.  Ross Milne also showed his talent with overall third place and first Under 20 athlete.