Scottish Schools Pentathlon Championships- Grangemouth, 5th June 2011

There were medals galore for Dunblane High at the Scottish schools pentathlon championships at Grangemouth at the weekend.  In the event that tests athletes ability across the full range of running, jumping, hurdling and throwing Emily Batchelor, Sarah Pearson and Daniel Polatajko all finished in podium positions.

Emily and Sarah competing in the under 15 girls pentathlon showed their class in the opening 75m hurdles event.  Running into a stiff breeze Sarah and Emily both ran an impressive 12.9s in difficult conditions to take joint 2nd place.   In the High Jump event Sarah hung in clearing 1.36m at the third attempt before narrowly failing at 1.39m.  Meanwhile Emily was setting personal best after personal best finishing with 1.39m, a massive 9cm improvement on her previous best.  Both girls set new best marks in the Shot with Sarah throwing 6.60m and Emily posting the top throw of the day with 8.07m to take her into the overall lead.  There were more personal bests for both girls in the Long Jump with Emily winning with 4.76m to extend her lead and Sarah lifting herself to 3rd position overall with 4.59m.  Going into the final 800m event Emily knew her lead was vulnerable as the 2nd place athlete was a strong 800m runner and Sarah was also under pressure with athletes close behind her in the standings.  After the gun went the 2nd placed athlete quickly took the lead with Sarah and Emily in pursuit.  They fought bravely to hold on and gave their all but they slipped behind the leader with Sarah finishing 2nd in 2:43.3 and Emily 3rd (2:45.2).  After an agonising wait the scores were announced with Emily taking silver with a score of 2494 points, just 15 points behind the winner.  Sarah also scored a personal best 2344 points for bronze.   Emily and Sarah train together at Central Athletics club so this was a proud moment for them both to win their first ever national medal at the same event.

In the under 15 boys event Dunblane’s Daniel Polatajko was competing in his first major athletics event.  Daniel had never practiced hurdles before and his task was made harder as he had not yet got running spikes.  After a quick lesson from the club coach, he stepped onto the track and astonished everyone by winning his 80m hurdles heat in 13.9s, the 2nd fastest time of the day.  He then produced 4.71m in the Long Jump, won the 200m in 25.8s, and was 2nd in the Shot (9.19m) to place 2nd overall.  Also competing was Balfron High athlete Tom Chandler who had pushed himself into 4th place overall with good performances in the 80m hurdles (14.2s), Long Jump (4.87m), 200m (26.7s) and Shot (8.43m).  Going into the final 800m event just 100 points covered Tom in 4th, Daniel in 2nd and the leader.  Tom did everything he could to get into the medal positions running a personal best 2:19.9 with Daniel following home in 2:26.1.  When the scores were added Daniel had hung on to the Silver medal position with 2149 points to take Dunblane High’s 3rd medal of the day.  Tom Chandler missed out on bronze by only 15 points but can be pleased with his best ever score of 2120 points.

Other Central AC athletes trying out combined events were 400m specialist Hamish Innes of McLaren High and High Jumper Isla Burns of Kinross High.  Highlight for Hamish was the 3rd fastest 200m (25.0s) and a personal best Shot (8.70m) to score 1935 points for 8th in the under 17 mens event.  Isla produced a 1.33m High Jump and 6.49m Shot to place 9th in the under 15 girls event with 1661 points.

There was a big medal haul as Central AC athletes swapped their club colours for their school vests at the Scottish Schools Athletics Championships at Grangemouth held over Friday and Saturday last weekend. In total 15 medals were won including 7 golds.

Balfron High’s Tom Watson came in to the championships full of confidence after a superb 1:53.09 800m personal best 2 weeks ago. On the Friday he tested his speed over the shorter 400m distance and passed with flying colours as he sped away from the field to win the Group A (age 17 and over) age group in 49.69s. On the Saturday he returned for his preferred 800m distance. The wet and windy conditions put paid to any hopes of a fast time so Tom was happy to hold back during a tactical first lap before hitting the front on the back straight and holding on right to the finish line to win in 1:57.09.

Also taking double gold was Dollar Academy’s Kathryn Gillespie. Kathryn did not hold back in the Group C (age 14) girls 800m reaching the bell in 63s before finishing 8 seconds ahead of the field in a new championship and Central AC club record 2:11.85. Kathryn was just as comfortably ahead in the 1500m winning in 4:39.23.

The surprise performance of the weekend came from sprint sensation Lydia Simpson. The Crieff High School pupil was competing in her first ever championship and after a modest start with 4.34m for 8th in the Group C Long Jump, she sliced 3 seconds off her 200m best to qualify for the final in 27.14s then came home in 3rd place in the final for bronze. She returned on the Saturday for the 100m full of confidence and after qualifying comfortably for the final showed the opposition a clean pair of heals to storm home for the gold medal in 13.31s, an impressive time on a rain soaked track. Lydia was not even in the Scottish rankings before this performance and will surely run much faster in better conditions. Crieff High had a 100% medal success rate with their only other competitor Peter Muirhead taking Silver in the Group A Long Jump with 6.59m only losing the gold on countback.

There was further jumps success with Louise Anderson adding to her multitude of medals in her last ever competition for Stirling High, with gold in the Group A triple jump (10.65m) and Bronze in the Long Jump (4.98m). And winning medals in their first ever championship were Liam Halliday of St Modans, and Cameron McCorgray (Alva Academy). Liam added 2 feet to his best with 10.73m for bronze in the Group C Triple Jump and Cameron was on good form taking bronze in the Group D (Under 14) High Jump and 5^{th in the Long Jump.}

Dunblane High were well represented. Sarah Pearson returned after her bronze medal pentathlon success the weekend before, improving to gold with a superb victory in a close fought Group D girls 75m hurdles final (12.03s pb). Emily Batchelor also added a hurdles medal to her pentathlon medal from last week with a bronze in the Group C 75m hurdles (12.57s pb) after taking 6th in the Long Jump (4.61m). Euan Lambert leapt to a best ever 4.88m in the Group D Long Jump for silver and was 6th in the 200m (26.99s). Also hurdling well was Kirsty Mitchell who just missed out on the medals in the Group B (Age 15-16) 80m hurdles running 13.12s for 4th and Daniel Polatajko set personal bests in all 3 of his events in the Group C  100m (12.84s), 200m (25.26s, 7th) and Shot (9.61m, 8th). Completing the Dunblane line up was Iain Davies who set a new best to reach the Group D 800m final (2:23.21).

Chloe McGregor (Wallace High) came into the Group A 100m hurdles full of confidence however running into a strong headwind made it difficult going but after losing her stride she dug in hard to take the bronze medal.

Following behind Kathryn Gillespie in the Group C 800m and 1500m were Alva Academy’s Laura Clarke, who used the fast 800m pace to set a personal best 2:25.03 for 5th and took 6th in the 1500m in 5:10.53 and Eilidh MacCorquodale of Lornshill Academy who set a new 800m best (2:29.73) and placed 5th in the 1500m (5:07.33).

In the throws Agatha Williams-Kelly (St. Modans) was on form with 8.76m for 5th in the Group B girls Shot and Robert Burns (Kinross HS) took 5th places in the Shot (9.57m pb) and Javelin (25.10m).

McLaren High were represented by Sophie Parson and Hamish Innes. Sophie who benefits from training with the Dunblane hurdlers, followed her training partner Sarah Pearson home in the Group D girls 75m hurdles with 6th place (13.20s pb) and Hamish just missed the Group B 400m final in 54.93.

Kirsty Forsyth (Lornshill) set a new best in the Group B 300m (44.47s) and Farren Parkens (St Modans) just missed out on the Group B girls 300m hurdles final with 53.52s.

Balfron High’s Emma Boyle (Group C 200m 28.74s) and Kalim McDonagh (Group D 1500m 5:05.82, 9th) set a new bests, Amy Gullen of Auchterarder High School took over a second from her 200m best (29.02s) to just miss out on the semi-finals and Scott Balloch (Stirling High) performed well in the Group D 800m (2:34.90) and 1500m (5:15.49).

Ross Campbell of Alva Academy caught the attention of the club coaches with silver in the Group D shot (10.36m) in spite of not being a club member.

Central Athletic Club consolidated their top place in Division One of the Scottish Athletics League with an emphatic victory at a rain soaked Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow on Sunday 19 June.

The Team produced solid performances and true team spirit throughout the day typified by Kenny Pearson and Ron Todd each covering six events including all the throws with Kenny’s 36.70metres Javelin and Ron’s 32.17metres Hammer their most satisfying performances.  Good clearances in the Pole Vault plus High Jump, Sprint Hurdles and Triple Jump brought a large haul of points from these two willing athletes.

Robert Russell was once again well to the fore winning the 1500 and 5000 metres in fine style with 3min 58.69secs and 14min 40.76secs respectively.  Alex Hendry improved his personal best to 1min 58.39secs with a strong 800metres run and followed up with another fine performance in the 1500metres (4min 7.99secs).  Scott Robertson made his league debut for the Club coming home sixth in a high class A 800metres (1min 59.19secs).  Michael Wright was another to show great team commitment winning the 3000metre steeplechase in 9min 47.62secs, reducing his 400metres hurdles time to 62.14secs and picking up useful points in the Triple Jump. Lewis Millar made his debut in the Steeplechase, winning the B event with 10min 3.24secs then also winning the B 5000metres (15min 27.65secs), another significant contribution.  Martyn Paterson had a charging run for second in the 400metres (49.74secs), well backed up by Tom Watson (50.26secs) as he strode to victory in the B race, Martyn then taking third in the B 200mtres (22.98secs).  Alastair Beaton contributed with two fourth places in the 100 and 200metre A races with 11.36secs and 22.96secs respectively.  Craig Ritchie added to the overall high class of the Central effort with fourth in the A 400 hurdles (61.63secs), as did Ian McDonald with his fourth place in the B 100metres (11.78secs).

Kyle Henderson and Peter Muirhead were the stand out athletes in the Long Jump, taking maximum points in the worst of the downpour with best efforts of 7.08 and 6.55 metres respectively.  Kyle was close to a perfect day as he finished second in the High Jump with a best clearance of 1.90metres. 

The 4x100metres relay team of Alastair Beaton, Kyle Henderson, Peter Muirhead and Martyn Paterson sped round for third in 45.11secs while the 4x400metres saw Craig Ritchie, Martyn Paterson and Tom Watson set-up Scott Robertson to speed home for another victory in 3min 25.17secs.

With the final match scheduled for 14 August, Central now have 22 league points ahead of Aberdeen on 20, Edinburgh 19, Victoria Park Glasgow 13, Arbroath 12, Giffnock North 10, Lasswade 7 and Pitreavie 5.

Scottish Womens league report - 19th June 2011

Central AC’s lady athletes made a major contribution towards a fine third place performance by the Forth Valley team in the final match of the Scottish Women’s Athletic League at Meadowbank, Edinburgh.  Local team Edinburgh AC won the league with another match topping score of 531, with Tayside and Fife on 437, Forth Valley 397, Aberdeen 326, Team West 325, Pitreavie 317, Lothian 245 and Glasgow on 209.

Amongst highlights was the Under 15 200metres, where Lydia Simpson shot to the top of the Scottish rankings with her win in 26.09secs and was then a key part of a strong quartet that won the under 15 relay in what could well be the fastest time of the year of 51.69secs

The Senior 3000metres was one of a number of double wins for Forth Valley and the best from a Central point of view. Lyndsay Morrison improved her personal best with a solo winning run in 10.19.99, with supervet Jane Waterhouse winning the B race with 11.48.49. In other senior endurance events, Fiona Thompson had a fine day with third in 800metres Senior for a new personal best in 2:14.0, following this up with third in the 1500metres.

There was a fine series of hurdles races for the Central athletes. In the Under 13 races, Jessica Stitt and Caitlyn Gardner provided fourth place with 13.52secs  in the A race and second in B race with 13.71, respectively.  Emily Batchelor took second place in the B Under 15 hurdles with 12.69, after Sarah Pearson did well to continue her race after clattering an early hurdle and finished uncharacteristically down the field in the A race.  Kirsty Mitchell took the team back to winning ways in the Under 17 B race (13.31secs) while Chloe McGregor stuck to her task as she took fifth place in 17.47secs in the Senior Race.

Farren Parkin won the Under 17 300m hurdles B race with a big improvement in her personal best taking it down to 51.92secs and then took a fine third place in the flat 300metres B race (47.42secs). In the A race, Kirsty Forsyth improved her best time to 43.32secs in fourth and won the 200metres B (27.07secs), stepping in as replacement.

Amongst some good junior endurance races, Laura Clarke had another fine 800metres with 2:27.84 for third, with Eilidh MacCorquodale underling her form in second place in the B 1500m with 5:05.27

The field events were an area with fewer but just as vital points and Agatha Williams-Kelly showed her worth with third in Under 17 Shot with 8.21m, and gained valuable points in the Discus and the Senior Hammer. Bevhan Trevis jumped to 3.68m in the Under 13 Long Jump for fourth place, matched with a 7.20m shot put.

Elsewhere

Ross Houston of Central AC won the Seven Hills of Edinburgh race, covering the 14 miles and all seven hills in a time of 1hr 38min, just off the record time for this event.

Emma Raven won the North of England 5000m Championships for the second year in succession at SportsCity, Manchester, with an improvement to her personal best to 16m 40s.

Central Athletic Club’s young athletes produced some fine performances as they fought for a place in the final of the Scottish Young Athletes League at Grangemouth on 26th June.  A creditable sixth place was a good result with Central’s youngsters rising to the challenge.

Amongst the top performances for Central were double wins by Megan Ely and Bevhan Trevis in the Under 13 Long Jump winning their respective A and B events with jumps of 3.95metres and 3.73metres.  Megan had earlier produced a fine second place in the 75metres with 10.71secs while Erin Travers scored good points with fourth place in the B race (11.44secs).  Megan came home fourth in the 150metres (22.00secs) while Bevhan was fourth with 23.00secs in the B event.  Bevan  went on to take second place in the Shot Put while in the Sprint Hurdles Emma Berry posted fourth place in 14.42secs.

Amongst the Under 15’s Lydia Simpson continued her recent top-class form winning the 100metres (13.26secs), with Eilidh Ironside a close second in the B race with a handy 13.82secs.  Laura Clarke had another good run recording 2min 25.81secs in third in the 800metres, with Shamsa Scott-Angell fourth in the B race (2:39.10).  Sarah Pearson ran 12.45secs for second in the Sprint Hurdles, with Emily Batchelor in the B race (12.88secs), after earlier taking second in the Long Jump with 4.53metres.   Roisin Bonucchi finished third in the Javelin (18.79metres) with Beth Gallagher fourth in the B event (11.85m).

In the Under 17 age group, Kirsty Forsyth took an excellent third place in 200m with 27.71secs, and Farren Parkins was fourth in the High Jump with 1.35metres and the 300m hurdles (53.1secs). Emily Greenan made a strong showing in the 1500m for fifth, with Agatha Williams-Kelly showing her versatility by taking on Sprint Hurdles and Long Jump in the absence of her specialist throws.

An excellent sprint relay series rounded off the day with the Under 13 Girls gaining fourth, the Under 15 Girls with a top class squad of Eilidh Ironside, Sarah Pearson, Emily Batchelor and Lydia Simpson finishing second, just failing to catch a fine Edinburgh team.

The Under 13 Boys saw Robert Burns record another fine win in the Shot Put with a throw of 9.44metres, well supported by Ryan McWatt in the ‘B’ event throwing 7.25metres in second place.  Cameron McCorgray added to the success in the field leaping 4.25m to win the Long Jump, also achieving a personal best in the 75metre Hurdles in third place (15.03secs).

On the track Daniel Polatajko, appearing in his first League outing for Central ran a superb 100metres in 12.13secs for second place in the Under 15 Boys A race.  He added to this with third in the 200metres A race in a personal best of 25.16secs and third place in the Shot Put with a best of 10.09metres.  Tom Chandler was in excellent form taking second in the 80metres Hurdles in 13.67secs despite a dramatic stumble over the final hurdle and then finished fourth in the 400metre A race in a personal best of 58.03scs.  In the B race Euan Lambert, in his first competitive 400metres finished strongly to grab second place in a time of 59.62secs.  Euan had earlier finished third in the 100metres B race in 12.87secs.  Ross MacDonald also making his debut for Central ran well to clinch fourth place in the 200metres B race(27.10secs).  In the field Malcolm English continued his good season with second place in the Javelin, throwing a personal best of 29.18metres.  The Under 15 Boys, Ross, Daniel, Euan and Tom finished an impressive day of sprinting finishing second by the narrowest of margins in the 4x100m relay in a time of 49.8secs.

In the Under 17 Men age group, Central new boy, Lewis MacFarlane was throwing well to take third place in the Javelin with a best of 27.76metres.  Hamish Innes ran strongly to finish fifth in the 400metres recording 55.30secs.  Conor Kerr, competing for the first time since recovering from an injury, put in a sterling performance to finish the 1500m in 4:26.84 and Connor Pearson ran good times in 100metres and 200metres with 12.31secs and 25.07secs respectively.

Points totals: Edinburgh AC 662, Ayrshire Clubs 540, Giffnock North 463, Kilbarchan 458, Pitreavie 424, Central 389, Victoria Park City of Glasgow 349 and Shettleston 261.