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Inter Counties Cross Country – Nottingham – 11 March 2006
While it is great to win Scottish Championships, and Central Athletic Club currently boosts three individual Scottish Cross Country Champions; it is normally much harder to make an impact south of the Border.
So with some ten Central athletes representing their District in the Inter Counties Cross Country Championships in Nottingham on Saturday 11th March, there was a mixture of hope and trepidation on the trip south. The trip home however moved on to a feeling of satisfaction following a ‘job well done’ by the athletes.
Sean Reilly and Matthew Gillespie have both shown themselves to be Championship Class in the Under 15 age group over the past two seasons and this was again underlined here. It is almost expected that these races will be fast and furious from the gun and this was the case here with both lads tested to the limit. It is great testament to both Sean and Matthew that they finished in superb fifth and ninth places respectively, from a field of 200 runners, with Sean clocking 15min 28secs and Matthew 15.42 over the 4.5 kilometre distance.
Michael Gillespie has been a class apart all Season in Scotland but knew he would be tested fully in the Under 17 Mens race over 6 kilometres, once more run at a furious pace. Michael further enhanced his reputation with a highly respectable eighth place in an excellent 20min 59secs in a field of some 286 finishers.
Kyle Cowie never looked out of place in an Under 20 field some 200 strong as they tackled the 8 kilometre course. Kyle’s gritty run of 28min 27secs was rewarded with a more than respectable 48th placing in this quality field.
The Senior Womens race was held over the same 8 kilometre course and it was Emma Waterhouse and Jennifer Emsley’s turn to show their paces. Both young ladies had superb performances, finishing within a few strides of each other, in 106th and 108th respectively in a field of some 233 finishers and again both can be justifiably proud of their endeavours.
The Senior Mens race was contested over a 12 kilometre course which again saw a furious pace from the start. It is correct to say that Robert Russell has not had the best of Cross Country seasons, by his own high standards, however it is also true that his run for 44th in 40min 11secs, against the top British runners was a very competent and competitive performance. Alasdair Anthony has proven his top-class hill running credentials time and time again over the past year and here showed that his cross country credentials are also of the highest order placing 100th in 41.28. Alastair Hay has had some superb races recently but here never quite hit the high spots we have come to expect as the norm. However 116th in 41.54 is a great stepping-stone for this talented 20 year old in this high level company. Ross Houston laid to rest any ghosts who may have remained from his Scottish Inter District run showing great commitment, and no mean turn of pace to finish 127th in 42.09 from a field of 279.
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Scottish Junior Road Race Championships – Falkirk – 19th March 2006
The Scottish Athletics Junior Road Race Championships, held on the roads around Falkirk Football Stadium, proved to be another medalfest for Central Athletic Club’s young athletes with two individual Gold medals, two individual Silver medals, two sets of team Gold medals and a set of both Silver and Bronze team medals.
The race of the day saw Sean Reilly and Matthew Gillespie battle round the 4 kilometre course, swapping the lead on a regular basis, with Sean just prevailing with 13mins 21secs to Matthew’s 13.25 as these talented young men lifted Gold and Silver in the Under 15 Boys race. Alexander Hendry showed all his character, as he had to dig deep to come home in twelfth place in 14.20 to ensure the team stood at the top of the podium with the team Gold medals.
Michael Gillespie has been unbeatable in Under 17 Cross Country races this season but here had to give best by a few yards as he swept round the course to finish with a Silver placing in 18min 37secs. Scott McDonald and David Devlin missed the race start, handing a massive advantage to their rivals, and they spent the race working through the field. One wonders ‘what might have been’ as Scott finished in seventh in 19.07 and David pulled through to 24th in 21.19, however this just proved sufficient for another group of Central’s talented young men to lift the Gold Team medals.
The Under 20 Men also stepped up to the mark over the longest race of the day and it was Kyle Cowie who caught the eye with a very useful fifth place in 24mins 37secs. Michael Wright also looked good as he came home in eighth place in 24mins 56secs, while Murray MacLarty again underlined his progress with a superb tenth place in 26mins 33secs. These three young men being rewarded with Silver team medals.
The Under 20 Womens race was held in conjunction with the Under 20 Mens race and it was good to see Jennifer Emsley taking hold of the race from the start to power round to a brilliant individual Gold medal in an excellent 28mins 21secs timing.
Earlier in the day the Under 13 Boys had shown that what almost feels like a production line of fine young athletes was operating well. Tom Watson is no respecter of reputations and is always prepared to push on at the front; here he covered the course in an excellent 8min 45secs for a fine tenth place. There was superb back-up provided by Roddy Irvine, 16th in 9.04; a fine first run in this age group by Conor Kerr, 20th in 9.06; and further outstanding performances by Alexander Coubrough (23rd in 9.08) and David Hutchison (32nd in 9.23) as these youngsters scooped the team Bronze medals.
The Under 13 Girls also showed their paces and Mairi Gillespie again underlined her promise with a fine run for 21st placing in 9min 42secs. Fionn Hargreaves will have picked up some good experience in this race and battled well throughout to come home in a highly competent 50th place in 10min 50secs.
Central’s day was rounded off by a great turnout of seven runners in the Girls Under 15 race. Kate Morris has been making excellent progress in Cross Country all season and it seemed to take her a while to come to terms with the faster pace of road racing. Kate started to make progress on the second lap of this two lap race as she worked through the field to come home in 19th in 16 min 23 secs. Gemma Milne showed all her fighting qualities as she too moved through on the final lap to come home 37th in 17.12. Rachel Hunter pushed on well in this race battling Gemma for much of the way and finishing in a fine 38th place in 17.24. Becky Hay was another to have a good run here, coming home in 45th in 17.55. Claire Tunaley and Eilidh Hargreaves battled out the latter stages of the race virtually shoulder to shoulder, finishing in 47th and 48th in 17.58 and 18.01 respectively. Anna Jamieson made life difficult for herself by pushing on too fast in the early stages and showed great character to hold on for 53rd place in 19min 10secs. Overall the Under 15 Girls finished as seventh team but there is little doubt that these Girls can come through for District and National medals in the near future.
Commonwealth Games
Cental’s Junior Commonwealth and European Champion, Morag MacLarty, obviously not fully recovered from her recent injury problems, finished tenth in her 1500 metre heat at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in a below par 4mins 20.79secs, not quite fast enough to earn a place in the final.
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