Young Athletes League – Linwood - 6 May

Rain and a blustery wind did not dent the spirits as Central AC contested the first meeting in Division One of Scottish Young Athletes League. Star turn for Central was undoubtedly Kyle Henderson who won the 200m, the sprint hurdles and topped it off in breaking the League record for long jump with 6.05m. Otherwise it was a tough day, with other Central winners being Sean Reilly who won the 1500m with 4m14.1s, Jennifer Hutchison with her win in the 300m hurdles and Hannah Smith winning the under 15 shot put of 8.73m. Jennifer also achieved a good second place in the 200m and Hannah gained third place in the javelin and another third in the B 100m.

Other noteworthy performances came from  Sophie Brown who took second place in the 75m for under 13 girls and also fourth in the 150m longer sprint. Top race of the day for Central was the combined A & B 800m race for under 15 girls where Lorna Cameron pipped Rachel Adamson as they took second and third race places behind  top runner Hollie Young form Glasgow. In the middle distance it should not have been a day for top times but Rosie Hastings (1500m in 5.25.9), Alex Hendry ( 800m in 2.10.2) , Caitlyn Watson ( 800m in 2.56..1) and Emily Greenan (1200m in 4.45.39) were able to post new best times despite the conditions.

Other team members; Amy Bilsland, Farren Parkins, Niamh Callan, Louise Anderson, Gemma Milne, Lily Eadie, Rachel Mills and Dee Henderson, Neil Cameron, Matthew Mills, Gordon Milne, Conor Kerr, Ross Milne, Tom Watson, Roddy Irvine and Jonathon Tolson.

The Open Graded Meeting at Grangemouth on Wednesday 2nd of May had a new format, including some Scottish Athletics Grand Prix events and this proved to be an instant hit with the athletes, doubling the normal entry and with some fine Athletics on the evening.

The Meeting started with two Invitation 800metre races as part of the Forth Valley Endurance Initiative for local School Children with many of the young athletes performing over this distance on the track for the first time and several personal bests for the more experienced athletes.  Results from the Primary School Race were:- Katherine Mitchell, 2.46.11; Stuart Bremner 2.52.54; Holly Meikle 2.54.79; Caitlin Watson 2.57.09; Matthew Preeo 2.57.28; Sam Fraser 2.59.22; Lauren Walker 3.04.29; Emily Greenan 3.05.39; Stacey Hardman 3.13.86; Rachel Manson 3.46.49.  The Secondary School Result was:- Tom Watson 2.17.54; Ross Milne 2.19.03; Keiran Skelton 2.25.42; Conor Kerr 2.26.46; Rachel Adamson 2.26.96; Lorna Cameron 2.27.67; Sarah Hamilton 2.40.60; Lucy Mitchell 2.46.20; Hazel Murray 2.47.21; Keiran Everdon 2.54.02; Amy Hendry 2.56.73; Shona Buchanan 2.57.15.

The Grand Prix 100metre races were all run into a stiff headwind so times were never going to be close to the athletes’ bests but there were some excellent performances on show.  It was British International Gemma Nicol who won the first Womens race in 12.45secs with local athlete Elayne Henderson fourth in 13.35secs.  Other Central athletes performing in the 100metre Grand Prix were Ian McDonald, 12.00secs and Dee Henderson (Under 17) 14.24secs.  Under 15’s Kyle Henderson (11.79), Martyn Paterson (13.15), Louise Anderson (14.86), Georgia Quinn (14.98) and Sarah Dick (15.3) along with Under 13’s Philip Wright (15.88) and Charlotte Burns (17.00) and Under 11 Isla Burns (17.52) all looked as though their training was going well.

Dee Henderson also contested the 300metres race with an improved performance to win in 45.50secs while Michael Wright made a rare excursion into the 800metres finishing in 2mins 9.42secs and Ross Milne (Under 15) picked up his second personal best of the night with an excellent 4mins 53.95secs 1500metres run.  Elayne Henderson contested the Long Jump Grand Prix event with top place in the Senior Event, a best jump of 5.46metres.  Other Long Jump performances from Central athletes were – Under 15’s - Kyle Henderson 6.04; Martyn Paterson 5.21, Louise Anderson 4.10; Under 13 - Charlotte Burns 3.22metres; Under - 11 Isla Burns 2.73metres.

British Junior League

Four of Central’s athletes competed for Team Forth Valley in the Tyne Division of the British Junior League, for Under 20 and Under 17 athletes, in the recent ‘home’ Match at Grangemouth Stadium.

Under 17, Sean Reilly, made an instant impact as he opened his 2007 Track Season with a fine victory in the 3000metres in 9min 13.73secs, and a more than useful third place in the 800metre ‘A’ race in 2min 1.44secs.  Jennifer Hutchison, another of Central’s Under 17 athletes, showed excellent form in taking second in the ‘A’ 400metres in 61.71seconds, and picking up more useful points with second in the ‘B’ 100metres in 13.65secs into a stiff headwind.  Alex Hendry (also Under 17) underlined his recent good performances with a strong run in the 2,000metre Steeplechase (6.51.12) for second place.  Rowena Bell-Scott showed some gritty running in the Womens 3,000metres, winning the ‘B’ event in 11mins 10.48sescs.

Sean Reilly and Jennifer Hutchison rounded their day off with runs in the 4 x 400metre relays with both Mens and Womens teams taking second place.  Overall the Team result on the day was Team Glasgow 562points; Forth Valley 425; Northern Reivers (Carlisle) 392; Tees Valley Tigers 363 and Team Tyne and Wear 219 points.

East & West District and Closed Senior Track & Field Championships

Scotstoun, Glasgow – 12 and 13 May 2007

All of Central Athletic Club's young athletes who competed at Scotstoun, Glasgow over the weekend of 12 and 13 May, proved their positive progress.  The East and West District and Closed Senior Championships became a happy hunting ground with the athletes taking home a vast array of medals and personal bests.

If there had been an Athlete of the day on Saturday it would almost certainly have been awarded to the multi-talented Kyle Henderson.  Kyle dominated the Under 15 West District Championships with fine wins in the Long Jump (a Championship best of 6.01 metres), High Jump (1.75metres) and 100metres (11.70secs).  Martyn Paterson also made his mark in this age group with Gold in the East District Triple Jump – 10.70metres, Bronze in the Long Jump – 4.90metres and fourth in the 100metres – 12.98secs.  In the Under 13 Boys it was Conor Kerr who caught the eye with a superbly judged 800metre run for Gold in the East District 800metres with a superb 2min 25.46secs run.  Tom Watson contested the Under 15 Boys 800metres finishing in 2min 14.17secs in fifth place, again marking excellent progress for this talented athlete.

There was no doubting Sean Reilly’s class as he retained his title from 2006 in the East District Under 17 Mens 1500metres in 4min 11.95secs and backed this up with a charging 800metre victory on Sunday, reducing his best to 1min 56.08secs, a tantalising two tenths of a second away from the Championship Best Performance.  Alex Hendry was another to underline his progress with a win in the Under 17 East District 1500metre Steeplechase (4min 51.61) and two fourth places (800metres, 2min 9.6secs) and (3000metres in 9min 30.39secs).  Ainsley Normand had an outstanding run in the Closed Senior Championships 1500metres, reducing her best to 4min 43.36secs with her Silver medal performance, while Fiona Thompson lifted a deserved Bronze medal in the same event with her 4min 45.75sec run.  Ian McDonald produced another positive sprinting performance with his 100metres in 11.79secs, while Michael Wright rounded off the Club’s contribution to Saturday with fourth place in the 3,000metre Steeplechase with a gritty run of 10min 17.42secs.

The highlight of Sunday’s performances by Central’s athletes was the superb East District Under 17, 300metre hurdles victory by Jennifer Hutchison in 46.85secs, a time that now leads the 2007 Scottish Rankings in this event.  Jennifer went on to win Bronze in the 200metres with a very useful 26.75secs clocking.  It was great to see Rachel Adamson (Silver with 2min 26.29secs) and Lorna Cameron (Bronze with 2min 26.79secs) both reducing their bests as they battled all the way to the line in the Final of the Under 15 Girls East District 800metres.  Emily Greenan showed some outstanding progress as she unleashed a strong sprint finish in the East Under 13 Girls 800metres and slashed her personal best to 2min 51.82secs, going on to finish a highly respectable seventh in the final of this event.  Amy Hendry also continues to show promise and here just missed out on a place in the final with a 2min 53.47secs run.

Sophie Brown’s preferred event, High Jump, was not on offer at these Championships so instead she contested the East District Under 13 Girls 100metres and Shot Put.  Her 100metre heat time of 14.86secs was sufficient to progress to the Final where she was rewarded with a highly satisfactory sixth place.  Sophie then had to run across to compete in her Shot Put where she went one better with fifth place and a best throw of 6.17metres.  Caitlin Watson put down a marker in the East District Under 13 Girls 100metres with a very handy 15.16secs timing and will have learned much from this experience.  Alastair Hay was the only Central athlete to compete on Sunday in the Closed Senior Championships swapping the pace in the early laps with Stirling University’s Iain Donnan in the 5000metres.  Iain went on to win in 14min 24.18secs with Alastair lifting Silver in 14min 51.55secs, another good run in the cold and windy conditions.

Plumbing League – Thurs 17 May - Livingston

The Thursday night Junior League at Livingston proved to be a hit with Central youngsters despite poor weather conditions. The event commenced with a series of 200m races and Martyn Paterson, Georgia Quinn and Sarah Dick all looked in good form as the featured highly in their under 15 races. Under 13 boy, Neil Cameron was always going to be a banker as he achieved second place with Same Fraser running well for fourth in his race. In the under 13 girls, Caitlin Watson broke the 30 second barrier for the first time as she battled for second place and Agatha Williams-Kelly looked equally good with her fourth place in the B race. Fiona Keith made her debut for the club and took on this tough distance but looked a quality act as she also achieved a fine fourth place, with Anna Clelland showing further improvement. In the under 11 boys Greg Downs and Dean Cartney from Dunblane Run, Jump, Throw club competed well in their races, both with another year in the age group.

The 800m series  was tough going in the worsening weather with Andrew McNally showing he has lots of ability to take 3^rd place in the race. In the under 13’s Philip Wright showed a real lift in performance as he finished well up the field and Andrew Hastings making his debut with fine spirit. Emily Greenan had another fine run with Stacey Hardman taking a big chunk off her personal best in the under 13 races.  Martin Hall, Kelly Carruthers and Shona Buchanan took on the under 15  800m races with customary style. 

The field events with Fiona Keith and Andrew McNally both taking on the under 11 high jump and excelling in their efforts. A series of injuries led team managers to strike alliances with other clubs to enter mixed club non counting teams in what proved to be the highlight of the evening for the youngsters, with the combined teams featuring well at the finish.

Central and South of Scotland Athletic League –19  May 2007

The memories of last place in the first Match of the Season in Division One of the Central and South of Scotland Athletic League were somewhat obliterated as the provisional results of this second Match showed Central’s athletes finishing in overall fifth place.

There was tremendous endeavour from all parts of the Club resulting in another haul of personal bests and lots of athletes stepping into the competitive arena for the first time.  Once again it was ‘hats off’ to Under 15 Kyle Henderson who produced three personal bests in winning the High Jump (1.83metres), 80 metre hurdles (11.75secs) and 200 metres (23.31secs), a great all round performance.  Under 11 Girl Kathryn Gillespie also caught the eye with her 800metre virtually solo run to win in 2min 35.50secs, which should be a new League Record.  The Under 11 Girls were also represented in the 800metres by Lisa Hardman, finishing in a very competent 3min 12.56secs; and Lily Haylor Cairns who had two very useful performances, finishing 4^th in the 80metres in 12.75secs and 6^th in the long jump with 3.02metre.

The Under 11 Boys, Matt Smith and Andrew McNally looked like young stars in the making with both boys showing good sprinting form, Matt first in the 80metres ‘A’ race (11.92secs) and Andrew second in the ‘B’ race (12.43secs).  Andrew showed his versatility with a superb effort in the 800metres, finishing a close second in 2min 35.69secs.  The Long Jump provided the boys with a stage for wins in both the ‘A’ and ‘B’ events Matt achieving 3.58metres and Andrew 3.36metres.

The Under 13 Girls were not to be outdone and here Alex Harper made her track debut showing excellent sprinting form for sixth in the 200metres in 33.78secs.  Sophie Brown finished fourth in the Shot Put (6.37metres), ably backed up by Charlotte Burns in the ‘B’ event with 5.27 metres.  Sophie also performed well in the High Jump although results were not available.  Amy Hendry (2min 55.07secs) and Emily Greenan (2min 55.64secs) were both close to their personal bests in the 800metres and Charlotte, Amy, Alex and Sophie performed well in the 4 x 100 metres relay.  Amongst the Under 13 Boys Conor Kerr commanded the 1500metres winning the event in an excellent 4min 53.16secs.  Neil Cameron showed his sprinting and jumping ability with a 29.02secs clocking in the 200metres, a 1.15metre clearance in the High Jump and a Long Jump of 3.90metres.  Duncan Ross showed promise with a 3.45metre long jump but his pleasure was short lived as he ended up in Casualty after twisting his knee.  Carrick McClelland stuck to his task well and showed good form with his 32.61secs in the 200metres.

There was a good turnout of Under 15 Girls from Central with Hannah Smith and Niamh Callan sharing throwing duties, Hannah achieving 13.86metres for the javelin and 8.14metres in the shot and Niamh also picking up good points in these events.  Sarah Colvin and Rebecca Stevens were given responsibility for the 200metres in this age group, both showing fine form on their way to 30.82secs and 31.94secs runs.  Katie Mairi King proved she is still making progress in the hurdles and here showed great form to finish third in 13.30secs over the 75metre hurdles.  The running of Lorna Cameron, third A, in the 1500metres in 5min 9.27secs and Rosie Hastings fourth B in 5min 31.82secs showed both girls acquitting themselves well on behalf of the Club.

As well as the previously mentioned Kyle Henderson’s outstanding performances there was some great back-up in the Under 15 Boys from Martyn Paterson with second B placing in the 200metres (25.43secs) and Long Jump of 5.22metres to win the event.  Roddy Irvine long jumped  to 3.78metres, produced a 1.40metre high jump for second B in this event and again showed some courageous running in the 1500metres with a more than useful 4min 51secs run.  Ross Milne looked a class act in the shot put circle as he threw out to 10.27metres for second A placing while also producing a fine discus throw of 17.55metres.  David Hutchison showed great Club spirit as he weighed in with a discus throw of 14.22metres, a shot put of 6.94metres and a gritty 1500metre performance.

There were a number of useful performances in the Under 17 age group with good sprinting from Dee Henderson ((27.78secs) and excellent back up from a competitive Lorna Frame in this event, both girls achieving new personal bests.  Lorna also threw the Discus 15.59metres for good points in this event.  Sean Reilly deserves special mention for his committed running to win the 1500metres however an ultra fast first lap and having to run alone from gun to tape put a super fast time out of the question.  Alex Hendry produced some confident javelin throwing resulting in fourth A with a best of 23.33 metres and also produced a spirited 1500metre run.        .

Central’s Senior Women were well to the fore with Ainsley Normand winning the 3000m and Chrsitine Bertram taking 3rd place in the B race proving her versatility with a clocking of 11min 18.33secs, an excellent shot put of 7.39metres for second B and a discus throw of 18.26metres for fourth A.  Elayne Henderson was restricted by injury but still produced an excellent 8.46metre shot put for third place. Sarah Jane Pickett won the 1500metres with a well paced race in 5min 3.28secs with Rowena Bell Scott winning the B event in 5min 17secs.  Ainsley 'stepped up' the age groups to win the Masters 800m at a canter and Val Shatwell showed a good turn of speed with a 32.62secs clocking in the Masters 200metres and took fourth place in the B 800m. The women's teamof Ainsley, Christine, Rowena and Sarah took a good fourth place in the 4 x 400m without the controversy of the men's race which saw multiple disqualifications.

Kenny Pearson showed good form in winning the Senior Mens Javelin with a throw of just under 40metres, ably back up by Martin Crawford.  Kenny also high jumped to 1.65metres with Frank Houston close behind with a best of 1.60metres, and had a best in the discus of 20.75metres while Robert Hutchison left his Team Management duties to weigh in with a discus throw of 14.96metres.  Frank and Michael Wright shared long jump duties with efforts of 5.30 and 5.15metres respectively.  Michael Gillespie led the 1500metres for much of the way to be outsprinted in the final run in but was well rewarded with a superb personal best of 4min 7.35secs.  Miguel Merayo also produced some good running in the 1500metres to finish third B in 4min 37.7secs.  The Masters 200metre races saw Frank Houston (26.35secs) and Gordon Paterson (26.36secs) take fourth A and second B spots and looks to set up an enticing head-to-head for the Club Championships later in the year.

Scottish Young Athletes League - Division 1 – Match 2 - Grangemouth 27 May 2007

The cold, blustery and sometime wet conditions that met Central’s young athletes at Grangemouth in the second Match of the Scottish Young Athletes Division One did little to dampen the spirits on another day of superb performances by the local youngsters.

The Under 13 Girls were well represented in the sprints with Sophie Brown producing good times of 11.14secs for 75metres and 23.10 for 150metres.  Sophie then tackled the High Jump, winning with an excellent new personal best of 1.39metres.  Amiee Bilsland also showed good speed over 75metres with a 12.48secs clocking and added a useful long jump of 3.50metres.  Caitlin Watson suggested she has a lot to offer the Club with a 22.76secs timing over 150metres.  Both Farren Parkins and Emily Greenan and ran well in the 800metres to record times around 2min 56secs, encouraging runs in the windy conditions.

Amongst the Under 13 Boy the 800metres proved a personal triumph for Conor Kerr and Gordon Milne with the Boys winning their respective ‘A’ and ‘B’ events, Conor with a typically committed run for 2min 26secs and Gordon in a superb new personal best of 2min 39.6sesc.  Positions were reversed in the Shot Put with Gordon throwing out to 7.34metres and Conor 5.47metres, for second ‘A’ and ‘B’ placings.  Sprinting duties were shared by Neil Cameron (14.81secs for 100metres) and Matthew Mills (15.00secs), with Neil going on to achieve 30.52secs over 200metres, all fine sprinting in the conditions.

Central’s Under 15 Girls also showed they can hold their own against the best and it was good to see Louise Anderson and Hannah Smith sprinting well with 14.45secs and 14.66secs clockings respectively.  Rachel Adamson continues to impress across a range of events and here showed her speed with a 28.47secs run over 200metres.  Katie Mairi King is another who is willing to tackle a variety of events and again produced good sprinting and hurdling form with a 30.04seconds run over 200metres and a 13.56secs timing in the 75metre hurdles.  Hannah Smith won the Shot Put with a fine 8.09metre throw and was well backed up by Louise Anderson’s effort of 7.21metres.  Lorna Cameron and Rosie Hastings shared 800metre duties with Lorna coming home in 2min 25.41secs, while Rosie also proved her worth with a determined run of 2min 35.84secs, both fine performances.

Kyle Henderson again proved to be the dominant athlete in the Under 15 Boys Age Group and here he was ably backed-up by his Club colleagues.  Kyle sped to wins in the 200metres (23.66secs) and Long Jump (5.91metres), performances that most Senior athletes would be pleased with.  Martyn Paterson was one of the busiest athletes on show with good runs in the 100metres (13.56secs) and 200metres (26.76secs) and a Long Jump of 4.89metres to win the ‘B’ event.  The conditions did little to deter Tom Watson as he again sliced his personal best in the 800metres to 2mins 12.00secs and here it was Martin Hall who showed good judgement in the ‘B’ race to come home in 2min 21.8secs.  Roddy Irvine used his speed to good effect in the 400metres with a 62.16secs run and Martin Hall will also have gone home pleased with a 63.32secs run over the same distance.  Ross Milne is another young athlete who impresses on almost every outing, again producing a battling performance over 1500metres to record 5min 8.22secs.

It was pleasing to see Central’s Under 17 Women making progress and here Dee Henderson once again sprinted well to record 14.01secs in the 100metres, and went on to achieve a 45.52secs clocking for 300metres.  Lorna Frame appears to grow in confidence with every race and here recorded 14.47secs over 100metres before striding out well for 28.83secs over 200metres.  Lily Eadie ran well as she contributed a 31.62secs run over 200metres.  Susan Robb is another young athlete that is becoming an integral part of the team and here contributed a competent 300metre run in 49.85secs before tackling the discus where her strength proved too much as she shattered the implement on her final throw.  Rachel Hunter and Gemma Milne battled gamely in the 800metres and were rewarded with timings of 2min 36.53secs and 2min 37.11secs respectively.

Regrettably, without any Under 17 Men in the Team due to commitments elsewhere, this Meeting was always going to be an uphill struggle for the Club.

The various age groups weighed in with good performances in the relays, including some fine running in the 4x400metres by a quartet of Roddy Milne, Martyn Paterson, Kyle Henderson and Ross Milne, unfortunately neither relay results nor final Team Placings were available at the end of the Meeting.

Dunfermline City Half Marathon - Sunday 27 May

Central’s Robert Russell won Dunfermline City Half Marathon the by over a minute to become the 2007 Scottish National Half Marathon Champion.  This was Robert’s debut half marathon so to win in 67minutes 51 seconds was a superb effort over this hilly course and will consolidate Robert’s position in the Navy Blue Road Race Grand Prix.

 Elsewhere, Kyle Cowie opted for a run in the City of Aberdeen Baker Hughes 10K, finishing in 12^th place from a field of around 3,000 runners in a useful 34min 12secs.