Central AC Club Championships Grangemouth Stadium 4 September 2004. Grangemouth Stadium was again the venue for Central Athletics Club's 2004 Joint Club Championships, along with athletes from Falkirk Victoria Harriers and Kirkintilloch Olympians, which ensured a good standard of competition throughout the age groups.

The Under 11 Girls competition saw some fine sprinting from Stephanie O'Neil and Rachel Adamson, while Kathryn Gillespie and Abby Kemp both ran assured 800 metres races and Hannah Bowers made her competitive debut.  The Under 11 Boys competition also saw some excellent sprinting performances, especially from Roddy Irvine, Jack Dawson and Matthew Mills. Roddy also used his sprint finish to good effect for a 2.41.4 clocking in the 800metres. There were also good competitive performances from Robbie and Calum Gathergood, Logan Bonar, Ross Milne and Connor Kerr in the 800 metres. Gordon Milne and James Stevenson will both have picked up useful and positive experience from their efforts in these Championships.

Hilary Warkentin and Becky Hay were the top athletes in the Under 13 Girls, both producing a range of fine performances.  The sprinting of Ellen Houston, Jennifer Kean, Rebecca Chroston, Rachel Mills, Amber Stevens and Megan Cowie proves that the Club has a number of excellent speed based athletes in this age group.  Antonia Blake, Emma Chalmers, Ruth Clarke, Katie-Marie King, Kirsty Reid, Ruth Sharkey, Jemma Stevens, Kate Morris and Brooklyn Warkentin all showed that their training was now producing results. Lorna Cameron was in good form with a 2.46.88 run in the 800 metres with Georgia Quinn and Mairi Gillespie in close pursuit.  The Club also has a number of excellent Under 13 Boys and Kyle Henderson again looked the pick of the bunch with fine hurdling and sprinting. Martyn Paterson continues to produce excellent sprint times and was closely followed by David Scott, Christopher Clarke and Ross Milne.  Anthony Gillespie was at the fore with his 800 metre run but Alan Bennie was very close on this occasion and David Hutchison showed a return to his best form.  Mitchell Cleland and William Bowers also showed significant progress with their 800 metre runs.

The Club has a number of excellent Under 15 Girls and this shone through with classy sprint performances from Lynn Harvey, Tammy Breingan, Dee Henderson, Jennifer Hutchison, Emma Jamieson, Rebecca Jardine, Amy Pearson and Catriona Quin. Rachel Hunter looked good in her 800 metres and Gemma Milne showed improvement with her throws, especially her discus performance of 19.52 metres. There was fierce competition in the Under 15 Boys with Darren Walker showing good form in a 400 metres (58.62), 800 metres (2.14), Long Jump (4.83) combination while Matthew Gillespie kept to the middle distance events (800 in 2.17, 1500 in 4.34), along with High Jump (1.40 metres). William Blake rounded off the performances in this age group.

Sarah Hay produced a solo 300 metre run in 42.61 secs for excellent points in the Under 17 Women’s competition while Lauren McNab weighed in with a competent 800 metres (2.30.94) but looked more comfortable with her 200 metres in 27.91 secs. Linda MacAdam continues to make improvement with her sprinting and was rewarded with some useful times.  Stuart Chalmers High Jump (1.81) and Long Jump (5.50) brought excellent points in the Under 17 Mens competition. Michael Gillespie looked good in a 800/1500 double in 2.05.56/4.26.25 while Josh Clarke showed good sprinting form.  Graham Harvey is another starting to make an impact at this level and will be a good addition to the Club when the Cross Country Season starts.

The Under 20 categories were not well attended but Elayne Henderson still produced classy performances with 100 metres (12.88), Triple Jump (11.78) and Sprint Hurdles (16.33). Michael Wright is another fine athlete who can hold his own with the best distance runners and on this occasion showed some good sprinting speed over 200 metres and a decent Long Jump performance.

Karen Senior had a busy day using her throwing and sprinting skills to good effect in the Senior Womens competition while Emma Waterhouse looked a little short of full fitness but will hopefully bounce back ahead of the forthcoming Cross Country Season.  The Senior Mens competition was well represented this year with Kenny Pearson looking good in his High Jump (1.75) and Javelin (44.55).  Frank Houston also tackled a range of technical events to good effect while Alex Milne’s run in the 800 metres brought excellent points. Martin Crawford looked good in his 800 metres and produced a highly competitive Long Jump (5.67).

Margery Swinton was unopposed in the Veteran Womens category but had good performances across all the Throws.  Robert Hutchison and Ron Todd battled out the Veteran Mens competition with Robert tackling a tough 1500/3000 (4.51.8/10.44.4) combination along with a Triple Jump and Ron taking excellent points with his Discus throw of 35.38 metres, Shot Putt (10.20) and Sprint Hurdles.

Thanks are due to the many Officials, parents and friends who helped to make the day a great success for the Club.

Elsewhere Ryan Stewart competed in an Invitational Throws Meeting on 4^th September where he added the Scottish Under 13 Shot Putt Record to his three Gold Medals from the previous week.

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JSB Plumbing President’s Select Match. Pitreavie 11 September 2004. There were a number of Central Athletic Club athletes selected to compete in the Annual JSB Plumbing League President’s Select Match held in blustery conditions at Pitreavie on Saturday 11 September 2004. Amongst a number of superb performances from the Club’s athletes was Ryan Stewart’s Javelin throw of 37.07 metres which eclipsed the long standing Under 13 League Record (33.26 in 1982) by almost 4 metres.  Ryan added this record to his Scottish Javelin and Shot Putt records from earlier in the season.

Lorna Cameron’s well judged run in the Under 13 Girls 800 metres was one of the highlights of the meeting. Lorna’s pace judgement put in her contention to unleash a impressive finishing kick to win the race by the narrowest of margins in an excellent 2.38.5, taking a big chunk from her personal best and should allow Lorna to look forward to the Cross Country season with some confidence.

The Under 13 Boys 400 metres saw some excellent running by Christopher Clarke (65.8) and David Scott (66.4) with both boys showing good form and shrewd racing ability to finish in medal positions  Indeed Christopher’s run would appear to be a new Club record in this age group, made all the more remarkable by the unfavourable conditions.

Stephanie O'Neil left Pitreavie with a full set of medals; gold from the Under 11 Girls 4 x 100 metres relay, silver from a long jump of 3.32 metres and bronze from a 32.8 seconds clocking in the 200 metres.  Roddy Irvine has been showing improved form with his running and long jumping all season but on this occasion used his talent to good effect in the High Jump.  Entering the competition with a personal best of 1.10 metres, Roddy moved this through to an excellent 1.25 metres, taking the silver medal on this occasion. Elsewhere in the Under 11 Boys competition Ross Milne had a useful Shot Putt of 5.36 metres for fifth, Calum Gathergood battled a ferocious headwind for 16.8 seconds in the 100 metres and then assisted his 4 x 100 metres relay team to a fine second place.

Martyn Paterson was another to produce some excellent sprinting in the difficult conditions and while his 100 metres was well down on his personal best he went home with a gold medal for an excellent contribution to the winning Under 13 Boys 4 x 100 metres Relay Team.  William Bowers showed improved form in the Under 13 Boys Shot Putt with a good quality throw of 7.35 metres for a deserved silver medal.

Hilary Warkentin started well in the 1500 metres but looked out of sorts on the last two laps as she faded to fifth in a difficult race in the windy conditions.  Given Hilary’s normal tenacity she will bounce back quickly from this blip in her normal high quality performances.

Lynn Harvey produced a superb gold medal winning leap of 4.52 metres in the Under 15 Girls Long Jump. Gemma Milne and Lynn Harvey both performed well in the 15 Girls throwing events but finished out of the medals on this occasion. Lynn finished her day with a best Discus throw of 15.56 metres, while Gemma achieved a Shot Putt best of 7.10 metres, an improvement on her throw in the recent Scottish Championships.

On this occasion thanks are due to Hamish Fleming and Gordon Paterson for their Officiating duties, Alison Houston for ensuring the athletes all attended and  to the parents who supported this fine bunch of young athletes throughout the day.

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City of Stirling 10K – Sunday 19 September 2004. Although the focus of attention was on the four race winners from Central Athletic Club this event was a real winner for the whole Stirling Community. There were record fields in both the Fun Run and the 10K race with more local people switching on to the fitness benefits from training and competing.

The main sponsor of the event was NHS Forth Valley who also assisted with much appreciated administration support prior to the race.  Other sponsors of the event also reflected local support with Snowie, Impressions in Stone and Speedie all providing assistance and, once again, Stirling Council and Stirling Sports Council supplying excellent practical assistance.  The members of Central AC also made a great organizing team, led by Cameron Campbell and Bill Gault but well backed up by Alison Houston's results team and others dealing with marshalling, car parking and all the other tasks which went to make the event such a success.  There was superb back-up from the local Army Cadets, St Andrews Ambulance and Central Scotland Police and Race Officials Hamish Fleming, Tom McMenemy, Joe Bruce, Raymond Hutchison and Bob Gray all brought their professionalism to bear. Even the weather allowed a gap in the September rains to allow the races to take place in sunshine.

The Fun Run gave a number of Central’s young athletes the opportunity to show their talent.  Matthew Gillespie covered the 2 kilometre course for first place in an impressive 6mins 10secs; while Lorna Cameron (7.38) added first in the Girls race to an already flourishing reputation.  Other top performances from Central AC included Alan Bennie (4^th in 7.08), David Hutchison (5^th in 7.14) and Martyn Paterson (6^th in 7.28). Other girls with high placings included Hilary Warkentin, Becky Hay, Kate Morris plus Mairi and Kathryn Gillespie.

The actual City of Stirling 10K race also saw Central athletes win both the Men’s and Women’s races. This year it was Under 20 athlete Alastair Hay who took the honours with a fine run in 31.49. Michael Wright, also Under 20, showed the Club’s strength in depth with a 34.56 clocking for 7^th, while Alex Milne (35.36 in 11th) and Philip Williams (35.44 for 12^th) had useful performances. Brian Hodge bravely resisted the temptation to take his usual place in his brass band and produced another steady performance in the race whilst the band played on without him to entertain the spectators at Forthbank.. 

Toni McIntosh took the Women’s race in 35.48 for an admirable thirteenth place overall.  Hazel Dean was another with an excellent run to take the Veteran women’s prize, finishing in 38.21.Lousie Harris and Marie Beattie also continued their sibling rivalry with Marie taking the honours this year.

Full results...

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