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Weekend update – 7 September 2008
The Great Scottish Run Half Marathon held in Glasgow on Sunday 7 September saw Central’s Robert Russell come home in twelfth place as top Scot and second British runner in a superb personal best of 65min 22secs. Ross Houston continued his excellent season with 20th place in a superb 69min 42secs and Alison Docherty had another outstanding run to finish 14th in the Womens race in the fine time of 81min 13secs.
Team Forth Valley continued their assault on the National Junior Athletic League winning the Promotion Match in Wigan and gaining promotion to the Northern Premier Division of the League where they will join teams from Edinburgh, Kingdom (Fife), Gateshead, Liverpool, Sale and York. Central’s Under 17 and Under 20 athletes weighed in with superb and consistent performances over the five matches. All the young athletes deserve a big thank you - Scott McDonald, Sean Riley, Alex Hendry, John Tolson, Kyle Henderson, Martyn Peterson, Stuart Ardrey, Jennifer Hutchison, Katie Mairi King and Hannah Smith. Special note should be made of the contribution made by Team Manager John Dawson who has supported the Team from its first Match in 2006.
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Alex shines in the sun - 13 September
It was a successful day for Central AC competitors taking part in the Scottish Pentathlon Championships in Perth at the weekend. 9 of Central’s athletes competed in fine sunny weather, returning with a gold and a bronze medal and many personal bests.
Star of the day for Central was Alex Semple who became Scottish under 13 boys pentathlon champion on his debut at this event. Alex started well winning the Long Jump with 4.67metres, then ran well in his first ever 75metre hurdles race finishing in 14.25secs but dropped back to second place. More good performances in the Shot Putt (6.18m) and a win in the High Jump (1.44m) left Alex 100 points behind the leader with just the 800metres to go. Alex required to win this by 8 seconds to take victory and quickly established a lead when the race went underway. A sprint for the finish saw Alex well ahead of his rival but it was only when they lined up at the podium it was announced that Alex had won by just 18 points. Alex’s winning score of 1711 points also improves the Central AC club record by over 300 points.
Jonny Fenn-Tye also competing in a pentathlon for the first time finished a creditable 6th place in the under 15 boys event only 100 point short of a medal. Pick of the day for him was his superb debut at 80metres hurdles in 13.22secs which was 3rd quickest of the day.
Caitlin Watson and Agatha Williams-Kelly performed well in a high class Under 13 girls event. Caitlin produced 3 personal bests in the 70metre hurdles (12.71s), Long Jump (4.39m) and Shot (7.14m). However, having missed a lot of training due to injury, she was unable to maintain her medal challenge in the 800metres but still finished a respectable 7th overall scoring a new personal best 1994 points. Agatha produced a personal best Long Jump (3.71m) and scored well in her favoured hurdles (13.02s) and Shot (7.02m) events to finish 15th with 1620 points.
Central were well represented in the Under 15 girls event with Sarah Dick finishing highest in eleventh place with 1907 points after an excellent High Jump best of 1.39metres and further improvement in the 75m hurdles (13.80s). Becky Thomson finished one place behind Sarah in twelfth with 1750 points producing a fine hurdles debut time of 14.24secs. Megan Jardine was one more place behind in thirteenth with 1670 points after a strong 800m display.
In the under 11 triathlon event Isla Burns took an excellent bronze medal with 784 points from 15.45secs in the 100m, 3.38m in the Long Jump and 5.04m in the Shot. Her brother Robert briefly led the boys under 11 triathlon after an excellent 6.19m shot. He finished in a creditable 6th place with 323 points.
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From Grangemouth to Berlin - 28 September 2008
While the focus of most of Central Athletic Club was on the Club Championships at Grangemouth there was a greater drama unfolding in Berlin where Robert Russell was competing in his first marathon. Robert’s sights were firmly set on a sub 2 hour 20 minute clocking and he was well on course as he stormed through halfway in 69 minutes. Some disappointment awaited though as his inexperience told in the second half of the race. Robert battled on regardless to finish in 2hours 27mins 28secs, the second fastest time by a Scot this year. Further down the field Phil Williams was delighted to finish under 3 hours (2.50.44) while Mary Kerr (3.45.41), Robert Brown (3.51.01), Brian Hodge (4.16.01), Morag Adams (4.24.21), Linda Sneddon ((4.27.25), Tracy McInally( 4.41.41) all did themselves proud over the classic distance.
Central’s Club Championships, although late in the season, were well attended and while final points and Club Championship positions are still being collated it was good to see great endeavour throughout the age groups. In the Under 11 Girls events there was some great sprinting with Isla Burns, Charlotte Tilley, Jemma McDade, Beth Gallagher and Bevhan Trevis all to the fore. Ciara Harper, Ciara Price along with Stephanie and Abbie Howie were all making their track debuts and all performed well in their chosen events. Isla also performed well in the high jump with a 1.20 metre clearance and 800metres with a 2.57.1 performance, closely followed by Jemma.
Scott Fleming was another to mix sprints and middle distance on his way to a good points haul in the Under 11 Boys. Rory Watson found his first track appearance to his taste and there were also useful performances from Jack Bauchop, Robert Burns and Theo Tait. Caitlin Watson looked the class act in the Under 13 Girls with some classy sprinting and long jumping. Agatha Williams-Kelly, Eilidh Ironside, Emily Greenan and Hannah Worsley, along with Kirsty Forsyth, Riosin Bonnuchi and Lisa Hardman all performed well, underlining their progress across a range of events. Alex Semple was top Under 13 boy, as befits his status as Scottish Pentathlon Champion. Carrick McLelland, Phillip Wright, Graham Bruce and Domenico Angiolini all underlined their credentials as each made an impact in their events.
Louise Anderson looked to be the top athlete in the Under 15 age group, her 4.99 metre long jump being a particularly pleasing personal best. Rachel Adamson showed both speed and stamina in her 200metres/800metre combination and Sophie Brown picked up excellent points with a 1.45metre high jump clearance. Sarah Dick looked strong in her 200metres and 75 metre hurdles while Heather Smillie, making her track debut, showed great promise over 200 and 800metres. Tom Watson, Scottish 800metres Champion, ran to 2min 4.3secs in his speciality event but in the overall Club Championship was pushed hard by Ross Milne who gained excellent points from his highly competent throwing. Roddy Irvine continues to impress with his blend of speed and stamina while Billy Elliott was the top sprinter on show. Sanju Siriwardena also showed excellent speed over 100metres but his recent injury prevented him from continuing in further events. Neil Cameron continues to show good speed and weighed in with a tasty triple jump.
Rosie Hastings proved to be the top performer in the Under 17 age group with Jennifer Hutchison shining through as the top Under 20 and Jennifer Emsley the winning Senior athlete. Niall Findlayson’s hard training regime paid off as he proved to be top Under 17 Man and Michael Wright toughed it out to take the Senior Mens title. The battle of the day was in the Veteran Mens 800metres where David Eckersley (2 min 14.7 secs), just prevailed ahead of Robert Hutchison (2min 15.2secs) with Alex Milne in third with 2min 20.7secs. It will be interesting to see who is top veteran once all the points are added up. There was a great turnout of Officials and helpers from the Club all taking credit in making the event a great success.
Meanwhile Alasdair Anthony also proved his credentials on a very different stage as he won the tough Two Breweries Hill Race (29 kilometres with 1500 metres of climb) in 2hours 47min 58secs.
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