Various Scottish Schools championships have taken place during June 2024 and a number of club athletes were taking part in the colours of their school teams. Kenny Pearson reports:
Scottish Schools Pentathlon Championships, Grangemouth 1 June

Dunblane High School pair Rachel Carvel and Jamie Connor had a successful day at the Scottish Schools Pentathlon Championships at Grangemouth.
Rachel was contesting the Under-15 Girls event and started well in the 75m Hurdles event with a time of 12.63s for fifth place. She followed this up with an excellent High Jump of 1.56m for third place in the event. She then threw 4.39m at Shot then produced a personal best 4.59m in the Long Jump. She finished the event with season’s best 2:53.68 minutes in the 800 Metres to finish sixth overall in a new best ever score of 2342 points.
Jamie Connor was taking on the Under-17 Men event and started well with 8.48m in the Shot. He followed this up with 16.04s in the 100 Metres Hurdles, 4.80m at Long Jump then 25.37s in the 200 Metres. He finished off with a time of 5:19.91 in the 1500 Metres to finish on a personal best score of 2351 points for a respectable ninth place overall.
Dara Clark of McLaren High School also took part. She produced a personal best 13.13s in the 80 Metres Hurdles for the fifth fastest time and cleared 1.47m in the High Jump before being forced to withdraw with an injury.
Scottish Schools Group A report, Grangemouth 7-8 June
There was a golden double at the Scottish Schools for Central athletes as Dylan McCulloch and Aaliyah McCloud took wins in both the Over-17 Boys and Girls 400 Metres races.

Dylan, representing Lornshill Academy, has had a breakthrough season after running a superb 48.67s earlier this year. Dylan cruised through his heat, but in the final he was made to work hard with defending champion, Harry McPhee of Graeme High, pushing him all the way. But Dylan managed to hold his lead to the line to win in 49.54s.
Aaliyah McCloud was also made to work for her gold medal but managed to hold off the opposition to come home first in a new personal best 58.11s.
This was a special year for Scottish athletics marking the 100th anniversary of Eric Liddell’s famous Olympic Gold medal over 400 Metres at the 1924 Paris Olympics. The performance was featured in the 1981 multiple Oscar winning movie Chariots of Fire and Eric Liddell is still regarded by many as Scotland’s greatest athlete. To commemorate this, Dylan and Aaliyah both received special 100th anniversary medals as the senior 400 Metres champions.
Elsewhere in the Over-17 senior age group, Central were well represented over the longer distances. Tuscany Wright was representing Balfron High for the last time ever as she made her first attempt over 3000 Metres. She dug in all the way and was rewarded with third place in a time of 10:54.13 earning her a bronze medal. This was a proud moment for Tuscany as she stepped onto the podium for the first time at a national level event after many years in the sport.
Alex Dunlop of McLaren High continued his progress over 3000 Metres after an excellent personal best 9:10.12 minutes a week earlier at the Scottish 3k champs. The windy conditions prevented an improvement on this but he produced another fine run of 9:20.38 minutes for seventh place. Robyn McKerracher of Alva Academy, was also on form in the 1500 Metres running a season’s best 5:36.71 for a respectable sixth place in the final.
Scottish Schools Group B report, Grangemouth 7-8 June

Central were well represented in the Group B (Under-17) age group at the Scottish Schools. Combined events athlete, Jamie Connor of Dunblane High took an excellent bronze on the Pole Vault clearing 3.02m for third place. Earlier he had run an equal personal best 15.56s in the 100 Metres Hurdles event for sixth place in the final.
Fellow multi eventer, Cameron Moore of Stirling High, has shown great progress at High Jump this year. He successfully cleared 1.70m but his personal best height of 1.75m which would have got him onto the podium, eluded him on this occasion. He can still be proud of his fourth place finish though.
Cameron went onto set a new personal best in the Shot with a throw of 10.01m for tenth place.
Dara Clark of McLaren High wasn’t far off a medal in the High Jump clearing 1.49m for fifth place. In the Long Jump Dara was joined by fellow McLaren High athlete, Loren Stewart. Loren has returned to competition this summer after a long injury lay off but showed a return to form with a season’s best jump of 5.11m for fifth. Dara was one place behind with 4.97m for sixth. Also in the jumps was Anna Gunn of Dunblane High who placed 14th in the triple jump with 8.04m.
In the sprint events Rowan Calveley of Balfron High, was underlining her improvement this season as she placed seventh in the 300 Metres final with 44.10s after earlier running 43.47s in the heats to qualify. Emily Sorley of St Modan’s High has also progressed this season and equalled her personal best in the 100 Metres heats with 12.89s to progress to the semis. She was unfortunate in the semi finals as her time of 13.01s was just short of qualification for the final. Sophia Waring of Alva Academy ran 27.96s in the 200 Metres heats, just missing a place in the semis by 0.03s.
Niamh McKinlay of McLaren High ran a season’s best 2:23.31 in the 800 Metres to win her heat and qualify for the final where she eventually placed eighth. Clara Escala of Dunblane High was competing at this event for the first time and placed 21st in the Shot with 7.72m.
Scottish Schools Group C report, Grangemouth 7-8 June

There were some good performances from Central AC’s Group C (Under-15) contingent at the Scottish Schools. Twins Rory and Harrison MacMillan of Fairview International School went head to head in the 1500 Metres race where they stayed with the leading group all the way round the race. In the final battle on the home straight the top two athletes were too fast for them but Rory and Harrison had a battle with each other for the final podium place, Rory just taking it on the line in 4:29.32 minutes for third place and bronze with Harrison just behind in 4:29.56 minutes for fourth.

Emily Stanford of McLaren High has shown great form over 800 Metres this season. After winning a fast heat in 2:17.87 minutes to qualify she then found herself in a tight race in the final. She battled all the way but had to settle for third place in a time of 2:18.68 minutes. She can still be proud of her bronze medal and badge standard time.
Rachel Carvel of Dunblane High was taking part in the High Jump after an impressive 1.58m personal best earlier this year. The windy conditions were hampering the jumpers and she had to settle for a 1.50m clearance which was just outside the medals but still gave her a respectable fourth place finish.