Several club juniors featuring in medal winning teams at the Scottish Secondary School Road Races held in Grangemouth on Wednesday 3rd October.
Well done to Alex Robin and Jack Wallace who were part if the Hutchie Team taking the Gold Medal and to Mathew Murphy and Craig Shennan who took the Bronze medals for Williamwood HS.
Ben Shaw was 4th for Eastwood HS and many other of our athletes turned in good performances representing their schools.

Link to the full results

Club Championships Arrangements
207 Athletes from Age U11 to Masters have entered the Club Championships and we are all looking forward to a great day of competition. It is always aided by good weather but the location at the Ayrshire Athletics Arena at Kilmarnock offers Indoor Cover if needed as well as a covered stand .We hope many parents, relatives and friends will come to support this event, enjoy the relaxed competition and get a chance to talk to coaches and other parents. You can bring your own folding chairs, small tents and/or umbrellas. We just need to ask that Athletes have clothing for any weather.

AYRSHIRE ATHLETICS ARENA
Address: Queen’s Dr, Kilmarnock KA1 3XF
Phone: 01563 555227

Can parents and athletes please note
Registration from 9.00am to collect your Numbers [Front& back] The Timetable will be adhered to as far as possible but as with many meets,it may run early or late so listen to the announcements from Dudley Walker.
Only pyramid spikes allowed at Kilmarnock so no Needle Pin spikes or Xmas tree ones
Athletes are welcome to wear Club vests but, as its our Club event, it’s not essential
Entry to the Arena will be by Programme
.The Entry fees to this event are minimal so bring your cash to buy your lucky [We hope] Programme Tracey Davie and Claire McInnes will be in charge. Lucky Numbers from the Programmes will be drawn during the day as well as a Tombola.
Kit sales organised by Lynda Scott and Alison Watson
Catering is again in the hands of Lisa Saxby with help from Ali Currie & Diana Davidson [we need a few more volunteers for this to allow a rota so that parents can see their Athletes events] We still require donations of Home Baking or Wrapped Labelled Sandwiches for the Catering Stall. Indications to Lisa Saxby
Results Team with performance scores organised by Graham Dunn will be Mike Napthine and Elaine Paul. AAA Standards [ Grade 1/2/3 ] achieved at Club Champs will be recognised with a Certificate
The Club Champions 1st /2nd/ 3rd will receive their Awards at the Annual Awards Night on Saturday the 8th of December in the Carmichael Hall. A separate Xmas Disco & Awards Night has been arranged for Friday 7th oF December for all U11 & 1st Year U13s

ARRANGEMENTS FOR U11 ATHLETES
Jennifer Jackson and Gillian Gallagher will meet all U11 Girls escort them to events, do warm ups etc, liaise re location & timings to meet up over the day and Shona Donnelly & Caroline Bradley will support the U11 Boys. The Timetabling has been arranged by Anne Stewart and along with Doleen Galbraith they have thankfully, managed to assemble the necessary officials to run the event

Entry Lists here

Download (XLS, 19KB)

Download (DOC, 17KB)

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PLEASE NOTE
This is still being finalised based on Entries & Need for Pools in eg U13 Girls. Copies of Final Timetable will be available on the day with Programmes. Don’t rely on this approximate one as it may change before Sunday . We are just ensuring everyone has a good idea of times over the day

Erin winning the London Junior Triathlon

Erin Wallace has had another trip Down Under to compete on the Gold Coast. Erin our Tri-Athlete goes from strength to strength.
We asked Gordon Wallace Erins dad for an update.
“Erin recently came 5th in the European Junior Triathlon championships in Estonia, and followed this up by winning the London Junior Female Triathlon. This gained her automatic selection for the GB Junior Female team who will compete at the World Finals in the Gold Coast. This sees the top 60 Female Junior triathletes in the world compete in the biggest championship race of the season. This takes place in the early hours of Saturday 15th September. She is currently in the middle of 2 weeks preparation with the GB team out there with all that involves”

The club wishes Erin the very best of luck in Australia. Also great news to hear that Erin is entered for the club Track & Field Championships as she has done every year since she joined the club and is looking forward to competing there. What a star!

A selection below of photos of a few of her athletics exploits.

Award winner at Scottish Athletics event 2017 with Coach Dudley Walker
On track, Indoor, Outdoor , that photo from the Bahamas when winning the 1500m and over XC representing GB Juniors.

Report from Gerry Duggan
Thirty-one of our young athletes hurdled, sprinted, ran, jumped, threw, vaulted and putted their way into the Highland Capital on Saturday the 1st of September. They were in pursuit of PB’s and even a few qualifying standards for next June’s Gothenburg event, before the end of the current Track and Field season.

Inverness Harriers welcomed us to their open graded meeting where our athletes competed in hurdles, 100m, 200m, 800m, Discus, Shot Putt, Javelin, Long Jump and Pole Vault.

Our athletes set off at lunchtime on Friday (everyone was devastated at having to miss an afternoon’s schooling) for the long journey north, where we set-up overnight camp in Elgin. We arrived in plenty of time for tea, before inventing the new Olympic sports of “Rugby in the Dark” and “Luminous Yellow Frisby”. It let us all burn off a bit of energy before lights out.

After a good nights rest, all the athletes were up bright and early, eager to compete, but not before consuming the Breakfast of Champions. Full fry-ups all round.

Our hosts, Inverness Harriers, were brilliant. Realising we were keen to land some Gothenburg qualifying times, they set up the 100m and 200m to “go with the wind”. So our athletes ran the wrong way down the home straight for the 100m and used the 800m stagger mark to set off for the 200m. Thanks guys!

Giffnock’s athletes put their usual heart and soul into the events and we hope that everyone was pleased with their performances. There were too many PBs and SB’s to list out individually, you can see the full results on-line or on Power of 10 (speedy work again on the part of Inverness Harriers).

Full results

One performance does merit special mention. Darcy McNeil (pictures below) set a PB and U13 Club Record in the discus with a whopping 18.70m. Well done Darcy.

 

Symon Lipp was busy with his iPhone round the track and captured as many of the athletes in action as possible. You can see the pictures in the Highland Capital online photo album.

Click here for photos

All the coaches (Jackie Alexander, Sara Lang, Billy Glasgow, Gerry Duggan and Symon Lipp) would like to thank our athletes on their outstanding performances and exemplary behaviour throughout the trip.
Report with thanks to Gerry Duggan

Report by Craig Fotheringham with photos from some earlier triumphs.

” The main factor in the second day of the AAA’s or English Championships was the weather. The warmth and occasional sunshine of yesterday had gone. The temperature had dropped considerably and just as events started , so did the rain and it never relented.

First up today was Reuben Nairne in the Pole Vault. PB’s were going to be rare today and in the inclement conditions everyone was well below par. Reuben managed clearances at 3:71 and 3:86 before failing at 4:01 but achieving a very creditable equal 4th place.

Murray Fotheringham had the unenviable task of competing against the class athlete of the meet – Dominic Ogbechie for the second time. Murray was very briefly in 2nd place with 6:59 Metres but in the cold and wet could not improve and slipped to his second 4th place of the weekend.

Both these boys are first year Under 17’s and will be back next year stronger and more experienced.

Meanwhile Alyson Bell was attempting to win her second medal of the weekend in the Under 15 Girls 200 Metres cruising through her heat in 26.34 seconds and going straight through to the final as many girls did not start due to the weather.

The final was run when the rain was at its worst.
Alyson looked a little jaded from her exertions yesterday but with her usual strong finish clawed her way back into contention. She was making ground and gaining places but the line came too soon and she had to settle for another Giffnock 4th place !!

Thanks Craig for keeping us up to date from a soggy Bedford.”

Great efforts from all 3 of our talented athletes just missing the Podium today at this prestigious competition.And well done Alyson returning home with yesterday’s 100m

Bronze.

All photos courtesy of Bobby Gavin and Scottish Athletics

Report from Craig Fotherigham

The Age group Championships were held in Aberdeen this weekend and those who ventured North on day one were welcomed with a warm day , sunny spells and a moderate breeze.

Our first Girls on the track were Katie Foss and Sophie Haldane who cruised through to the final of the Under 20 Women’s 400 Metres.
They returned for the final later in the day and strong running by Sophie looked to have won her the Gold but Katie had not yet lost belief. She found some extra strength down the home straight and clawed her way back to Sophie. The line eventually came for both girls and it was too close too call. Rather remarkably they were inseparable on the photo finish and both were awarded Gold medals.

Meanwhile Daniel Martin had lived up to his top seeding in the Under 13 Boys Shot Putt taking Gold with 9.54 Metres.

He returned to the track and grabbed his second Gold with a dominant run in the Boys 75 Metre Hurdles setting a new PB of 12.15 seconds.

Over at the high Jump , Murray Fotheringham was stepping up an age group to compete at Under 20 ‘s after his triumph at the Under 17 championships last week. Another confident performance gave the 15 year old a remarkable Gold with a new Giffnock Record of 2:03 Metres.

Erin Campbell grabbed another Gold for Giffnock in the Women’s Sprint Hurdles.

It’s not all about winning medals and lots of our athletes have their all in search of PB performances.

In the Under 13 Boys , first year Ryan Davie just failed at a new PB and came 4th – losing a bronze by the narrowest of margins on countback. He also gave Javelin a go but needs at bit more training in that event.

David Lees was 4th in the Under 20 Men’s Shot Putt but was a bit below par in the discus.

Emily Watson reached the final of the Under 13 Girls Sprint Hurdles finishing in a very creditable 5th place. She also competed in the Javelin placing 7th.

Kyle McLean in his first year as an Under 20 put in a great performance to reach the final.

Tuscany Wright battled through her pre-race nerves to produce a huge PB in the Under 13 Girls 800 Metres, breaking 2:50 for the first time. She was just ahead of Abigail Flower who came home in 2:53 and also gave High Jump a go.

Thansk Craig for reporting from Aberdeen

On Day 2 Giffnock Medallists included
Sophie Haldane took her 2nd Gold medal of the weekend in the U20 W 200m. Another race where the same time was given for 1st & 2nd place but the Gold going to Sophie this time.
Kyle Mclean took Silver in the U20 M 200m
David Lees with Bronze in U20 Javelin
Isla Fotheringham with Gold in the U15G Pole Vault
Ross O’Brien with Silver in the U15, 1500m
Jennifer Dallas with Bronze in the U15 G Shot Putt

Congratulations to all our athletes who travelled to Aberdeen , those above medalled, all those who made Finals , narrowly missed the podium or bettered their PBs. Hope we haven’t missed anyone out over the 2 days.

Well done all the Club athletes who performed today at the Scottish Relay championships over 4x100m , 4x300m and 4x 400m !
All

As reported by Billy Glasgow “a great day was had by all, 8 medals and 2 new club records to boot. Well done to all those who competed.”
Medallists highlighted but good performances from all our athletes

U13 Girls 4 X 100m Final
1 Giffnock North AC ‘A’ 58.09
1) #257 Josie Reilly 2) #258 Angelica Mayer
3) #259 Kate Seenan 4) #260 Emily Watson
7 Giffnock North AC ‘B’ 1:01.65
1) #261 Erin mcKay 2) #262 Natasha Tallen
3) #263 Eliza Turner 4) #264 Emma Gilmour

U13 Boys 4 X 100m Final
1 Giffnock North AC ‘A’ 53.89
1) #225 Ryan Davie 2) #226 Daniel Martin
3) #227 Craig Shennan 4) #228 Josh Thielan-Mann
U17 Women’s 4 X 100m Final
2 Giffnock North AC ‘A’ 50.94
1) #385 Carly Miller 2) #386 Rachel Callan
3) #387 Rosie McKay 4) #388 Katie Foss
U17 Men’s 4 X 100m Final
4 Giffnock North AC ‘A’ 47.47
1) #357 Jake Vulcan 100 2) #358 Finlay Waugh
3) #359 Murray Fotheringham 100 4) #360 Nathan McNee 100
Sen Women’s 4 X 100m Final
2 Giffnock North AC ‘A’ 50.46 New Club Record
1) #505 Erin Campbell 2) #506 Niamh Grahame
3) #507 Holly Shearer 4) #508 Rhea Campbell
Sen Men’s 4 X 100m Final
1 Giffnock North AC ‘A’ 43.46 New Club Record
1) #441 Andy Moses 2) #442 Calum McWilliams
3) #443 Russel Lawson 4) #444 Kyle Mclean
U15 Girls 4 X 300m Final
2 Giffnock North AC ‘A’ 3:06.60 F
1) #345 Isla Scott 2) #346 Brooke Moran
3) #347 Lauren Agnew 4) #348 348 MacConnell
U17 Women’s 4 X 300m Final
2 Giffnock North AC ‘A’ 2:49.35
1) #417 Rachel Callan 300 2) #418 Eva Blues
3) #419 Orla Lang 4) #420 Katie Foss
U17 Men’s 4 X 400m Final
2 Giffnock North AC ‘A’ 4:00.71 M
1) #369 Murray Fotheringham 2) #370 Donald MacLean
3) #371 Nathan McNee 4) #372 Jake Vulcan

Under 12’s survive super soggy Super Team’s Competition in Perth. Report from Steve Taylor
Scottish Athletics U12 Super Teams competition in Perth.
Giffnock North AC took four teams from our U11 and U13 sections to a very wet Perth on 16 June 2018. The event was attended by nearly 350 athletes from clubs throughout Scotland with people traveling from as far as Peterhead and Stornoway to compete.
The weather was testing, with the showers of near biblical proportions, creating a track with several inches of water to slosh through at times. The rain combined with a stiff breeze created hypothermic conditions for the athletes, coaches and spectators alike. Only the salvation of a hot cup of tea and home baking, courtesy of Perth AC, kept many of us from perishing.
Giffnock took the opportunity to select some young promising athletes, many from the U11s, for the 75m, long jump, turbo javelin and relay format, to pit themselves against more established athletes that were fielded by our rivals.
Despite the youthful selection, all the teams fared well with GNAC girl’s teams placed 6th and 7th out of 49 and the boys 6th and 22nd out of 35 teams. The standout performances were Felix Chan, showing his form from the Glasgow schools championships to win his 75m heat in 11.07s (second fastest on the day) and the girls A team cruising to a comfortable win in their relay heat, in a time of 63.07s, and could have gone much faster in better conditions with more competition.

Well done all those that took part.

Apologies to Steve and athletes for the delay in posting this
It’s been busy at the club with news but it is also important to record the achievements of our U12s in Perth.

News item from Jackie Alexander

Following a very successful team visit to Gothenburg in 2017, the coaches and adults have recovered sufficiently to start mentioning the ‘G’ word again!! (For those of you unfamiliar with the event, please see the links at the bottom of the page).

We have secured funding from the club to assist with costs and have decided to undertake a second visit to the games in 2019.

The 2019 games will be held 28,29 & 30 June and we would be proposing to use similar travelling arrangements to those from 2017. This means we would be away from Thursday 27 June to Monday 1 July.

The cost will be £600 per athlete and this includes all flights and transfers from Glasgow to Gothenburg, hotel accommodation (shared twin rooms) for 4 nights and meals from Thursday evening meal to Monday breakfast, event kit and event entry fees. Last time, parents set up a fundraising committee and managed to reduce the cost for each athlete by £150 so I would suggest this would be something to consider this time once the team is announced.

We will be circulating a set of standards for the various events which we would be expecting athletes to achieve (or be very close to) if they wish to be selected. The deadline for standards is the end of September 2018. There are plenty open graded meetings, national championships and of course, the club champs, to enter to achieve the necessary times and distances. We will be looking for athletes to achieve at least two event standards as they will have to compete in a minimum of two events when on the trip. Throws standards are the only ones set by the organisers.

Selection will not be guaranteed even if the standards have been reached, we will take into account attendance and commitment at training and we would also be looking for athletes who have competed for the club over the season.

I would be grateful if you could advise at this stage if your athlete would be interested in being considered for the trip. This is not a firm commitment nor is it a guarantee of a place but gives me an indication of the numbers we are looking at, to allow me to ensure we will have enough coaches and adult helpers willing to accompany the team. Please email me by Friday 13 July to express interest.

Please note we have a lower age restriction on athletes being considered – all athletes will have to be U15 or above next competitive season. This means that only U13 athletes who are second year U13s can be considered. If your athlete moved up from U11 at the start of the indoor competition season 17-18, they are too young to attend.

I’ve attached the website report from the last trip to give an idea of what we got up to and also the link to this year’s event. If you have any questions, please contact either Sara Lang or me and we’ll try to help.

Jackie Alexander

email addresses for Jackie and Sara:

jackie.alexander1@btinternet.com & sararusselllang@btinternet.com

Event info at –

http://www.vuspel.se/pdf/VUinbj18eng.pdf

 

Report from the 2017 trip

Gothenburg Trip gets the Thumbs up