SCOTTISH NATIONAL RELAY CHAMPIONSHIPS/ Linwood/ Saturday 11.09.21

RELAY NICE RETURN

National Relay Championships sees Giffnock North claim a national record, four titles and more.

IT WAS ALMOST LIKE OLD TIMES. An actual proper crowd gathered to cheer on athletes at an actual track in an actual Scottish National Championships, at Linwood on Saturday. The occasion was the 4J Studios National Relays, and Giffnock North AC contributed mightily to the sport’s return to full-on outdoor action, earning four Scottish titles, two silvers, two bronzes and a scintillating national record to crown the effort.

The Senior Women’s 4×100 squad of Eve Denholm, Alyson Bell, Caroline MacConnell and Freya Cowan struck gold with a fine 48.01 seconds performance to hold off Edinburgh and Pitreavie – less than a second covered all three at the finish.

Under 17 Men Reuben Macdonald, Cameron Deverill and Chris Perkins claimed their 3×800 title with a national record, clocking  5.56.94 seconds in unhelpful conditions. Reuben kept Giffnock in the hunt against a strong running Kilmarnock first leg runner, before Cameron went clear at the front. Chris showed mature composure to sustain the record attempt as he ran pretty much a solo time trial, battling a gusting home-straight headwind to bring home the title and the new national mark. Special thanks to Team Perkins for going the many extra miles to be part of the team. Reuben adds this honour to his recent 3,000 metre record – all subject to official ratification, of course.

Throughout the age groups, all day long, Giffnock’s squads delivered sterling performances, and strength in depth shows in the numerous top-ten team placings out of the medals (such as the three fourth places!). There are too many names to mention them all here, but it’s hats off to novices and experienced athletes alike, with some of the highlights including:

• U13 Boys 4×100 Gold: well done, Xavier Rishon, Zander Summerhill, Aaron Reid, Angus Weir.
• U13 Girls 4×100 Bronze: Sarah McNulty, Poppy Ballantyne, Poppy Montgomery, Beth Fyvie.
• U13 Boys 3×800 Gold: Calum Dick, Myles Macaulay, Patrick Fraser.
• U13 Girls 3×800 Silver: Sarah McNulty (yes, the same Sarah who won bronze in the 4×100), Aneesa Phillips, Freya Scobie.
• U17 Girls 3×800 Silver: Isla Scott, Tuscany Wright, Emma McLennan.
• Senior Men 3×800 Bronze: Eoghan O’Donnell, Ross O’Brien, Jacob Luc.
• Full results HERE
• Please Note our U15 Girls B team was  Caitlin McGeachy, Mili Macfarlane & Lauren McPherson
• and the C Team was Hannah Sluman, Hazel O’Donoghue & Ella McWilliams . U15 Girls A team was as posted in SA results

All in all, amid the waves of sanitiser, it was a grand day out, made possible after the months of restrictions and frustrations by the remarkable patience and enthusiasm of athletes, their families and friends, coaches, volunteers and officials, without whom none of this would be possible. Fullest of marks to all the youngsters: your resilience, talent and good humour is inspirational.

On a personal note I’ll add that it was good to be back doing what I love, which is, in the main:

• Pacing up and down wondering if the teams will reappear from the toilets in time
• Being paranoid about which team sheet was in which envelope and whether I’d got the running orders right
• Wondering why I hadn’t packed enough to eat but then realising I didn’t have time to eat it anyway
• Realising that an entire squad had vanished from the arena … but were diligently and very professionally warming up in an adjacent, socially distant field. Bless ‘em.

Report by Croy Thomson

Photos courtesy of Bobby Gavin, Dudley Walker & Gary Summerhill