Under 17/Senior T&F Championships

Under 17/Senior T&F Championships

The under 17 & Senior Scottish Track & Field Championships took place over the week end of 14th/15th August at Grangemouth.
The Giffnock medal total was 7 Gold, 7 Silver and 6 Bronze.

Under 17 report by Gerry Duggan

Daniel Martin – Photo by Bobby Gavin, ThatOneMoment

After a break of two years (no need to dwell on why!) it was fantastic to welcome back the Scottish U17 and Championships. Not only did we have our champs back, but we had spectators too! How we have missed the rhythmic clapping for our jumpers and vaulters, the cheers all the way down the home straight to a photo finish and the prolonged ooOOH! as a solid metal missile defies gravity. It was all there at Grangemouth and more. Oh, and Giffnock North had another great champs.

Our U17 Boys Sprinters, Hurdlers, Jumpers and Vaulters were busy throughout the weekend. Busiest of all was Daniel Martin – gold in the Pole Vault (3.60m pb) and 100m hurdles (14.19s) and Bronze in the Long Jump (6.08m). Clearly, he had his Weetabix on both mornings! Joining Daniel on the Pole Vault for a Giffnock Gold/Silver double was Mark Herbert- Ruiz (3.25m). Also on the podium in the womens pole vault was Isla Fotheringham, who claimed Gold (jointly) with a vault of 2.40m.

Euan O’Brien delivered a sizzling silver in the 400m (51.32s) , knocking 1.5s off his previous best. Ross Gourlay in his second ever 400m hurdles (63.23s), knocked a whopping 4 seconds off his pb and secured a bronze. Also taking to the track were Edward Joyce (400m Heat and 200m semi final), Joy Mujumdar (100m semi-final and 200m heat) and Aidan Cunning (200m heat). Emily Watson was just off the podium in 4th place in the women’s 300m hurdles.

Our 1500m runners were also in fine form, it was a Giffnock one-two in the u17 men’s event. Cameron Deverill taking gold in 4.07.20 and Reuben MacDonald just edged out into  the Silver spot   (4.07.61).  In the women’s event, Hannah Ryding took bronze with Valencia Wright in fourth.

Seniors

Alessandro Schenini – Photo by Bobby Gavin, ThatOneMoment

Giffnock seniors were also among the medals.  Alessandro Schenini leaped to top spot in the long jump with a new PB and Club Record of 7.76m. That’s 4cm short of Daren Ritchie’s Scottish record and only 10cm short of the Commonwealth Games qualification, 5th on the All Time list.  In the high jump David Smith’s form continues to improve, David took Gold with a seasons best  height of 2.23m.  Murray Fotheringham  took the bronze medal clearing 2.02m.. Murray also took the bronze medal in the Pole Vault (4.25m).

Nikki Manson giving the high jump a miss at these championships, showed what an all round talented athlete she is, with Silver in the Javelin (39.97m) and bronze in the Long Jump (5.69m)

On the track Erin Campbell cruised to the title in the Women’s 100m Hurdles in a club record time of 14.37,.  In the 400m Hurdles, Rachel Callan claimed Silver in a time of 61.75.  Sophie Haldane won Silver in the 400m with Eve Denholm in fourth.  In the Women’s 5k, Yvonne McNairn raced to silver in a new W35 club record of 17.47.62.

Well done to all of you for your efforts on the day, commitment to training and in some cases overcoming major injuries.

Check our more photos HERE

All photographs by Bobby Gavin, That One Moment

 

U17 Women’s Sprints Squad  ADDITIONAL Report by Stephen Gourlay

After a couple of years without major competitions, the U17 girls, mostly 1st years, took part in the Scottish nationals, a huge jump up for those who had competed in the joint leagues and sprint galas. Ava Bruce, Amy Greene, Eilidh Hunter, Chelsea Maclean and Rhuna McCartney competed at 100m with all running well and Amy(coming back from injury) and Eilidh making it through to the semi finals.
Rhuna and Chelsea also competed in the 300m, again both ran well with Chelsea taking over a second off her PB.
Eilidh also took part in the 200m on the Sunday and again, despite picking up an injury at the end of the race, managed to get through to the semi finals. If it hadn’t been for having to slow up for her injury she would have smashed her PB. Unfortunately she wasn’t able to run the semi final.
Our resident hurdler, Emily Watson competed in both the 80m and 300m hurdles in which competition standards were very high. Despite a great effort in the 300h, she  just missed out on a medal in fourth place.
A great effort from all the girls and the future looks rosy for the U17 group, here’s to a successful end to the outdoor season and looking forward to seeing all the girls making huge gains in the indoor season.
Stephen Gourlay