Senior/U20 Event Roundup 31 st January 2024

And just like that we’re at the end of January! The weather has been on the challenging side and our
coaches have been getting creative to deliver sessions in the snow, ice, wind and rain. Despite all of
this, we have had plenty of Harriers out and about – our endurance athletes are deep into XC season
now and some of the track and field athletes have come out of hibernation to take on the limited
opportunities available so far in 2024 and already there is a wealth of good news to report.

We start this week at Tollcross on the 12 th of January for the GAA pole vault meet, where U20
athlete Matthew Monachello posted a PB for 6 th place overall, clearing 2.95m. Lots more to come
from this young athlete!

Saturday the 13 th saw some of our athletes taking part in the Inter District XC at Renfrew. Selection
for the West District teams is always hard fought, and we had two athletes representing this time
around. First up was Jonathon Downey who finished in 29 th overall (7 th U20) in a highly competitive
field of athletes – well done Jonathon! Our other representative was new member Katrine Kelly,
who was 37 th overall and 3 rd V45 in the ladies race – we look forward to Kat joining our ladies teams
going forward!

The following weekend was really busy, with athletes competing at a number of venues and
recording some great successes. On Saturday the 20 th , the first round of the 4J Studios Scottish
Athletics National Indoor Open was held at Ayr Riverside. As always our juniors had a great day, but
our seniors were not prepared to let them have all the fun! Logan Mitchell (U20) won his shot
section throwing a SB of 13.24m, whilst Isla Raeburn also threw a SB of 8.76m. Not content with a
SB, V50 athlete Mia Hardy threw a PB of 7.08m. On the track, Douglas Dickson had a fine run for his
2 nd fastest 60m and a SB of 8.76s. All four of these athletes will now progress to the finals in
February as a result of these performances – fantastic effort all.

Whilst the track and field athletes were indoors, the endurance athletes were grateful for the thaw
that arrived just in time for the second West League match held at Bellahouston Park. We had a
total of 12 athletes take on the course on the day, with Jonathon Downey home first for the men
and in 2 nd overall. He was followed home by Ross Granger (40 th ), Nick Carter (57 th ), David Anderson
(59 th ), Murray MacDonald (64 th ), Mark Henderson (73 rd ), Alasdair Murray (88 th ), Gary Martin (91 st ),
Ken Monaghan (94 th ) and Russell Duncan (98 th ). For the ladies, Izzy Caufield was 17 th overall (2 nd U20)
and Bethany Ross was 33 rd . Overall we did not score quite as highly as the first match, but the
standout was 5 th for the masters men in some good company. As a team we were 7 th overall – great
result against some of the bigger clubs!

On the 21 st , we had one representative at the Nigel Barge Memorial 10k, where Sam Rice ran a super
34:15 for 6 th overall and 1 st U20 – well done Sam, it looked brutal out there on the day.
The weekend just gone saw our athletes popping up in a number of places! Matthew Monachello
travelled to Pitreavie for the second round of the Scottish Athletics indoor opens where he posted a
PV of 2.78m for 8 th overall. A bit further down the road your ladies captain Jennifer posted a season
opener of 1:49.94 at a 600m at Manchester, but the best result of the weekend was the furthest
travelled! Junior coach and V35 athlete Laura Haggarty travelled to Sheffield to compete in the
British Masters indoor 3000m championships, and a very well calculated race and strong finish
ensured that the gold medal made its way back up the road, with Laura’s PB of 10:26.16 proving too
strong for the competition.

The league tables have now been updated, with one significant change – Nick Carter now takes the
lead for the overall senior men’s points with 96 in total (though remember that only the best 8 will
count overall). There is still plenty to play for, with a further 4 opportunities to earn points. Entries
for the National XC should be confirmed on TeamApp by the 6 th of February at the absolute latest,
and we will be taking entries for the Allan Scally relays until the 4 th of February – see club social
media for more details or speak to your captains. If we have missed anyone from the report this
week please let us know – we love to hear good news!