Annual Indoor Scottish Schools

On Thursday, February 7th, seven Kilmarnock athletes competed at the annual Indoor Scottish Schools’ at the Glasgow Emirates Arena. These athletes ranged through 60m to high jump.

In under 16, Kuda Tapatapa (St. Joseph’s) ran a fast first heat of 7.86s and came third to qualify for the semi-finals. In the second race for the semi-final, Kuda finished 5th and clocked an improved 7.79s and just missed out the final for 60m. He also competed on the circular track for the 200m, in his heats, he ran an easy 25.16 and finished first to automatically qualify for the semi’s. Kuda improved his time to 24.92 but was shifted in to 2nd by a main competitor from Edinburgh. After a long day of 12 hours, the 200m final was one of the last events to finish. To round off his day, Kuda ran a personal best of 24.43 and was soon on podium as a bronze medalist for 200m.

Reed Wyper (Kilmarnock Academy) competed in the 60m and 60m hurdles. He won his heat, running a time of 7.96 and automatically placing for the semi-final where he had an unfortunate race finishing 7th and with a time of 8.02. In the hurdles, Reed ran a personal best of 9.50s, previously 9.64, and placed 6th, missing out on the straight final afterwards.

Scott Young (Loudoun Academy), under 20, competed in the 60m and 200m. In his first race, he ran 7.59 in the 60m and placed 5th and lost a chance for further qualification. For the longer sprint, Scott was placed in the fourth heat of 200m and ran an indoor personal best of 24.51, previously 24.68, finishing 2nd in that race and qualifying for the next race. Scott then smashed that time again to put it down to 24.36, finishing 5th.

Roy Shankland (Cumnock Academy) focused on the 400m and started off by winning his heat with a time of 51.63, going through to the straight final where, in a tough battle with a rival competitor, Roy ran a fantastic time of 50.27 and making podium as 400m Silver Medallist. Roy now stands as the fastest 400m runner for U20.

Ben O’Neill (Hutchesons’ Grammar School) , under 16, ran the double 200m and 400m on Thursday. He was placed in the second heat for 200m and won it clocking a time of 28.17 and ran his semi-final with a massive improvement of 26.33 and finishing 6th. For his 400m, he clocked a brilliant time of 56.23 and placed 3rd but narrowly missed out on the final.

Hannah Bartl (Glasgow School of Sport) competed in the under 16 300m and ran in her heats a time of 46.20, placing 3rd, and with this time, went through to the next round. Running in the semi’s, Hannah ran a slightly faster time of 46.11 and managed to proceed through to the final of the 300m in which she placed 3rd once again but ran an excellent time of 45.20 and was given a bronze medal for this performance.

Cara Baillie, competed for Loudoun Academy in the high jump under 16, where out of 24 athletes, Cara finished 14th with a consistent jump of 1.40m.”  (article by Reed Wyper)