Indoor Scottish Championships – Juniors Come Up Trumps.

Tremendous Effort by Harrier Athletes at U18/U20 Indoor Championships

            Eight harrier sprinters competed at the U18/U20 National Championships on Saturday February 15^th at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow. The athletes competed in 60m, 200m and 400m. Medals were won and personal bests were gained.
In the 60m series, Laura Duncan, Kirsty Pattison and Madeline Lawton competed in the U18 women’s age group. Laura ran well in heat 4 where she finished strongly in 3^rd place in order to automatically qualify into the semi-finals with a time of 8.29s. Madeline slotted in behind in 5^th place crossing the line in a fastest loser spot with 8.75s. Kirsty Pattison started in the next heat to finish 5^th but just missing out on a place in the final but ran a good time of 8.81. Lorne Kerr competed in the upper age group in the 60m. She finished 6^th with a reasonable time of 8.51.
For the male heats, Reed Wyper ran in heat 2 of the 60m and crossed the line in 5^th place as a fastest loser clocking 7.76. Scott Young competed in the Under 20 age group for the 60m. Scott smashed his PB down to 7.36s and moved through to the final as a fastest loser. Kuda Tapatapa competed in the 400m after deciding to start training for them. He finished 5^th in a time of 53.83- not too far off his PB.
Roy Shankland competed in his specialist event that is 400m. In the heats, he found himself in second place behind an Irish athlete. With 200m to go, Roy overtook the Irish athlete and held him off to automatically qualify to the final. In the final, Roy was on the outside lane and couldn’t see his opponents. He attacked from the start so that there would be a big enough gap at 250m when they cut in. At this point, the gap got bigger, bigger and bigger and Roy crossed the line as 400m National Champion in a time of 49.06- a PB.
Afterwards, the 60m semi-finals were available to the athletes who automatically qualified or as a fastest loser. In the women’s race, Laura Duncan was in the first of 3 semis. Laura finished 4^th with a consistent time of 8.29s. Madeline Lawton followed in 8^th stopping the clock at 8.74s. Unfortunately, they both missed out on the final but ran consistent times. In the U18 males, Reed Wyper ran in heat 2. There was only 0.07 between Reed and 4^th place. He finished 7^th and ran a PB of 7.65- previously 7.66. Scott Young qualified through to the final and placed 6th with another PB of 7.32s.
The 200m series included the same athletes as those in the 60m series. Starting with the females, Laura Duncan ran a strong 200m to cross the line in an automatic position with 27.33 and a new PB. Her training partners Kirsty Pattison and Madeline Lawton ran in the latter heats. Madeline finished 4^th with a consistent time of 29.75, after coming through in the last 100m. Kirsty ran a good 200m to finish 4^th with a time of 29.72 and not too shy of her PB. Laura qualified for the semi-final, however Madeline and Kirsty did not. Lorne Kerr ran her 200m in a respectable time of 27.78 to finish 6^th.
Laura Duncan started in lane 3 for her 200m, her start was very good but lost the acceleration she needed and stayed in 3^rd place through the race. Despite that, Laura came away with a PB in the heat and a good run overall.

Scott Young represented the Harriers in U20 for 200m. He found himself left behind in the first 100m in lane 2 but came round the top bend to storm across the line in 3^rd place with 23.87.

            The U18 males had 2 Harrier athletes competing. Reed Wyper finished 5^th with 25.43 after missing training due to injury. However, Kilmarnock had one exceptional athlete running the 200m. Kuda Tapatapa easily qualified automatically in his 200m when he finished 2^nd in his heat stopping the clock at 23.80- around 4/10ths off his PB. He moved through to the semi’s and ran the race like a final to guarantee his spot in the final. He had a blistering start and immediately moved up on the rest of the competition. At 100m, the stagger started to unwind and Kuda prevailed in front. He ran 23.17s to smash his PB and easily move through to the final. In the final, his start was equally as good and started to pull away from the competition being in 2^nd place down the back straight. When coming round the top bend, the competition were catching up but Kuda kept his stride open and his knees up to win a National Silver medal at 200m. An exceptional performance!

Harriers gain two medals at U14/U16 Indoor Championships

            Day two of the National Indoor Championships continued with 5 of our athletes competing against the best of the best in Scotland, and others from the rest of the UK. A more diverse range of events compared to the senior age groups (U18/U20- See report) and many gained the personal bests expected. Not only that, but we left with a silver and bronze medal.

                Lauren Greig continued her first indoor season with a win in the 60m heats at U16. Despite recovering from a broken toe, she had a strong start and was instantly out in front of the rest but with an Irish athlete on her shoulder. She dipped across the line in first place with an excellent time of 8.20s. Lauren automatically advanced through to the semi-final where she had an equally good start and was in the mix of the competition to finish only 0.05 seconds behind 1^st place. She qualified to the final as a fastest loser with 8.27s. In the final, Lauren not only had problems with her toe, but now with her hip due to overcompensating the pain. However, she ran well and due to the high nature of this competition, she finished in 8^th with a time of 8.41. After looking at the risks, Lauren decided to pull out the 200m. Although her day didn’t finish the way she expected, she PB’d at the Scottish Schools twice down to 8.14s.

Sophie Rowan deserves a double special mentioning for her brave efforts today. Sophie made it to the long jump final with a new PB of 4.21m and missed narrowly out of a medal in the high jump, clearing 1.40. This was very disappointing for Sophie’s as she cleared the same height as the silver and bronze medallist just losing out on count back (more failures altogether). Sophie also competed in the hurdles and came 3rd in her heat crossing the line with 11.03s.  However, the biggest pat on the shoulder Sophie deserves is her commitment and courage to compete at a National event, in fact Sophie was the ONLY one who represented the U14 age group- as stated by Harald.
           

            Laura Fulton showed her potential in the 60m at U16 when she set a PB of 8.82 down in 6^th place. She did not advance any further but left with a PB. Well done Laura.

Cameron Wilson, U16, doubled up in the 200m and 400m. He started with the series of 400m with a heat and then a straight final. In the 400m, Cameron started well and after the first 100m, he was in first place. He held his form and kept a steady pace, enough to automatically qualify with 58.29s- a jog for Cameron! Going into the final, Cameron came out the blocks and fell into 3^rd place throughout the first lap. He kept the gap between him and the rest of the competition, but unfortunately couldn’t advance on the other two medal positions. Cameron left with a national bronze medal at 400m with his time of 55.54s.

            In the first two hours of the competition starting, Evie Bartl came away with the Harriers’ first medal of the younger age groups. After arriving back from her holiday and no training, she cleared 2.20m in her first attempt at the height. Perhaps that was the rest she needed as she took 3 attempts to clear at the Scottish Schools.