Kilmarnock Harriers at the Forefront of National Open

The National Open, held by Scottish Athletics had once again reached the indoor season. Kilmarnock Harrier athletes were out in force ranging from 60m hurdles to shot putt to pole vault and almost all came away with some sort of achievement.

Starting with 60m hurdles, Evie Bartl showed great resilience after numerous interruptions and eventually, the disqualification of an athlete. Evie crossed the line in 4^th place with a time of 10.50, setting her seasons best just 0.3 off her personal best.  Sophie Rowan ran well in her first 60m hurdle race and finished 3^rd place clocking 10.78.

In heat two of the 60m sprint, Roy Shankland and Kuda Tapatapa crossed the line in a Kilmarnock 1-2. Roy set a PB of 7.28 whilst Kuda slotted in behind with a consistent time of 7.41. Scott Young ran strongly in his heat of the 60m series. Scott won his race clearly in a time of 7.42. Reed Wyper broke his 60m PB after holding it for 2 years. Previously 7.71, Reed bumped down his time to 7.66 and won his race by a mere 100^th of a second. Lauren Greig ran a strong, consistent time of  8.33, only 0.05 shy of her personal best and crossed the line in first place. Lorne Kerr, a member of the indoor 4x200m bronze medal relay team, was at the forefront of the race once again. She was timed in at 8.32 in 1^st. A strong run from Lorne.

In the 400m, Roy Shankland was up again. After apparently holding up the race before hand, the race was on. Roy had a shaky start and found himself at the back of the race. After 200m, you could see the lactic had set in and many thought it was an off day. But, coming round the second bend, Roy found an extra gear and managed to overtake the other two competitors to win the race in 50.68.

During the 200m series, many of the athletes that ran in the 60m returned for this event. Roy Shankland, man of many disciplines, ran very strongly again crossing the line in 2^nd place in 22.48- only a mere 1/10^th shy of his PB! Scott Young followed in a later heat. Scott finished 6^th clocking 24.46. Kuda Tapatapa, Scottish Schools Indoor bronze medallist at 200m, showed good consistency in his preferred event. Kuda clocked 23.60 in 4^th place. Reed Wyper ran in heat 10 of the 200m. Reed finished 4^th with only 0.04 separating him and 2^nd place. He was timed in at 24.83. Lorne Kerr was lined up in heat 22 and ran a good race to finish 3^rd, timed in at 27.48. Lauren Greig ran strongly once again finishing 2^nd in a time of 27.42, again only a few hundreds of a second off her PB- very consistent. Laura Duncan ran in the heat after that. Laura crossed the line in 4^th place after a strong run and clocked 27.65.

In the field events, Zaya McMillan-Grant came 3^rd in the shot putt after an impressive putt of 9.77m and a PB. In the same pool, Evie Bartl putted 9.18m which isn’t far from her best of 9.60m that she got at the Indoor League in December. Lauren Greig finished 8^th in the same pool with a highest putt of 6.57m.

Zaya competed in the pole vault as well. She kept composed and gained a good height of 1.87m alongside her coach, Harald Bartl, who cleared 2.57m.

In long jump, Sophie Rowan finished high up the table with a jump of 4.07m only 13cm off her best jump. She too competed in high jump and cleared a good height of 1.40m.

Many of the athletes competing on Sunday hadn’t really targeted this meet as something to prepare for. If these are the results we are getting from our athletes at this time of the year, then this is unbelievable feedback to the coaches. We were at the forefront of the majority of events. People are recognising the blue and white vest as a growing club with huge potential. With the Scottish Schools on February 6^th and the National Championships on February 15^th, we wish our athletes the best of luck. Well done to all who competed.

Article courtesy of Reed Wyper.