Strong performances by proud athletes

EIGHT young Shetland athletes made their way to Grangemouth recently to compete at the Scottish Young Athletes Final as part of the Highlands & Islands team.

This is the first year that an expanded team comprising youngsters from Inverness and North, Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland have competed and qualified for the final after convincing wins in the North East Division.

The final covers an A and B contest in every discipline.

All eight Shetlanders made significant contributions to the team total as Highlands & Islands finished third overall, agonisingly outside the top two that would have qualified them for the British final.

Sophie Kelman was the first competitor and set the standard as she finished third in the under-17 A hammer with a personal best of 27.9 metres.

Later she followed this up with another personal best to win the B discus with a throw of 22.25 metres.

Eilidh Peterson enjoyed a successful afternoon with third in the under-17 A long jump (4.37 metres) and second in the A triple jump with an outstanding 10.12 metres.

In the under-17 A high jump Emma Leask produced consistent form to finish third with 1.5 metres and ran in the 4×300 metres relay that finished fourth.

Inga Woods had a particularly busy day with seventh in the under 17-A 100 metres in 14.04 and 28.31 in the B 200 metres for fourth.

Along with Caitlin Watt she was part of the 4×100 metres relay finishing strongly for fourth place. Caitlin also produced an excellent second in the B high jump with 1.30 metres – not at all bad considering that she does not train or compete in this event but did so because the team had suffered a last minute cancellation.

Katie Bristow ran a strong tactical race in the under-15 1500 metres, only losing in the home straight to a fast finisher.

Her time of 5 minutes 3.45 seconds was good enough for second.

The boys in the team were not to be outdone.

Sean Maver just missed out on victory in both his events – he was second in the under-17 B long jump with 5.32 metres and second in the B triple jump with 11.84 metres.

Bobby Bristow was fourth in the under-17 B 1500 metres in 4 minutes 30.2 and finished the day with a new personal best of 9 minutes 40.38 also for fourth in the A 3000 metres.

All the athletes thoroughly enjoyed this team situation, the nearest they get to the junior inter-county.

They said they were already looking forward to next year’s event and hope to go one better by qualifying for the British final.

Shetland Amateur Athletics Club would like to thank Star Rent-A-Car for their assistance with travel to this competition.

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THREE Shetland athletes who competed in Sundays Fresh’n’Lo Great Scottish Run 10km road race and half marathon produced good performances. The host city of Glasgow provided a party atmosphere, the weather was kind and despite the change of course from last year to to a more hilly route, the two runs around the city centre and beyond were well organised and friendly.

The morning’s competition started with the 10km race attracting around 6,100 runners. Ian Williamson was an excellent fifth overall in 33 minutes and 58 seconds and first veteran male. This equalled his final position in the 2007 race.

Arlene Bristow was third woman and 44th overall in a time of 38 minutes 50 seconds. Her finishing time also gave her first place in the veteran women’s section.

Like the earlier race, the half marathon started in St George’s Square and also had a large field of over 7,000 competitors. New to this distance, Ian Flaws had a strong run and clocked a time of 1 hour 34 minutes and 47 seconds.