Apologies for the lack of activity over the past few days, unfortunately I write this is my spare time and there is only one of me. With the Bank of Scotland Cup, various other commitments and changing job, I haven’t seemed to have found time to sit down and write. Anyway excuses over, normal service should resume as from now – weekend report to follow this afternoon.

In the meantime I would like to pass on my congratulations to Susan Scott (4.07.00 1500m) and Lee McConnell (51.49 400m) the first two Scottish athletes to post Olympic ‘A’ qualifying times this year. Scott’s qualifying run came on the 27th of June in Lille, having agonisingly missed out by only six one-hundredths in Morocco two weeks previously. McConnell, recovering from a hamstring problem picked up at the UK League match in early June, dipped below the required 51.55 in Lugano, Switzerland, posting 51.49 for 2nd behind Italian record holder Libania Grenot who won in a time of 51.32.

Congratulations also to those athletes selected for the World Junior Championships taking place in Bydgoszcz, Poland from the 8th – 13th July. Three Scots were named in the team; Lynsey Sharp in the 800m, Scott Huggins in the pole vault and Jamie Stevenson in the shot put.

All three will be up against it as they take on the best junior athletes in the world. Lynsey Sharp will be hoping to make the final of the 800m, ranked 7th on season’s best times going into the event. With 47 entrants, she will face heats, semis and final over four days, beginning with the first round scheduled for tomorrow evening (8th July). Jamie Stevenson will also open his campaign tomorrow, the men’s shot qualification taking place tomorrow morning. Out of the 37 entries, Jamie is ranked 27th going into the event and will need the throw of his life to make it into tomorrow evening’s final. Also facing a tough qualification task is pole vaulter Scott Huggins, ranked 16th out of 26 entrants. In superb form this season, Huggins may well need a personal best vault to take him into Thursday’s final.

The full schedule for the Scottish athletes is:

8th July:

9.45   Men’s Shot Put Qualifying

17.40 Women’s 800m Heats

18.35 Men’s Shot Put Final

9th July:

18.30 Women’s 800m Semi-Finals

10th July:

9.30 Men’s Pole Vault Qualifying

11th July:

19.15 Women’s 800m Final

12th July Men’s Pole Vault Final

For a full timetable and up to date results visit www.iaaf.org

The four Scottish athletes selected for this weekend’s European Cup in Annecy, France performed admirably, gaining valuable points, as the GB men won and the women took 3rd place.

Susan Scott finished strongly in a slow, tactical 1500m where the Belarus athlete looked to keep bumping her as the athletes bunched together.  Scott showed her 800m speed as she took 3rd in a sprint finish in 4.19.83.

Andrew Lemoncello also took 3rd in a sprint for the line, finishing in 8.36.33 in the 3000m steeplechase, the times affected by the searing heat.

Allan Scott finished above his predicted placing as he took 4th in the 110m hurdles but will be frustrated not to get closer to the Olympic ‘A’ standard of 13.55, his time on this occasion 13.70.

In the triple jump Nony Mordi acquitted herself well in her first taste of competition at this level with a jump of 13.36, the only distance she recorded, fouling three times. Although finishing 8th in her event she was the only athlete in the field who, going into the competition, had not jumped 14 metres. Finishing in her expected placing, Mordi came close to taking ‘bonus’ points for the GB team as the athlete in 6th place jumped only 4cm further than Mordi’s effort.

Both the GB men and women remain in the top division for next year in the new format ‘European Team Championships’.

Scottish Medalists at U20/U23 England Athletics Championships – Bedford 21st/22nd June

1st

Gemma Werrett U20W 100mH 13.32w PB (13.61 Q PB)

Jayne Nisbet U23W HJ 1.82 PB

Eilidh Child U23W 400mH 59.18 (58.55 Q)

Louise Dickson U23W 100m 12.12

Stacey Downie U23W 200m 24.90

John Carr U23M TJ 15.09

James Campbell U23M JT 71.88

Jamie Stevenson U20M SP 18.47 CBP

Scott Huggins U20M PV 4.95

2nd

Gemma Nicol U23W 400m 55.06

Jayne Nisbet U23W TJ 12.96w (12.94)

Nicola Hood U20W 3KSC 11.21.77

Erin Leggate U20W HJ 1.66

Mrya Perkins U20W HT 51.75 SCO REC

Kris Robertson U23M 400m 48.08 (47.35Q)

Angus McInroy U23M DT 50.54

3rd

Kirsty Law U23W DT 49.09

Alice Lennox U20W LJ 5.92w PB

Chris O’Hare U20M 5000m 14.50.66

Chris Bennett U20M HT 64.30 SCO REC

Laura Chalmers U23W HT 53.07

U23M steeplechase result not available.

Full report to follow.

With a place in the GB team for the World Junior Championships in her sights, Lynsey Sharp heads the list of over 80 Scottish athletes making the journey south to the England Athletics U20/U23 Championships in Bedford this weekend. Ranked second in the UK this year, Sharp has twice run the World qualifying time and needs a top two finish on Sunday to secure her place.

While no other Scottish athlete has yet reached the qualifying standard for the World Juniors, Scott Huggins and Jamie Stevenson are not far away, both having set numerous Scottish Junior records this year. Pole vaulter Huggins, who started 2008 with a best of 4.81m, has improved beyond recognition to currently sit 2nd in the UK at 5.10. With the World standard set at 5.20, should he go clear this weekend, a top two placing would guarantee selection. Shot putter Stevenson launched his shot out to a Scottish record of 18.55 earlier in the season to top the British rankings. The World qualifying of 19m is challenging but, if he hits one right, may well be within his grasp.

Within the U20 age group are a band of young Scottish athletes with their sights set, not on the World Junior Championships, but on October’s Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India. Despite being towards the younger end of the age group, these athletes include some real medal prospects. Lisa Glover sits atop the UK rankings with her 46.04 throw, almost a metre ahead of the second ranked athlete while hammer throwers Myra Perkins and Caitlyn Mackie are ranked 2nd and 4th respectively in their event.

Although there is no major championship this year for the U23 athletes, competition will not be any less fierce as a result. Eilidh Child, ranked No. 1 over 400m hurdles, will need to be at her best to hold off the challenge of European Junior silver medallist Perri Shakes-Drayton and Kim Skinner, top of the rankings in the pole vault, faces strong opposition, her task made even harder as she races to make up for lost training as a result of a broken wrist leading into the outdoor season. The only out and out favourite amongst the Scottish U23 athletes is James Campbell in the javelin, almost 4 metres clear of his nearest rival.

Other athletes who should be challenging for medals over the course of the weekend include: Kirsty Law (U23 discus), Jayne Nisbet (U23 HJ/TJ), Gemma Werrett (U23 100mH), Katie Wickman (U20 discus), John Carr (U23 TJ), Mark Dry (U23 hammer), Stephen Lisgo (U23 steeplechase), Angus McInroy (U23 discus), Martin Lipton (U20 400mH), Joe Bloomfield (U20 hammer), Chris Bennett (U20 hammer)

Full list of Scottish entrants:

U20 MEN / WOMEN

Chris Bennett HT

Suzanne Begg 100m / 200m

Joe Bloomfield HT / DT

Holly Belch 100mH / 400mH

Jamie Kerr Bowie 400m

Michelle Bell 400m

Daniel Carlin SP / DT

Erin Froude 100mH

Cameron Clark TJ

Lisa Glover JT

David Clark 200m

Sarah Inglis 1500m

John Cooke 1500m

Sylvia Kamya 400mH

Ian Garioch 400m

Erin Leggate HJ

Andrew Gibson 800m

Alice Lennox 100mH / LJ

Matthew Graham 1500m

Courtney MacGuire PV

Alexander Hendry 5000m / 3KSC

Caitlyn Mackie HT

Scott Huggins PV

Eilish McColgan 1500m

Scott Hughson 400m

Abbey McGhee 800m / 1500m

Calum Innes 110mH

Aisling McGhee 400m

Paul Leck 1500m

Laurie McKenna LJ

Martin Lipton 400mH

Stephanie McKenzie PV

Allan MacKay DT

Louise McLelland 400m

John McCafferty HJ

Josephine Moultrie 1500m

Scott McDonald 5000m

Myra Perkins HT

Chris O’Hare 1500m / 5000m

Beth Potter 1500m / 3000m

Sean Reilly 800m / 1500m

Heather Rankine 100mH

Ryan Oswald 100m / 200m

Faye Richardson 100m

Callum Sharp PV

Lynsey Sharp 800m

Grant Shiells HT

Natalie Sharp 1500m

Jamie Sinclair PV

Kerry Steel TJ

Jamie Stevenson SP

Jenny Tan 800m

Matthew Turner 800m

Sarah Warnock LJ

Sean Watson 400m

Katie Wickman DT

U23 MEN / WOMEN

James Campbell JT

Sabina Astarita 100m

John Carr TJ

Laura Chalmers HT

Steven Charters 100m / 200m

Eilidh Child 400mH

David Clark 800m

Emma Cloggie 400m

Mark Dry HT

Louise Dickson 100m / 200m

Craig Fleming 200m

Stacey Downie 100m / 200m

Neale Kelly 110mH

Jo Finch 800m / 1500m

Stephen Lisgo 3K SC

Kirsty Law DT

David Martin 400mH

Morag McLarty 800m / 1500m

Angus McInroy DT

Gemma Nicol 200m / 400m

Connor McNulty 5000m / 3K SC

Jayne Nisbet HJ / TJ

Scott Pilkington 800m / 1500m

Kim Skinner PV

Craig Robertson 800m

Stephanie Walker 100mH / 400m

Kris Robertson 400m

Gemma Werrett 100mH

Craig Ruddy 1500m

Douglas Selman 800m / 1500m

Michael Wright 3K SC

Apologies for any omissions, the spreadsheet made me dizzy after a while!

110m hurdler Allan Scott had been added to the British team for this weekend’s European Cup in place of Andy Turner who withdraws with a hamstring problem. Having set a season’s best of 13.67, under the Olympic B standard, at the weekend, Scott will be hoping that the high standard of Cup competition will help him towards the Olympic A standard of 13.55. Scott’s inclusion in the team brings the Scottish representation back up to four athletes after the withdrawal of Lee McConnell from the 4×400m squad. He joins Andrew Lemoncello (3KSC), Susan Scott (1500m) and Nony Mordi (TJ).

Grangemouth Stadium concluded its busy weekend with the Scottish U20/U23 Championships on Sunday. Lacking the atmosphere and numbers of the Schools Championships on the preceding two days there was nevertheless some real quality on display, most notably in the older age group, who did not have two days of competition in their legs.

Stand out athlete of the day was Jayne Nisbet with a fine double in the U23 high jump and triple jump. Her 1.81 clearance in the high jump moves her 5th equal on the UK rankings, only one centimetre away from the UK Power of 10 target. Although 1.81 was a new outdoor best for Nisbet she could have gone higher as her first attempt at the next height of 1.84 had the crowd leaping to their feet, believing she had cleared it. Unfortunately the bar fell and she was unable to clear on her final two attempts but it should not be long before Nisbet masters this height and goes higher. Coach Moira Maguire’s best of 1.87 may well be the next target.

Several hours later Nisbet was back, this time in the triple jump. In the absence of Scottish record holder Nony Mordi, resting in preparation for her GB senior debut in the European Cup this Saturday, Nisbet was unchallenged and, despite only three athletes competing, she put on a fine display of jumping to win with 12m85, her second best ever distance.

On the track, Craig Fleming, having finished 2nd to Jamie Coull in the 100m (10.69 to 10.70) with the wind just over the legal limit at 2.2m/s, took advantage of the calmer conditions later in the day to race to a new lifetime best of 21.41 to take the U23 200m title. It is the first time this season that Fleming has had a chance to test his true form as each of his five previous races over the distance this year have been run into a headwind of at least 2 m/s.

Gemma Werrett was not so lucky with the wind as her impressive run of 13.69 had a following wind of 2.4m/s, just over the legal limit. She finished well clear of multiple Scottish Champion Alyssa Fullelove and ranks 9th in the UK Power of 10.

Eilidh Child and Lynsey Sharp were equally dominant in the 400m hurdles and 400m flat respectively. Child finished well clear despite a personal best run from Stephanie Walker, second in 62.52. Child’s time of 57.30 is only three hundredths outside her season’s best and augers well for this weekend’s England Athletics U23 Championshis where she will come up against last year’s European Junior silver medallist Perri Shakes-Drayton. Sharp took the U20 400m in 56.60, over a second ahead of the rest of the field and will step up to her preferred distance of 800m for this weekend’s World Junior Trials where a top two finish would seal her place in the British team.

Beth Potter is another athlete on a mission to qualify for a major championship, this time the Commonwealth Youth Games. In the U20 1500m she ran 4.26.52, under the qualifying standard for the second time in three days, to take the title ahead of rivals Eilish McColgan and Natalie Sharp, an impressive feat when you consider that Potter is still in the U17 age group.

Utilising his newfound speed from his 100m lifetime best at the Schools Championships on Friday, Calum Innes hit the Commonwealth Youth Games qualifying standard dead on when winning the U20 110m hurdles in 14.80. The time took a quarter of a second from his previous best and if he can dip under the qualifying standard again, will strengthen his case for inclusion in the Youth Games team.

Other noteworthy performances included a new personal best from Mark Dry in the U23 hammer. Having broken through the 60m barrier for the first time at last weekend’s British League match in Birmingham, Dry launched his hammer out to 61.25 to place him 6th in the UK this year. Also in impressive form was pole vaulter Callum Sharp who, having cleared 4.35 at the Schools, went on to clear 4.40 in the U20 event. Jude Beimers, having also set a new lifetime best at the British League, took the U23 long jump title with 7.23, only 20cm short of last week’s distance and there was a personal best from guest competitor Alison Rodger in the shot putt, her putt of 15.67 placing her 6th in the UK.

Leading Scottish results from 14th-16th June:

14th June – Northern Ireland Championships, Antrim

1st 100m Nick Smith 10.43 (+2.0) SB Heat: 1st 10.40 (+5.2)

1st SP Scot Thompson 15.66

1st DT Scot Thompson 50.84

1st HT Susan McKelvie 60.14 SB

http://www.niathletics.org/

15th June – Janus Kusocinski Memorial, Warsaw, Poland

2nd B 400m Carey Easton 53.00 SB

http://www.forsport.info/

16th June – Josef Odlozil Memorial, Prague, CZE

4th 110mH Allan Scott 13.67(+0.9) SB

14th 3KSC Andrew Lemoncello 8.37.37

http://www.memorial-odlozil.cz/results/

It was a case of so near and yet so far for Susan Scott at the Meeting International Mohammed VI in Rabat, Morocco on Saturday. With the Olympic A qualifying set at 4.07.00, Scott clocked 4.07.06 to finish 3rd in a high quality 1500m. Although inside the B standard for Beijing and a personal best by over a second, Scott will be disappointed not to have bagged the A standard in a weekend where Lisa Dobriskey, whom she has beaten on two occasions this year, clocked 4.06.25 in Poland. Obviously in the form of her life, it should not be long before Scott dips under the standard and makes a bid for a place on the start line in Beijing. Her next chance will come at the European Cup in Annecy, France this weekend.

Also on Saturday, this time at he British Miler’s Club meeting in Watford, Nicola Gauld and Laura Kenney finished 1st and 2nd respectively in the 3000m ‘A’ race. Gauld’s time, a personal best of 9.04.21 moves her to 8th on the Scottish all-time list while Kenney goes 10th with 9.06.90. Kenney has a lifetime best of 9.01.21 but her time in Watford is her quickest since switching allegiance to Scotland earlier this year.

Thirteen year old Emma Brown sped to a time of 11.34 seconds in the Girls C 75m hurdles at the Scottish Schools Championships to bring the championship best tally to seven. Taking her to the top of the U15 UK Power of 10 rankings, the time was a personal best by 0.17 seconds and over half a second quicker than she ran last year. The previous championship best performance of 11.4 seconds had stood to Alison Glasgow of Royal High for 25 years and Brown collected the Westbourne Trophy for her winning performance.

There was a definite buzz about Grangemouth Stadium during Friday and Saturday and it was a far more positive buzz than that caused by recent strike action at the neighboring oil refinery. With nearly 1700 entires to the Scottish Schools Championships, the stadium was packed to bursting both days with athletes, coaches, teachers and parents, some looking for Commonwealth Youth Games qualifying marks and others perhaps sampling athletics on such a large scale for the first time.

With six championships best performances, the athletes did not disappoint. Myra Perkins continued her fine run of form taking the Girls A hammer with 49.94, adding almost 3 metres to Frances Miller’s 2001 best. The feat earned Perkins the Frances Barker Shield for the outstanding girl’s performance and it is the second time this year that she has removed Miller from the record books having already taken her Scottish U17 record at the Hammer Grand Prix in May.

Glasgow School of Sport pupil Laurie McKenna soared out to a lifetime best of 5.78 in the Girls B long jump to erase a record that had stood since 1986, Nicky Barr’s mark of 5.67 finally falling before a fine display of jumping by McKenna.

All four of the other championship best performances came in the boys’ events. Two pole vault records fell, in the Boys D category to Sam Adams (Hyndland) with 2m55 and in the Boys A category to Callum Sharp (St. Aloysius College) with 4m35. On the track Cameron Goodall (Beeslack High) raced to 11.33 seconds to erase the Boys C 80m hurdles best, more than a second clear of the field while Lewis Gibb (Hamilton Grammar) took the 100m in the same age group in a championship best 11.56, having already taken the 200m title the previous day in 23.49.

Gibb was not the only athlete turning in fine sprint performances over the course of the championships. When I arrived at the stadium on Friday afternoon I was met by a host of young athletes asking “Did you see what time Calum Innes ran?” Indeed Innes’ time of 10.88 to win the Boys A 100m was mighty impressive, his best before the race was 11.17. Allan Hamilton (Drummond Community HS) took the Boys B event in a personal best 11.29 before adding the triple jump title on very tired legs in 13.50, also a personal best.

On the girls’ side, Caroline George and Rachel Whittle (Marr College) caught the eye. Running in the Girls’ C category they finished 1st and 2nd in both the 100m and the 200m, George coming out on top each time. There was not much to choose between the two however, both given the same time, 12.7, in the 100m with George only 0.02 ahead in the 200m; 25.31 to 25.33.

Other noteworthy performances came from Beth Potter (Bearsden Academy), well under the Commonwealth Youth games qualifying mark when winning the Girls B 1500m in 4.26.39, the standard being set at 4.28.00, Calderglen’s Nicky McMurtrie, triple champion in the Girls C category, winning the shot (11.45), discus (30.10) and javelin (30.91) and Courtney Maguire (Lenzie Academy), 3m50 to win the Girls A pole vault, only 10 centimetres short of the personal best she set mid-week at the Grangemouth Open Graded meeting.

Full results can be found at  www.ssaa.co.uk