Stornoway Running and Athletics Club
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Stornoway Running and Athletics Club |
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SRAC starlets crowned HIPPO Olympian Champions!
SRAC competed in large numbers at the HIPPO (Highlands and Islands Participation Performance Opportunity) grand final last Saturday at Queens Park Inverness. The ten clubs from throughout the Highlands and Islands (North Uist, SRAC, Orkney, Shetland, Caithness, Ross County, Inverness, Nairn, Moray and East Sutherland) ensured that this was the biggest attended athletics open graded meeting to take place in the Highland capital in recent years. Such has been the success of the new HIPPO initiative that provides a new level of competition for the Highland’s and Islands’ young athletes and a pathway to higher level competition for the most talented in the area.
SRAC’s young athletes efforts were rewarded as the under 11 squad claimed the inaugural title at HIPPO of Hippo Olympian Champions ahead of city club Inverness Harriers. Harris girl Peigi MacKellar was awarded with the Hippy Hippo award as the athlete showing most endeavour in the age group. Peigi narrowly missed out on winning the overall Hippo Olympian individual title, coming second, only one point behind the winner. SRAC also had the runner-up in the boys contest in Connor MacLean, while his team mate Mark MacDonald took third place! On the day SRAC athletes took twenty four top three places with ten firsts and a total of twenty one personal best performances form the 39 athletes competing!
On such a day of great success it would be hard to go into detail of all the performances, but there were individual performances worthy of mention. Most notable performers included Stuart Chalmers, Robert Jones, Jane MacIver, Jodie MacKay, Alastair Summers and Campbell MacDonald. SRAC also featured debut performances from Alicia MacSween in the sprints and Christopher Dempster in the middle distance events, both showing good potential!
After a slight dip in form Campbell MacDonald has come roaring back to top form with very impressive performances at both last weeks community games and this last weekends HIPPO grand final. Campbell in his past two 800meter races has front run from start to finish, equalling his best time in Stornoway and then following up with an improvement to his P.B. by a further two seconds to record 2minutes 27! He also placed third in the 100meters and long jump setting anew jump P.B. of 4meters 27. Alastair Summers continues to race well in his first season of track and field, setting the fastest times for the 100 and 200 meter sprints and recording a P.B. in the 200 of 25.39seconds! Also new to the sprints and showing well in her first season on the track is Jodie MacKay as she placed 2nd and 3rd respectively in the 200 and 100meters.
Jane MacIver was also a double winner claiming the middle distance 800 and 1500meters and also setting a new best time for the 1500m! Jane and her training pals at SRAC, Ailis Murray, Holly MacIver and Rebecca Munro dominated both events and will look now to put in a good cross country season this autumn/winter. In the under 20 category Stuart Chalmers performed very well and was arguably the club’s best performer on the day? Stuart set new P.B.’s in both the 400 and 800meter events, winning the 400 and only just narrowly missing out on winning the 800!
The weekend saw many of the club youngster take part in the regional development squads training day’s which Ross, Jim and Adrienne also attended as observers/helpers. Jim and Adrienne took in the sprints along with the regional sprints coach Martin Leyland and national coach Piotr Haczek, while Ross spent the day with former Scottish Commonwealth Games Marathoner Graham Laing, regional coach Charlie Forbes and the endurance athletes. All three coaches enjoyed the sessions; hopefully the young athletes did too! Should think so as there was no huge need to attend the afternoon session .... and so the shopping began! Boy, can these youngsters shop! Jim particularly enjoyed Piotr’s back to basics approach which was a theme echoed at the endurance session. With the shopping completed there was the small matter of catering for forty hungry athletes and just to get some more things for the adults to do, a triple birthday party! Katie Robinson, Connor MacLean and Rebecca Munro were invited into the suitably decorated hostel dining room to welcome their guests to the triple birthday cake party handing out masks, hats and party whistles! Much noise ensued, we then eventually got the dining room to ourselves and the three each huffed and puffed (probably made a wish) and blew their candles out! The excuse for sugar all round then began ... cake and pop all round! All in all a very fruitful weekend in the furtherance of the club with great individual performances, new athletes competing for the club for the first time, building of club camaraderie and individuals competing for the team, as best demonstrated by the under 11’s winning the HIPPO Olympian title! Well done to all competing and thanks to Lesley MacDonald for organizing the trip also to the Lewis Harris Sports Council for their continued support. Club sessions will resume for all as of Saturday 18th October meet at 10.30 at the golf club car park, Tuesday’s track sessions will recommence 21st October for the under 13 (minimum 11) and upward age groups.
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