LASSWADE ATHLETIC CLUB

Once again Lasswade AC athletes were out in force for the 2019 Scottish Athletics National Track and Field Championships. The events, held over three summer weekends at Grangemouth Stadium, bring together the best of the current, and emerging, crop of talented athletes from around Scotland and beyond.

One of the stars of this year’s Championships was U13 sprinter Shane Majekodunmi, taking home the gold medal in both the 100m and 200m. The final of the 100m saw the top three ranked U13 100m sprinters in the country go head to head in what was a classic race. Producing a massive personal best Shane took top spot, in a time of 12.89s, fractions ahead of Edinburgh AC’s Cameron Gettinby and Shetland AC’s Archie Irvine. Having qualified second fastest for the 200m final, Shane stepped it up for the final winning in another personal best time of 26.71s. Once again second place went to Edinburgh runner Cameron Gettinby in a time of 27.01s.

Also in action for the U13’s was Ramsay Blair. Despite missing out on qualification for the final of the 100m, Ramsay produced a new personal best time of 14.69s in his heat. In the javelin, Ramsay narrowly missed out on the medals with a final throw of 24.58m leaving him in fourth place.

Moving up the age groups into the U15s, jumper Kate Harvie came away with a gold and bronze medal. Kate’s clearance of 1.59m was good enough to take the gold in the High Jump ahead of VP Glasgows Jenna Hildith who took silver with a clearance of 1.57m. In the triple jump Kate took bronze with her second round jump of 10.69m. Libby White of Ayr Seaforth took the gold with a jump of 11.08m, narrowly edging out Holly Kirkwood, VP Glasgow, who took silver with a jump of 11.04m. 2018 National U13 High Jump Champion Matthew Tait, moving up to the U15s for this years event, finished in sixth place with a jump of 1.54m. On the track Olivia Meikle finished her 1500m heat in 7^th in a time of 5.33.88s, while Amy McLaughlin came home 6^th in her 800m heat in a time of 2.38.42s.

There were further medals for Lasswade AC athletes in the U17 Championships. Afterspending much of the previous year recovering from injury Adam Leighton is starting to get back to his best. His jump of 1.77m saw him take the silver medal, behind Pitreavie’s Sam Turnbull. 2018 champion Michelle Blaikie missed out on the medals in the narrowest of margins, finishing in 4^th place, on countback, with a jump of 1.57m. Another Silver medal went to Imogen Lewis in the U17s Triple Jump with a  first round jump of 10.95m. Winner on the day was Edinburgh AC’s Ellie O’Hara with a jump of 12.27m. Imogen and Ellie had gone head to head the previous weekend, stepping up an age group to compete in the U20’s Triple Jump. The result had been the same that time around with Imogen taking silver and Ellie Gold.

Elsewhere in the U20’s Championships Murray Blair ran well to finish 4^th in his 200m heat, finishing in a time of 23.11s. Euan Hood qualified for the final of the 800m, finishing his heat 4^th in a time of 2.01.08s. He went on to finish 6^th in the final in a time of 2.01.86. In the women’s 100,. Rianna Sterricks finished her heat in 5^th in a time of 13.01s.

It was a case of so near yet so far for U17 runner Elena Clark, despite fantastic performances, in both the 100m and 80m Hurdles. In the 100m heats Elena finished in a time of 13.11s, leaving her one place and a mere 5 hundredths of a second outside of qualifying for the final. In the 80m Hurdles Elena did manage to qualify for the final, only to narrowly miss out on a medal finishing in fourth place overall with a time of 12.33s. Megan McLaughlin was also in action in the U17’s discus, finishing with a throw of 17.72m.

Siblings Magnus and Sarah Tait are emerging as two of Scotland’s best talents in the steeplechase. Both were in action across this years Championships. In the National Open Events Championships Magnus took gold in the men’s 3000m Steeplechase, in a new Championship record time of 9.40.70s, finishing well ahead of second place runner Sam Fernando of Fife. Magnus followed this up with silvers in both the U20 mens 2000m steeplechase and Seniors 3000m steeplechase, finishing with new personal bests in both events. Sarah Tait was also a big medal winner, winning the U20 womens 1500m steeplechase in a time of 5.07.21. Beating the previous Championship record time that had stood since 2007. In the senior women’s 3000m steeplechase, Sarah added a silver medal finishing second behind Lauren Stoddart of Edinburgh AC.

After winning Gold in the U20 men’s 1500m last year, Matthew Smith moved up to the senior age group this year and once again came home with a medal. Having come through the heats to qualify for the final, Matthew finished a close fought final second, in a time of 4.00.47, to take silver. First place went to Michael Ferguson, of Aberdeen AC, just ahead in a time of 3.59.52s. Among the other seniors in action, Greg Louden qualified for the final of the 800m, with fellow Lasswade runner Cameron Steven narrowly missing out. Euan Hood ran a new personal best to qualify for the final of the 400m. Amy Frankland ran a new personal best time of 17.42.74 to finish 8^th overall in the women’s 5000m, while Christian Graham finished his 5000m fourth in a time of 15.34.25s.

Another big performer at this years Championships was Stephen Park, a regular of the Lasswade AC Men’s League Team. Competing in the Masters event, Stephen took 3^rd in the 100m, in a time of 11.62s. He then went one better to finish 2^nd in the 200m, finishing in 23.17s behind Central runner Ian Horsborough. The Lasswade AC Men’s League team will be back in action this weekend, with a strong chance of winning promotion back to Division One.

Lasswade’s Track and Field Teams were in action again, at Grangemouth, over both days of the weekend. Saturday afternoon saw the U11s, U13s and U15s in action in the second match of the Forth Valley League season. Sunday was the final match of the lower YDL, with the U13s, U15s and U17s back in action.

Forth Valley League Match 2: Saturday 22nd June, Grangemouth

24 athletes turned up to compete for the team on what turned out to be a great day of athletics. The sun was shining, which has been a bit of a rarity so far this season, and with 24 athletes coming along the team had most of the events covered.

On the day Lasswade finished in sixth place, however individual performances throughout the team were fantastic. Of the 38 events competed in, Lasswade athletes produced a combined total of 13 new personal bests. In addition to that, there were another 12 performances from athletes who were competing in an event for the first time.

The final match of the Forth Valley Season will take place on Saturday 24th August. We will once again be hoping to get as many athletes out competing for that one.  Results from match 2 can be found using the following link:

FVL Match 2 Provisional Results

lower YDL Match 3: Sunday 23rd June, Grangemouth Stadium

Sunday saw the largest team of the season, so far, set off for the final match of the YDL season. A total of 30 Lasswade athletes competed across the U13, U15 and U17 age groups, many of whom had already competed for the FVL team the day before. Once again the weather was kind, although the heat proved tough for the distance runners.

Once again all 30 athletes competed fantastically well and, as a result of having a bigger team to back this up, managed to produce a fifth place finish on the day. Our best of the season in this division. There were still plenty of spaces to fill in the team, so hopefully in the coming months we can continue to get more and more athletes out to compete for the teams.

As before personal bests were being produced with regularity at the match. This time there were 25 new personal bests set by athletes. In addition to that another 12 times / distances were set by athletes competing for the first time in an event.

Off the back of a successful weekend at Scotstoun, for the Superteams, last week it was great for everyone to see so many athletes in action for the teams. The number of personal bests shows the level of improvement and quality of the athletes we have at the club. We are also seeing a number of newer athletes coming forward to compete for the Teams. As shown by the number of results where athletes were competing in an event for the first time.

Congratulations to all involved, and for those who couldn’t make it this time, please try to get along for future matches. The teams really do need every athlete available. Results for the match can be found at the following links:

YDL Match 3 Provisional Results

(please note: one change of name is needed for the boys U15 4 x 100m relay. This will be amended for the final results)

ydl match 3 U17 provisional

(please note, on the U17 Girls results the names for the 100m & 200m A string have to be switched around. I have been in touch and this will be amended for the final results)

Thanks to Keith Kong and Gary Leek for the photos.

Superteams: 15/06/2019 – Scotstoun Stadium

Bethan Kitchen / Ava Inglis / Abbie Foster / Eloise Scott

Congratulations to all three of the teams who competed at the Superteams event through at Scotstoun this weekend. The competition, comprising mini teams of 4, attracted clubs form up and down the country, with over 130 min teams, and in excess of 500 athletes, showing up on the day.

It really was a great event, and one that all the athletes seemed to enjoy. It was also great to have so many of our younger athletes, and newest members, along to compete for the club. Everyone did themselves and the club proud, and we hope to see them all back in action over the course of the year.

 Harry Miller / Nathan Lawrence  /  Ruairidh Wood

Matilde Buxton / Ruby Mann/ Isabella Cochrane / Caoimhe Stupart

Results are available using the links below:

• Track Results – Heats and Times
• Field Results – Heats and Distances
• Girls Overall Team Scores
• girls 75m
• Girls Long Jump
• Girls 4 x 100
• Girls Javelin
• Boys Overall Team Scores
• Boys 75m
• Boys Long Jump
• Boys 4 x 100
• Boys Javelin

Results from last weekends lower YDL match, in Kilmarnock, are available at the link below.

LowerYDL M1 Results

U17 T&F 2019 Div2 Results-Match 1

Well done to all those athletes who competed for the team. Individual performances were once again fantastic, unfortunately the Team as a whole will always struggle when numbers are low, so we really do need more athleetes making themselves available for competition.

Next matches up for the team are as follows:

• Forth Valley League, match one:  Sat 18th May, Livingston (U11, U13, U15 )
• Lower YDL, match two:  Sunday 19th May, Kilmarnock  ( U13, U15, U17 )

Transport is available for both of these matches, and again we are looking for as many members as possible to take the opportunity to become part of our Teams. Emails will be going out to everyone with further details, and to find out who is available. Please reply as soon as possible, to allow the Team Managers time to make selections.

For more information on Teams and competition please contact Craig at lasswadeathletics@gmail.com.

The Edinburgh Marathon Festival Team are currently looking for Event Team members. Each Event Team Member receives payment of at least £15 and this can be pulled together to create a fundraising opportunity for a club or group. The Team are looking for a group of 9 and another group of 6. The payments would be:

Group of 9 – £202.50
Group of 6 – £157.50

The new club kit is now available to buy online at our club shop. To access the club shop simply click on the image link on the homepage and it will take you there.

Over the next couple of weeks there will be a small amount of samples available at training. the purpose of these are simply to give athletes an idea of sizes, rather than to display the full range. These samples only include the tops, as these are the items that will be personalised with initials, and thus not eligible for refund if they do not fit.

The full range of items available can be seen in the club shop. Included in the range are a couple of polo tops, which are aimed more at family members/supporters. The Team Tracksuit is aimed particularly at those who are competing for any of our teams throughout the year, with the aim of reintroducing a stronger Team Identity at matches.

The current Hoodies, which remain popular, will continue to be available however come from a different supplier.

This years AGM will take place this coming Wednesday, 27th March, at Newbattle Golf Club from 7.00pm onwards.

The agenda for the evening includes:

• Election of Office Bearers
• Presentation of Accounts
• Coach Reports
• Update on Charitable Status
• Motions for changes to collection of subs
• Cross Country Awards:          list of winners          crosscountrychamps2018
• Endeavor Awards:                list of winners          2018 Endeavor Award Winners
• New Club Kit

Award winners for the Cross Country and Endeavor Awards can be found by clicking on the links above. It is hoped that as many award winners as possible will be able to come along to collect their awards.

New Club Kit

Lasswade will now be using Joma to provide the majority of our club kit.  A representative will be coming along to the AGM to show off some of the new club kit that has been selected, and which will be becoming available on the new online club shop. The AGM will be the first chance to see the kit, and a good opportunity to get an idea of sizes and what is available.

Everyone is welcome to come along on the night.

Race Photos:  Road Race 2019 Photos

Congratulations to all the runners who took part in the 2019 Lasswade AAC Ten Mile Road Race. It is a notoriously tough course, but that did not deter any of the 350+ runner, all of whom completed the course. After the unfortunate cancellation of last years event, due to a snow bound course, it was great to have so many turn up and take part, and hopefully we will see you all back again next year.

Particular congratulations to race winner Adam Gray, of Penicuik Harriers, who completed the course in a fantastic time of 57.04. It was a particularly good day for Penicuik Harriers with three runners finishing in the top ten ( Adam Gray 1st, Ritchie Thomson 6th & John Gibbs 10th) to ensure top spot in the Men’s Team category.

  Adam Gray

In the women’s category it was unattached runner Lisa McDonald who took top spot, with another impressive time of 65.01. Winners of the Womens Team Prize was Penicuik Harriers, comprising Gemma Towersey, Jan Dawson & Edite Galite.  Second Place went to Portobello Running Club, comprising Grace Mackenzie, Jennifer Holden & Julia Moffat.  Lasswade’s Amy Frankland, Julia Cunningham & Debra Urquhart made up the third place team.

The above team results have been changed due to updates to the results

  Lisa McDonald

I will update this page with a full list of winners during the week.

Thanks go out to all the volunteers who made today possible. A number of different teams are responsible for making the day what it is. this year we had a mixture of old and new hands helping out at the event. There are far to many to name them all, but I think all will agree that they all did a fantastic job.

Unscrutinised Results are available at the link below. If you spot any errors please get in touch to let us know. Unfortunately we seem to have temporarily lost the contact page from the website, so just email at lasswadeatheletics@gmail.com.

Final Road Race Results ( please note these results have had an update 09/03/19)

Again thanks to everybody for coming along today, and hope to see you back next year

Pictures courtesy of Keith Kong.