It was announced this week on the Scottish Athletics website that our Club Treasurer Barbara Howie is to be inducted in to the Scottish Athletics hall of fame .
This is fantastic news and a very well deserved honour. Many congratulations to Barbara from everyone at Lasswade AC.
I have taken the information below from the Scottish athletics website.
Barbara Howie – wheelchair Paralympian
Barbara Howie made a major impact in her first Paralympic Games in Heidelberg, West Germany in 1972 where she set a world record and won three gold medals – 60m wheelchair, 4×40 Open and slalom 3.
She is Scotland’s most successful wheelchair track athletics Paralympian.
In the Games of 1976 in Toronto she followed up her impressive debut with another gold in the 60m wheelchair with a world record to add to her collection. Barbara’s final Paralympic Games were in the Netherlands in 1980 where she won her fifth Paralympic medal – a silver in the 60m wheelchair.
Barbara just missed out on all the technological changes that made such an impact on athletics in the years after she retired.
She continued her involvement in athletics in Scotland as an Official and was regularly present at major meets. Her major competition as an Official was the Commonwealth Games in 1986 in Edinburgh.
This seasons cross country season got underway with the East District cross country championships which took place at Livingston on 12/10/2019. These relays are a great event and fun way to start off the cross country season. The weather conditions were good it was dry and sunny. The course looked good although some parts were very muddy as a result of the recent wet weather.
Lasswade AC are regular participants in this event and this year was no exception with Lasswade entering nine teams (two young female teams, two young male teams, two male teams and three womens teams).
The first race of the day was the young females and the two teams were Abbie Foster (u13), Amy McLaughlin (u15), Olivia Meikle (u15) and Eloise Scott (u13), Skye Foster (U15) and Abby McGlone (U17). The girls attributed themselves with our first team led home by Olivia Meikle finishing just outside the top 10 in 11th place with Abby McGlone leading our second team home just outside the top 20 in 21st place.
In the next race of the day, the young males, we had a late call off and were unfortunately unable to find a replacement. As a result we only had one team in this race. The team was Rowan Taylor (U13), Ross Wolfenden (U15) and Alastair Scott (U15) and the boys ran very well to finish just inside the top 15 in 14th place. Rowan Taylor was 8th equal fastest leg of the day for U13 runners.
The senior women were the next race of the day and unusually for us we had eight runners almost three complete teams – fantastic! The teams were Amy Frankland, Keira Gora and Sarah Tait in the first team, Ailsa Innes, Amy Smith and Niamh Shaw in the second team and Cathy Dickson and Rachel Fagan in the incomplete third team. Amy Frankland set the first team up with a great run finishing 3rd on the first leg handing on to Keira Gore who ran strongly to pull us up another place passing onto U20 Sarah Tait for the final leg. It was always going to be hard to hold on to 2nd as Sarah was being chased down by Annabel Simpson of Fife AC (who ended up running the fastest leg of the day by 25 seconds!) however Sarah ran very well and brought the team home comfortably in 3rd place. Our other athletes also ran very well with our second team inside the top 20 in 18th place. Our masters ladies also did well we just need some more female masters to complete the team.
Sarah, Keira and Amy – Bronze Medal Winners 2019!
Congratulations to our bronze medallists, having spoken to Dave Hand we believe that this is the first time our senior women have ever won a team medal at the cross country relays.
The final event of the day was the men and we had two teams entered, Magnus Tait, Christian Graham, Euan Hood and Andrew McGlone were our first team and we had a complete masters team, Scott Dickson, Dave Scott, Peter Ness and Derrick Brydon.
Magnus flying towards the finish!
Magnus Tait led off our first team with a strong run to come home and hand over in 9th place to team mate Christian Graham who ran very well to pull back a few places setting Euan Hood off in 6th place. Cross Country is not Euan’s favourite event but he was happy to come an run and make up a team. Euan dug in and handed on to final leg runner Andrew McGlone in 13th place. Andrew one of our fastest masters ran well to bring the team home in 21st place.
Christian in action in the East Relays
Our masters team did very well to finish 58th overall and 15th masters team.
Well done and congratulations on your performances to everyone who took part.
Looking forward to the National Relays in a few weeks we definitely have opportunities for teams to be competitive and fighting for medals it’s just getting everyone we need to be available at the same time.
We also had a couple of runners, who are not included in the run, who had to pull out of the race before finishing. So although they are not included in the results, thanks also to them for coming along taking part and supporting the event.
At this years AGM it was agreed that future collection of training fees, for all members, should be done through Standing Order, rather than collection of fees on the night. We are looking to have this up and running from the start of October. As such, we are looking for all training members to complete the forms and return them by the end of this month.
There are two forms to complete. One should be returned to the club with the other being returned to the Bank / Building Society. It should also be possible to set up your standing order via online banking if you have this facility.
Please set the first payment date as October 1st 2019.
Forms will be available, and handed out, at training all throughout the month. You can also access a copy of the forms through the following link: Standing Order Mandate
Hopefully the forms are self explanatory, however if you have any questions please get in touch.
If you are completing the forms for more than one athlete, from the same family, just use one name for the reference and remember to include the discount for additional family members. So for example:
3 athletes training twice weekly would amount to:
1st athlete: £16.00 / 2nd athlete: £12.00 / 3rd athlete: £12.00 = total monthly: £40.00 Payment Reference: 1st athletes name
We will continue to collect fees at the gate for the remainder of the month.
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 7th in a time of 5.33.88s, while Amy McLaughlin came home 6th 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 4th 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 4th in his 200m heat, finishing in a time of 23.11s. Euan Hood qualified for the final of the 800m, finishing his heat 4th in a time of 2.01.08s. He went on to finish 6th in the final in a time of 2.01.86. In the women’s 100,. Rianna Sterricks finished her heat in 5th 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 8th 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 3rd in the 100m, in a time of 11.62s. He then went one better to finish 2nd 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.
Lauren Dickson has once again been selected for the (U20) Great Britain team to compete at the European Mountain Running Championships in Zermatt, Switzerland on Sunday 7 July.
It is a great credit to Lauren that she has been selected as she had a difficult winter picking up and injury in November and missing all of the cross country season only to come back in the spring and fracture her foot putting her out of action again. Anyone that knows Lauren, knows she does not give in easily with her focus and determination paying dividends in the end.
Congratulations to Lauren and Good Luck in your race from everyone at Lasswade AC.
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:
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:
(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.
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.
The closing date for entries to this years Secondary Schools Track and Field Championships is this Friday, 10th May.
Anyone interested in competing should speak to their school PE department as soon as possible. Schools do not enter pupils automatically for these events, so you do have to ask to be entered. Some schools have already been in touch with the club and are really keen to hear from anyone who is interested.
The Track and Field Championships will take place at Grangemouth Stadium on the 7th and 8th June. Age Groups for this event are as follows:
Group A (Over 17) Born on or before 31/8/02
Group B (Under 17) Born between 1/9/02 and 31/8/04
Group C (Under 15) Born between 1/9/04 and 31/8/05
Group D (Under 14) Born on or after 1/9/05
Further information on SSAA events, including this one, can be found on the SSAA website: SSAA website link
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.
