England Under 15/17 Championships Bedford, 31st August & 1st September 2013 Kathryn Gillespie of Dollar and Caitlin Edgar of Crieff shone on the UK stage as they took a record 3 medals for Central AC at the England age group championships in Bedford at the weekend. And with personal bests and club records from Tom Chandler of Balfron, Sophie Parsons of Thornhill, Charlie Dineen of Dollar and Mark Guthrie from Fife, Central AC athletes gained great experience against the best athletes from throughout Britain and Ireland. Kathryn Gillespie became Central’s first UK champion for 7 years in the under 17 women’s 1500m as she ran a tactically perfect race timing her finish to perfection to take gold. The race started in typical fashion for a major championship at a pedestrian pace with nobody prepared to take it on. The slow pace played right into Kathryn’s hands as with a previous UK medal at 800m Kathryn was confident she had the speed for the finish. With 2 laps to go Kathryn moved into 2nd, perfectly placed to cover any breaks then when the break never came she hit the front herself, Mo Farah style, as the race entered the back straight on the final lap. Kathryn then paced herself perfectly as an attack came from Ellie Barker of Hertfordshire. Kathryn only ever let Ellie gat her nose in front, never letting her take the inside which forced Ellie to run all the way round the bend in lane 2. Then once in the home straight Kathryn struck for home with a devastating burst of speed and crossed the line beaming with delight to claim her first ever UK title. With the slow start the winning time of 4:39.19 was irrelevant, well off her personal best of 4:30.43 but this gold medal shows Kathryn is back to her best after an injury lay off. This win demonstrates Kathryn, who has just started her final year at Dollar Academy, has every chance of following her elder brother Matthew, who broke the 4 minute mile barrier earlier this year, into becoming a senior GB internationalist. Caitlin Edgar of Crieff, came into the championships with 2 UK silver medals in combined events, this time searching for individual event honours in the under 15 girls long jump and hurdles. She went into the long jump as 2nd ranked in the UK chasing not only gold but a Scottish record which she had jumped twice before only to be foiled by the wind gauge. She opened well with 5.61m only 5cm short of the Scottish record to take the lead which she held until round 4. UK no 1 Eleanor Broome of Northampton AC then moved ahead with 5.69m and Caitlin tried to respond and produced 2 big jumps in the final rounds however they were narrow no jumps and she had to settle for silver again. She then picked herself up for the 75m hurdles. This turned out to be a Celtic battle as Caitlin took on Irish schools champions Molly Scott. Molly was impressive in her heat with 11.09s as Caitlin stumbled through after a heavy hit on the final hurdle which required treatment in 11.53s. Caitlin recovered well and went into the final with confidence as the only athlete to have beaten Molly this year at hurdles. When the gun went Molly, a 12.2s 100m runner, shot off but Caitlin followed leaving the rest of the field behind. Caitlin then started gaining but couldn’t quite catch Molly as she won in 10.96s narrowly missing the championship record. Caitlin finished in a superb 11.11s just 0.02s off the Scottish record and maintained her UK no 1 status as the English schools champion finished a distant 3rd. For Caitlin, a 4th year pupil at Morrison’s Academy in Crieff, this was her 4th UK Silver medal, an impressive haul in one season. Mark Guthrie improved his own Central AC club record in the under 17 mens hammer as he launched the 5kg weight out to 56.38m in the final round to claim 6th place. Tom Chandler was also on excellent form in the under 17 mens long jump. Tom, who has won every Scottish title this season, was competing against a top class field and produced a consistent set of jumps to finish an impressive 6th place with an excellent personal best of 6.38m in the final round. Tom has another year in this age group but with the winning distance at 7.15m knows he has much to improve if he wants to return with gold next year. Sophie Parsons was also on impressive form in her first ever UK championships. Competing in the under 17 women’s 80m hurdles she was well placed in her heat in 4th place before she started clipping hurdles but still finished with a personal best 12.31s. A much bigger personal best and a place in the next round would have been hers with a clean race. Sophie also has another year in this age group so will look to improve next year. Charlie Dineen was also on a learning curve in his first UK championships. The Scottish schools champions battled hard but was unable to progress in the under 15 boys 80m hurdles against impressive opposition. All the Central AC participants will learn from the experience of competing against the best athletes from throughout Britain and Ireland and aspire to succeed at this level in the future. Well done all.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Sep 2013 23:42:23 +0000
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