Scottish Inter Regional Championships Preview

Scottish Inter Regional Championships
Wishaw
10/05/09

8 Dumfries & Galloway athletes are competing in this inaugural championship on Sunday. The event is run like a league meeting, with six teams competing with A and B strings and 2 guest lanes in each string.

A likely winner on the day is Nicola Hood (VP-Glasgow)in the 2000m Steeplchase, competing for West City. After a 5 second PB in Liverpool, she will looking to break the 7 minute barrier by a considerable margin. In the absence of Eilish McColgan, her main rival will be Emma Waterhouse, who last year clocked 6:56.34 in this event.

After a strong start to the season, Hope Robertson (Edinburgh AC) will be looking to make the mark in the senior ranks. The West Coast runner will compete in the A String 100m and 200m, against several notable runners, including last year's Closed Senior 100m champion, Laura Davies and Scottish and England Athletics Under 23 100m Champion, Louise Dickson. Possibly her strongest event will be the 200m, where she is currently ranked 2nd in Scotland.

Another athlete moving up to the senior ranks is Scottish Indoor under 20 200m Champion, Josh Crawford (Edinburgh AC). He competes in the B string of the 200m for East with strong hopes of a victory against older opponents. He will also be looking to break the 23 second mark if the weather is right.

Another teenager looking for a medal is Kirsty Barr (VP-Glasgow) who competes in the High Jump A string for West Coast. After a breakthrough 2008 where she jumped 1.65m, she will be looking to clear 1.70m and behind this season. However, she may have to settle for a bit lower than that on Sunday, after an unconvincing 1.50m season opener at the beginning of April.

Jane Scott (Stewartry AC) again competes for West Coast. She is in the B string for 100m Hurdles, High Jump and Long Jump. She is looking in good form for all three events with 1.50m in the High Jump (PB 1.55m), 5.26m in the Long Jump (PB 5.32m) and 15.6 in the Hurdles (PB). PBs could go in all three events.

After shattering her Javelin PB in April, Colette Irvine (ADAC) makes the transition from Under 17 to Senior for West Coast in the Javelin. She will want to improve on her 31.49m throw as she tests herself against the best Scottish throwers in the A string. Alongside her in the Javelin is Jayne Kirkpatrick (Nithsdale AC). Despite few competitions in the Javelin recently, she will hope to challenge her PB of 33.13m, which dates back to 2005.

The final competitor is Stefan Slater (Nithsdale AC), who makes his championship debut in the A string Shot Put for West Coast. Although he's up against it, it will be a good experience for the junior athlete.