Scottish Schools Championships

Scottish Schools Championships
Grangemouth
11th/12th June 2010

Dumfries & Galloway school pupils brought home a remarkable tally of 5 golds and 3 silvers home from the Scottish Schools Championships. Double gold medallists were Stewartry AC duo Kirsty Yates and Kirsten Gair, while Anna Graham of Nithsdale AC took a surprise victory in the Under 14 75m Hurdles. Middle distance stars Joanna Muir, Katy Brown and Laura Penrice took silver.

There was no doubting Kirsty Yates' superiority as the 5th year pupil from Castle Douglas High School took 2 emphatic wins in the Over 17 Shot and 100m Hurdles. Her best performance was in her number 1 event, the Shot Put. She added 4cm to her outdoor PB with a good 12.55m put. This moves her to 8th in the UK Under 20 rankings and 4th in the Under 18 rankings. In the hurdles, she took over a second off her PB with a 16.24 run, giving her victory by just over 2 seconds.

Kirsten Gair also produced two PBs in her events, the 14-15 Discus and Javelin. As Scottish Champion in the event, the Discus victory was expected. Gair threw over 27m for the first time with a PB of 27.30m, giving a 2 metre victory. Her Javelin win was a surprise one but well deserved. She threw a PB of 27.02m to gain victory over pre-event favourite Shannon Eyers (Caithness AAC).

Under 14 Anna Graham was the revelation of the weekend, winning the 75m Hurdles. With a handy wind reading of +1.4m/s, Graham won her heat in a massive new PB of 12.53 (previous best 12.93). The final was a tight affair but Graham once again improved to 12.45 to win by 0.05 seconds. This time puts her into contention for a medal come the Scottish Championships in August.

Comeback kid Katy Brown (Stewartry AC) just lost out on a second national gold medal this year, despite clocking a personal best of 2:16.26 in the 15-17 800m. The Scottish Under 17 Closed Champion lost out in a sprint finish, with Dundee's Iona Brodie taking the win in 2:15.57. Nevertheless, this will be another confidence boost for Brown, who has plagued by injuries in her short career.

Joanna Muir (Stewartry AC) didn't look convincing in her 1500m heat as she finished 3rd behind Olivia O'Hare and Louisa Stewart in 5:07.47. However, she turned it around in the final to finish a clear 2nd behind Stewart (Edinburgh AC). She clocked a season's best of 4:47.45.

Laura Penrice (Stewartry AC) opted to compete in the 14-15 1500m instead of her usual 800m. This paid off as she just lost out to Eilidh Prise of Aberdeen in a fight for the gold medal. The two were clear of 3rd and Penrice dipped under 5 minutes for the 1st time with a PB of 4:58.45. Prise won in 4:57.60.

Fierce rivals Fraser White (Nithsdale AC) and Kieran Saunders (ADAC) ended up in the same heat of the Under 14 800m. Both made it through safely with White 3rd in 2:18.34 and Saunders 4th in 2:18.73. The final was considerably faster, being won in 2:11. White coped better, finishing agonising 4th in a PB of 2:14.79. This was only 0.68 seconds off a medal. Saunders looked tired but finished with a good time of 2:18.70 in 7th.

Saunders returned on Saturday to contest the 1500m. He was impressive in winning his heat in a PB of 4:45.40. The final again was faster and a tired Saunders was 8th in 4:46.20.

Stephanie Lawrie (Nithsdale AC) ran well in her last Scottish Schools Championships. She was 5th in the 1500m with 5:21.28, her fastest time outdoors since 2008. Fellow middle distance runner Chris Ponton (Nithsdale AC) competed in his first ever 3000m. He ran a decent 9:53.14 to finish 10th.

Alison Pringle (ADAC) competed in the Under 14 Shot, Discus and Javelin. She set a PB in the Discus of 14.84m to finish 10th, chucked her 2nd furthest ever Shot of 5.52m to finish 7th and was 9th in the Javelin with 11.42m.

Older sister Jacqueline Pringle (Stewartry AC) jumped her second furthest Long Jump with 4.26m (PB 4.34m) and finished 15th in a large field. She didn't perform as well in her 800m heat with a time outside 2:40.