Victoria Park Triumph in Team and Relay Competitions
The
Scottish Indoor League Final witnessed some sparkling Victoria Park performances
resulting in 11 team medals and 8 relay medals being handed out. The greatest
victory of the day came courtesy of the U15 Boys’ team who out performed all
expectation by turning the tide on Giffnock North. The team had been beaten by
Giffnock in all the previous 3 meetings but when it counted the squad pulled
through by only 1 single point. One of the biggest contributors to this was the
immense talent of Calum Innes who was three centimetres away from creating
history in the long jump. He narrowly missed a new Scottish record. The U17
women claimed an outstanding achievement by finishing 3rd in their
competition. They drew on points with City of Glasgow B and so 3rd
place had to be decided on count back. Luckily this resulted in a medal
ceremony instead of an early ride home. The U13 Boys’ team ended the day
occupying 4th position. They performed well on the day and in the
meetings in the lead up to the event. These team positions were the best in the
Indoor League season for years and the club can be very proud of its successes.
Jax
Thoirs was 2nd and 3rd in the 60m and the long jump. He
finished a memorable indoor season, where he got two Scottish National medals,
with performances of 8.73 sec and 4.11m. Stuart Black competed over the 60m
hurdles coming 4th in a time of 12.1 sec. Sam Andrews took on the
200m race, finishing 5th in 31.88 sec. Struan McInnes was in high
jump action taking 3rd place after clearing 1.25m. This was an
improvement on his two previous competitions where he reached heights of 1.2m
and 1.15m. Paul McFarlane picked up more points for the team in the 300m. He
crossed the line in 4th after completing the distance in 51.49 sec.
Garry Dick continued to show promise in the shot putt. Garry threw 6.33m to
finish 3rd against his fellow competitors. Despite all of these
athletes’ hard work the team ended the day 2 points away from a podium place.
Hopefully the U13 boys will keep up the high standard of performances and go on
and excel in all the outdoor meetings this summer.
 The
U15 boys’ team were ecstatic to have won the final at the Kelvin Hall. It
looked like the team would need something special to win the Scottish
Championship and they got that in Calum Innes. His 5.92m in the long jump was 2nd
furthest ever indoors for someone of his age and the Scottish record would have
gone with only 4 more centimetres. This of course earned full points for
Victoria Park and his input was increased in the 60m Hurdles where he stormed to
victory in 9.42 sec. The other winning run was from John Craig. In a dramatic
60m sprint John dipped on the line to win by a fraction of a second in 7.94
sec. By the end the importance of this extra point would be shown. Rory
Stewart put in an excellent shot putt to finish 2nd with 7.97m. Rory
was very unlucky to be beaten as his opponent threw the exact same length. It
was only the distance of their second throws that decided the positions. Lorn
Menzies was another crucial player in the success. In a fast 200m race Lorn
looked likely to finish 3rd until he used a burst of speed down the
finishing straight to grab 2nd place and a time of 26.65 sec.
Michael Gray was 5th in the 800m, running four laps in a personal
best of 2.25.52 sec. Gregor Innes was the team’s high jumper. He edged a close
race for 3rd thanks to clearing 1.35m. Going into the last event
Victoria Park were left one point behind Giffnock North. This left Gregor with
a hard task to win the meeting. He ran a superb 400m in a time of 57.9 sec to
finish 2nd. Everyone had tried their best but they all had o wait
for the announcement to know if they had won. After a lot of careful
calculations Victoria Park had 34 points to Giffnock North’s 33.
Scottish U15 Boys Champions:
Lorn Menzies, Gregor Innes, Rory Stewart, John Craig, Callum Innes and Michael
Gray
The U17
women were another age group egger for the final to begin. They had become the
first girls’ team from the club to make the finals for five years and they added
to that accomplishment by finishing a deserved 3rd place. It took
count back to win 3rd ahead of City of Glasgow B but it was down to
the ability and hard work of the squad that got them there. Rebecca Riches
picked up valuable points in the 60m race. She was 2nd in a time of
8.23 sec. Abbey McGhee was also 2nd in her event, the 800m, where
she got a time of 2.22.74 sec. Her sister Aisling McGhee was competing in the
high jump. She got over 1.35m to earn 4th place. Aisling bettered
this position in the 300m when she won in 42.43 sec. Moira Burton was 4th
in the 200m race. She finished the distance in 28.51 sec. Katie Riches was
entered in two competitions, the shot putt and the long jump. She came 6th
in the long jump after reaching 3.97m and in the shot putt Katie threw the shot
7.46m away from the circle to finish 3rd. This amazing team placing
was obtained despite not having a hurdler or a triple jumper which shows just
what a great result this was.
To add to
the excitement of the team events the day ended with thrilling relay races in
which Victoria Park were involved in five. The U13 girls finished 4th
in their heat in a time of 2.09.73 sec. The U17 women B team were also 4th
in their heat after running a good race in 1.59.79 sec. The A team of Abbey
McGhee, Rebecca Riches, Moira Burton and Aisling McGhee won their heat to make
it through to the final. After the first three legs the team were lying in 4th
leaving Aisling McGhee the chance to snatch a medal. Running neck and neck with
Kirkintilloch along the back straight Aisling managed to cut into lane one and
cross the line 3rd after 1.49.72 sec. Both boys’ team also made the
final. The U13 boys’ team came 3rd in their heat and were delighted
to make the final. They were 4th in 2.05.76 sec and were just left
out of the podium places. To top off the team event the U15 boys won the relay
in 1.44.26 sec after dominating the race. After a blistering lap from Calum
Innes Victoria Park were clear from all other finalists and ended the indoor
season in style. The next big event will be the first league meeting of the
outdoor season, at Grangemouth, where Victoria Park will seek promotion from
Division 3 of Central and South of Scotland League on the 17th of
April.
Michael Gray
|
