Top times at Stornoway Running and Athletics Club Open Graded Meeting

The morning action started off with the hurdles and the top performances came from North Uist’s U13 girl, Amie Ringstead who ran 13.41 in the 70m Hurdles and Stornoway U15 girl, Gemma MacRitchie who ran an excellent 12.65 PB in the 75m Hurdles.

In the mixed 800m race SRAC U17 Ali Binns, led the way with a good PB of 2.12.75. Gemma MacRitchie also came away with another PB – 2.36.56, and North Uist U13 girl, Joni Smith knocked off a good few seconds from her PB with a run of 2.43.72.

There were also good SRAC PB runs from Charlie Morrison(2.46.78) , Lewis MacLean (2.50.00), and Ellen McMurdo (2.57.64).

In the 100m sprints, SRAC U17 girl Sian MacDonald was the top female with a run of 13.44, while U20s – Stornoway’s Andrew Horne and North Uist’s DJ MacMillan both ran well with Andrew (11.67), holding off DJ (11.85) as he ran a new PB. In the U15 age group, there also good PB runs from SRAC duo Matthew MacLeod (13.50) & Seb Connelly (14.11), and North Uist team-mates, Angus MacDonald (13.71)and John Scanlon (13.77).

The 75m also saw some great sprinting amongst the younger athletes, with seven excellent heats amongst the U11 and U13 girls. U11s- Kyla McMurdo (12.09) and Lucy Barron (12.01) both did really well with good wins.

Amongst the U13s SRAC girls, Hannah MacKenzie (11.41) and Sophie Smith (11.63) both won their heats, and North Uist girl, Marion Anderson (11.55) had a good run to win closely followed by Ellen McMurdo (11.64) of SRAC - all girls are pushing for places in the Island Select.

The boy’s standout performance across the short distance amongst the U11s came from Stornoway’s Logan Spence (11.02) and there was a good run also from North Uist boys, Thomas Brennan (11.75) & Kieran MacIsaac (11.77).

It was good to see a spread of age groups involved in the 400m race, with SRAC senior, Eve Carrington having a good solid season opener – 61.64, and being pushed all the way by Stornoway U17, Daniel Stewart who ran a PB of 61.94.

Next on the track was the 1200m for U13 girls. It’s an unusual distance but is a great opportunity as it’s part of the Island Select programme, so a chance for team selection there. U13 Rachel Murray, despite being the only competition, had an excellent PB run of 4.50.60.

Meanwhile in the field, in the U13 LJ – the top three jumpers in the girl’s event were only separated by 3cm. Topping the rankings in her first track and field competition was SRAC’s Sophie Smith (3.39m), with North Uist girl Marion Anderson (3.38m) just pipping Alyth MacLeod of SRAC (3.36m). The boy’s top jump came from North Uist U13 youngster Calum MacDonald – 4.10m.

Highlights from the 1500m mixed race were SRAC U15 David Morrison’s 4.48.41 PB, and a big PB from his ever improving U17 team-mate, Daniel Stewart – 5.12.81. Fellow SRACer U15 girl, Kirsty MacLean, tackling the distance for the first time, also had a solid run with more to come as she came home in 5.59.02.

The next Western Isles generation looks promising and in the 600m for the U11 age group, top honours went to SRAC’s Kyla McMurdo amongst the girls with a fine 2.07.27 run, while the boy’s star performer was North Uist youngster, Kieran MacIsaac, who won in an excellent 1.59.01.

In the U11 Long Jump Katie MacDonald of NUAAC had a fine leap of 3.24m for top spot, closely followed by SRAC’s Amy MacRitchie with 3.12m, while Thomas Brennan of North Uist’s 3.30m did enough to just finish ahead of Logan Spence from SRAC who jumped 3.23m in the boy’s event.

Back on the track and the 150m saw some more excellent sprinting from our Western Isles U13 girls with 5 girls under 23 seconds – all PBs. North Uist’s Joni Smith led the way with an excellent 22.40, just pipping SRAC’s Hannah MacKenzie on 23.43, followed by Marion Anderson, NUAAC (22.59), and SRAC team-mates , Sophie Smith (22.60) and Ellen McMurdo (22.90). With the Western Isles Championships on next weekend, the U13 girl’s sprints look like they will be hotly contested and cracking races.

In the 200m there were also a number of excellent PB runs across the age groups. Highlights were North Uist U13 Calum MacDonald’s 28.57, SRAC U15 Matthew MacLeod’s 27.31, with training pal, Gemma MacRitchie running an excellent 27.88.

Fellow U15 John Scanlon of North Uist also had a good PB of 27.64, while amongst the other athletes there were good PBs from SRAC U17 Sian MacDonald ( 27.29), & U20 Eilidh MacLeod (26.54).

In the 300m it was two U15 SRAC athletes who were burning up the track, both running good PBs. Angela Horne recorded a time of 44.45, while Ewan MacLeod broke the 44 second barrier for the first time running 43.83. Angela was also top U15 girl in the Long Jump with an excellent 4.64m PB jump, and training partner, Molly MacLeod – relatively new to the long jump - also did well with a PB of 3.93m with more to come.

Back in the field and the Southern Isles athletes were showing their Western Isles throwing dominance once again.

There were excellent U15 discus PBs from South Uist’s Michael Campbell (20.47m), and North Uist’s Finlay MacDonald (18.73m), with fellow South Uist U15 boy, Ryan MacIntyre throwing an excellent 25.12m in the javelin, and North Uist U17 Neil MacPherson recording 21.40m in the discus . SRAC U13 Angus Morrison though showed there’s also good potential in the North though with a fine 5.90m PB in the Shot Put, and at the other end of the scale there was a SRAC senior debut from Hugh Barron in the discus with 20.38m.

The day finished with some fun relays with the North Uist youngster leaving with the bragging rights! There will be some more friendly inter island rivalry next weekend as the Stornoway track plays host to the 2017 Western Isles Track and Field Championships.

The event is open to all to take part, and we’d be delighted to see a good crowd down so come along.

The action starts at 1030 and full information can be found on SRAC’s website – www.srac.org.uk