News Archive, March- August 2008
22nd August 2008- Allan Scott
Whitemoss' first Olympian's participation in China ended at the second round stage of the 110m hurdles. Allan made it through the initial stage, finishing 3rd in his heat, but unfortunately missed out on the semi final. Still, he is by no means disgraced and has an audience at Buckingham Palace with the rest of the British team to look forward to upon his return home.
16th August- More Open Grades
News of some additional open graded meetings are given below. The details are courtesy of Shettleston Harriers.
Long jump pools will be decided on the night to accommodate athletes doing other events
Sprinters please note – No stadium starting blocks
Tuesday 19th August 2008
6.45 p.m. 100m
7:00 p.m 800m Long jump A
7:00 p.m Shot Sen/U20
7:30 p.m. Derek McLean Trophy (heats)
7.45 p.m. 200m Long jump B
7:45 p.m Shot U13/U15/U17
8:15 p.m. 5000m U17 and over
Tuesday 26th August 2008
6:45 p.m. 100m
7.00 p.m. 1500m Long jump A
7:00 p.m Shot Sen/U20
7:30 p.m. Derek McLean Trophy (Final)
7:40 p.m. 200m Long jump B
7:45 p.m Shot U13/U15/U17
7:55 p.m. 400m U17 and over
8:00 p.m. 3000m U15 and over
SAL REGISTRATION NUMBERS MUST BE PROVIDED
EVENTS ARE FOR ALL MALE AND FEMALE AGE GROUPS UNLESS STATED
ENTRIES CLOSE 30minutes PRIOR TO EVENT
SEEDING WHEN REQUIRED WILL TAKE PLACE 20 minutes BEFORE STARTING
9th August 2008- Celtic Cup
Further to the article below, Nicky McMurtrie had the honour of captaining the Scottish under 16 team. She finished 2nd in the javelin with 31.47m and threw 29.32m to finish 3rd in the discus. Nicky was joined in the Scotland team by two other local athletes, Emma Brown and Beth Duff.
Overall, the match was extremely tight and Scotland were just edged into 3rd on 168 points. Wales won with 180, Ireland accumulated 173 to take 2nd and Ulster were 4th with 125.
27th July 2008- Celtic Cup Selection
Congratulations to Nicky McMurtrie who has earned a Scotland vest having been selected for the Celtic Cup competition at Grangemouth on Saturday 2nd August. This will be Nicky's second participation having competed in Ireland last year. She will take part in the under 16s discus and javelin. Naturally, we all wish her well.
Above, left: Nicky McMurtrie, second selection for the Celtic Cup
20th July 2008- Allan Scott Beijing Bound
Whitemoss were delighted to learn this weekend of honorary member Allan Scott's selection for the Olympic Games in Beijing. Allan will compete in the 110m hurdles having achieved the A standard at a European Athletics Permit meeting at Loughborough. He is the first Whitemoss athlete in the club's 18 year history to qualify for an Olympic Games. He has already competed at one World Championships (Helsinki in 2005) and this year's World Indoor Championships in Madrid.
Allan competed regularly for Whitemoss during the 1990s both indoors and out, including the league competition which is now the Central and South of Scotland League. His events ranged from 100m, 200m, 400m, long jump and triple jump. His talent became obvious at an early age when he was winning medals at British Championships by under 15 level. As we will know from other sources, he has specialised latterly at hurdles with great success. While now a first claim member of Shaftesbury Barnet, Allan never passes up an opportunity to compete in his Whitemoss colours whenever the occasion allows. He heads for the Olympics with our sincere best wishes.
11th July 2008- Scottish Schools and Upcoming Open Grades
Well done to under 15 girl Nicky McMurtrie who won golds in 3 throwing events at the Scottish Schools Championships, all with personal best performances. She won the shot putt with 11.45m (3rd in the UK as of today), the discus with 30.10m (11th UK as of today) and threw the javelin 30.91m (18th UK as of today). Nicky is now ranked number 1 in Scotland for each of these events.
Meanwhile, David Robertson took part in the Edinburgh Open Graded Meeting at Meadowbank on 3rd July, clearing 3.80m in the pole vault to finish in 6th place.
If you're not on holiday, take note of two upcoming open graded competitions. There is one at our home track on 23rd July. Access information from the front page of this website. The week after, on 30th July, there is one at Linwood, where the first league meeting was this year. Details are on the Events Diary page.
4th July 2008- Congratulations
It's congratulations four times over to the following Whitemoss personnel:-
1. Nicky McMurtrie, Marie Claire Martin, Craig McEwan and former club starlet Erin Leggate who were selected to take part in a fast paced 30 minute Inter Region competition. This took place prior to the Bank of Scotland Cup at Grangemouth on Tuesday. The night before, when training at the venue, they met a lovely blonde haired girl from Sweden. Jealous, me?
2. David Robertson who made another 4m pole vault clearance in winning silver at the Scottish Under 20 Championships. After setting a new club record in the event of 4.10m during the indoor season, David also broke the club triple jump record at Sunday's mens league competition.
3. Cathy Robertson, Mark Stringer and William Sutherland who have recently qualified as Level 2 UK Athletics Officials. Including myself and Steven Whyteside, this swells the Whitemoss official count to 5.
4. The Whitemoss Scottish Mens League squad who are 4th with one match remaining after a 5th place finish at the weekend. A similar result on 13th July will see the club achieve their best ever finish in this competition.
3rd June 2008- New Scottish Champion from Whitemoss
Congratulations are due to Craig McEwan who was crowned Scottish Decathlon champion at the weekend in Birmingham. The unusual choice of venue can be explained by the under 20 and senior combined events having to be incorporated into the English event. This is due to the lack of a pole vaulting facility in Perth where the remaining Scottish championships will be staged.
Craig racked up 5 personal bests on his way to 13th place in a 21 man field. He was top Scot which gave him his gold medal. His new bests were:-
100m 11.44
Shot 10.50
400m 51.84
110H 17.02
Pole Vault 2.85
His overall points best improved significantly from 4754 to 5379. Well done barely says enough.
26th May 2008- Upcoming Open Graded Meetings
There's a bit of a gap until the third CSSAL meeting but still plenty choices of competition to keep sharp. Doing at least one out of the following three should be of benefit.
Wednesday 28th May- Linwood Open Graded Meeting, 7pm. Grand Prix events for under 17, 20 and senior athletes are 100m, 400m/300m 800m, 3000m, shot putt, high jump and discus. Events open to all other age groups are 100m, 800m, shot putt, high jump and discus. Information can be obtained from the Events Diary page of this website.
Wednesday 11th June- Falkirk Open Graded Meeting at Grangemouth, 6.45pm. Events on offer are 100m, 300m/400m, 3000m, hammer, high jump, triple jump and discus.
Wednesday 18th June- Ayrshire Open Graded Meeting at Dam Park, Ayr. Click here for further details.
20th May 2008- Child Welfare Policy
A meeting of the committee and coaches was held recently to discuss the above subject. It was deemed necessary following the attendance by Anne McEwan at a Scottish Athletics Children First seminar on 20th April. In summary, there is a set of 10 bullet points indicating minimum requirements to be met by athletics clubs. From my reading, this involves the club having the following:-
1. an appointed Child Welfare Officer, 2. having up to date disclosure checks for all club coaches, helpers and officials, 3. written policies covering (a) the club's coaching structure, (b) steps for dealing with incidents at training whether accidents or instances of bullying, (c) roles and responsibilities of each coach, helper etc, these being accessible to club members, (d) team selection policy, this being accessible to members, and 4. the club having a constitution which members sign up to when joining/renewing (we have this to an extent but it needs updating).
I appreciate the foregoing will seem rather heavy but it's best at this stage that members are made aware of this topic. For this reason, I am taking the step of publishing the minutes of the coach and committee meeting. These can be accessed here. They are best viewed using Microsoft Word viewer which can be downloaded from the links page of this website.
Rest assured, none of the matters in the minutes have to be done overnight but the process is ongoing. Hopefully things will become clearer over time and I will certainly endeavour to keep everyone updated via this site.
5th May 2008- Lanarkshire AAA Relay Championships
This very popular event takes place on our home track on Tuesday 13th May. We have often fared very well and the meeting offers an extra competitive opportunity and a chance for anyone who hasn't run in the league meetings to compete. Things kick off at 7.15pm and registration is from 6pm. The timetable is as follows:-
7:15: U11 Boys 4 x 100m, 7:20: U11 Girls 4 x 100m, 7:25: U13 Boys 4 x 100m, 7:30: U13 Girls 4 x 100m, 7:35: U15 Boys 4 x 100m, 7:40: U15 Girls 4 x 100m, 7:45: U17 Men 4 x 100m, 7:45: Sen Men 4 x 100m, 7:45: U17 Women 4 x 100m, 7:45: Sen Women 4 x 100m 8:00: U13 Boys 3 x 800m U13 Girls 3 x 800m, 8:15: Sen Men 3 x 800m, 8:25: Sen Women 3 x 800m, 8:35: U15 Boys 3 x 800m, U15 Girls 3 x 800m, 8:45: U17 Women 4 x 200m, 8:50: U17 Men 4 x 400m, Sen Men 4 x 400m, 8:55: Sen Women 4 x 400m
Some events may merge depending on the number of teams declared. Coaches will help organise teams. For information, due to Malcolm Clark leaving (needless to say our utmost thanks go to Malky for his service over the last few years), the coaching structure has been revised as follows:-
Under 9s: Lorna will continue with her band of helpers
Under 11s: Cathy Robertson & Steven Whyteside
Under 13s: Alan Owen and Keith Stoddart (with possibility of 1 other)
Under 15s: Alan Boyd & William Sutherland
Under 17s: and up Frank Smith
24th April 2008- 24 Hour Run, 13th and 14th June
Not quite as bad as it sounds, this is a fundraising activity that the club has taken part in for the last few years. It is a popular event and as many athletes as possible are encouraged to go. It is a great way to get to know other athletes in the club.
Athletes must be 17 or over if they wish to stay at the track overnight. However, if any of the younger athletes wish to stay, they must have an adult present with them. Coaches will organise age group sessions on the Saturday. There will be a variety of games during the day which athletes can take part in.
Forms are available on the club noticeboard or in the portacabin and should be returned to Mark Stringer, Julie Whyteside or John Robertson no later than 22nd May.
18th April 2008- Team Selections and Important Drug Testing Message
The encouraging news first. The club has 5 athletes competing for Team West in the Womens League at Meadowbank on Sunday. They are Stephanie Curran, Meghan Owen, Nicky McMurtrie, Julie Whyteside, Lynsey Greenfield & Lorraine Boyd. Very best of luck to them. The men also make their return to Division One of the Scotish Mens League on the same day at Grangemouth. I and others will be in action. The team sheet is encouragingly full. LET'S STAY UP THIS TIME. I for one do not want to be relegated again.
5 Whitemoss members have also been selected to compete in the National Junior League on 27th April, namely, Lynsey Greenfield (200m), Julie Whyteside (1500m) Rachel Barlas (800m), Laura McCord (3,000m), and Lorraine Boyd (100m hurdles, 400m hurdles and triple jump).
The second part of this piece has been moved to the Links page.
The 2008 summer season has started very encouragingly for Whitemoss. Fresh from 5 teams making the indoor league finals (under 11 boys and girls, under 15 boys and girls and under 20 men and women), the Ayrshire Open Grade on Sunday saw the club's best turnout at a competition outwith the league meetings for some considerable time. No fewer than 16 athletes competed at Dam Park, just about all in more than one event. LET'S KEEP THIS GOING! There are plenty more to come up until September.
Admittedly the club has had its difficulties recently but this shows we are still alive and well. The next open grade is at Linwood on 30th April, after the first league meeting at the same venue, ideal either for extra practice or a chance to compete if not in the team for the league. Information, in PDF format, can be found on the results page of this site where the times, jumps and throws from Ayr can also be found.