18/04/08

Bus Times for Nithsdale OGM, Sunday 20 April

The Crown, Carluke, 9am
Wishaw Police Station, 9.15am
Motherwell Library, 9.30am

1/04/08

Top Class Cross Country!

The British Schools Cross Country Championship took place on Friday at Strathallan School in Perth and the World Cross Country Championship and supporting races was held over Saturday and Sunday in the magnificent natural arena of Holyrood Park in Edinburgh. Law athletes reinforced the club’s emerging status by being involved in all of the above.

On Friday, Nicola Lindsay and Craig Wellcoat represented Scottish Schools in the Home Nations School Championship after finishing 2nd and 1st respectively in the  Scottish Schools race. Against the best in Britain and Ireland they really ran well, with Craig finishing an excellent 4th to lead the Scottish Team to team Bronze. Nicola, a little below her best, was still good enough to finish 16th and help her team to a Silver team medal. 
Well done to Craig and Nicola for their performances on the day and throughout a long cross country season where the proved among the best in Scotland.

At Holyrood Park on Saturday “Welcome to the World” young athletes relays were held over a very demanding course. Law had two teams in each race, where many of the young members were from the “Biggar bit” - the newly-formed section of the club in Biggar. All can be proud of their performances.
The races were held after the club took the opportunity to visit the world's elite XC athletes in Pollock Halls. Law had “adopted” Uganda and first stop was with the Ugandan athletes who were delighted to see and meet the Law youngsters. During the visit the Law kids met and spoke to top class athletes from all over the world, who made the time to speak to our young athletes. This was voted a highlight of the day.
In the races, the under 11 girls were first on the line where the team of Pamela and Emily McNicol and Kirsten Cowe finished 12th and the Biggar girls Molly Simpson, Amy Laird and M. Fraser were 24th. Kathryn Kerr ran the first leg and completed in 25th place.
The under 11 boys were next and the result of the day was the bronze medal won in a close finish by the team of Rory McLaughlin, Jay Cowan and Luke Foss. The other team of Marco Nicholson, Mark Bradshaw and another Biggar debutante, Greg Paton finished in 21st place.
In the under 13 girls race Rachel Hands, Samantha Stevenson and Alice McGrath were 13th and the team of Shona Campbell, Aimee Gray and Cloe Keeper was 23rd.
The under 13 boys team of Stuart Hall, Jamie Cubis and Ross Hill were 4th, narrowly pipped for the bronze medal. Ryan Fernon, Corry Reynolds and Stephen Mann all ran well to complete in 17th position.
Everyone can be proud of their efforts in a top class competition.

Sunday was the big day: the World Cross Country Championships, and Law went through in numbers to see the world's best runners in action and support our “adopted nation”, Uganda. We were lucky enough to meet the Ugandan athlete who finished 4th in the Junior men’s race; another highlight.

Pat Kelly

Under 13 Training Group

The Under 13 and below training group on Tuesday and Thursday at Wishaw has become very popular over the last few months, and the numbers attending are swamping the available coaching staff. Although the Committee is very happy to see these increasing numbers it has become necessary to make plans to combat the increasing numbers and allow all to get adequately, and safely, coached. We request that ALL parents endeavor to make themselves available a couple of evenings per month to assist with coaching. The Club is also willing to pay put parents through a Level 1 Coaching Course, should that be of interest to you. (Contact me for more details.) All children in this group MUST become members of the Club, and this must happen within 2 to 3 weeks of starting to train with us. We thank you for your assistance in this matter. Once we have a group of parental volunteers we will try to establish a roster so we don’t have everyone attending on the same night.

Rob Dalziel
Club Secretary

16/03/08

Scottish Athletics Indoor League Finals and Relays

Law & Districts’ U17 women had double celebrations after excellent performances at the Scottish Athletics Indoor League Finals and Relays which took place in the Kelvin Hall, Glasgow on Sunday 16th March.  Bronze Medals went to their 4 x 200m relay team of Lynn Livesey, Abby Currie, Kirstie McLeod & Laura Livesey, while Silver Medals were also awarded to the U17W team, Coming 2nd in the League finals, with Nicola Lindsay and Laurie Anne McKenna completing the jubilant 6 women team. 
Bronze League Medals went to our U11 boys team of Mark Bradshaw, Jay Cowan & Euan Robb, well done to our young athletes.
The other league finalists were U11girls (5th), U15girls (4th), U15boys (5th), U17men (4th) & U20men (4th).
In the 4 X 200m  Relay Competition Silver Medals went to U20men, Gary Grieve, Paul McLaughlin, Alistair Lannigan & Andrew Russell and Bronze Medals to U15 boys, Lewis Nicholson, Ross Hill, Craig Wellcoat, & Sean Houston.  The other teams representing the Club in the Relays were U13 boys and girls, U15girls and U17 men.

Congratulations and well done to all the teams for their efforts on the day; and thanks go to Team Managers, Siobhan Lindsay and Ann Lafferty for their hard work and organisation.

Elizabeth McLeod

10/03/08

Press Report, National Junior Relay Championships, March 1st 2008

Four teams represented Law & District AAC at the National Junior Relay Championships at the Kelvin Hall, Glasgow on Saturday 1st March.  The U17 team of Lynn Livesey, Abby Currie, Kirstie McLeod and Laura Livesey had double celebrations when they set a New Club Record of 1.48.83mins in their 4x200m heat, then in a thrilling and exciting final they were triumphant when they claimed the Bronze Medal.  The U17 men, Alan Robb, Ross Macdonald, Steven Buwert and Bobby Hill also earned their place in the final and had an excellent run coming 4th in 1.37.98mins, just narrowly missing out in the bronze medal position. The U13 girls Ashleigh Anderson, Emma Watson, Jenna Sharp & Jennifer Rintoul and U15 boys, Lewis Nicholson, Ross Hill, Craig Wellcoat & Stewart Hall all put in some fine performances in their heats.  Well done to all our athletes for representing the Club at this highly competitive event.
Congratulations from the club goes to Laura Livesey and Craig Wellcoat who have been selected to represent North/South Lanarkshire at the International Childrens’ Games in San Francisco in July.
The D.M. Hall Senior Championships also took place on Saturday at the Kelvin Hall.  Our only competitor was Gary Grieve an U20 athlete.  Rising to the challenge of the Senior 800m Gary was not intimidated at all, indeed he not only earned his place in the final, but gained a PB performance of 1.59.07mins.
At the Scottish Masters Indoor Championships on 16/2/08 also at the Kelvin Hall, 6 medals were won.  Tom Nicholson claimed the title of the 60m and Silver in the 400m, Stephen Allen and Jimmy Macdonald the 800m titles in their respective age groups and Pat Kelly won 2 Silver medals in the 400m & 800m.

The Finals of the Scottish Athletics Indoor League will take place on Sunday 16th March.  We have 7 out of our 9 teams reaching the finals.  Congratulations to all our teams and thanks go to the Team Managers, Siobhan Lindsay & Ann Lafferty, coaches and club officials for a job well done. The club wishes them all every success on the 16th, when a relay competition for all age groups will also take place.

Reported by Elizabeth McLeod

17/02/08

Bank of Scotland National Indoor Championships, Kelvin Hall, 9th & 10th February 2008

Three National Titles were earned by two Law & District athletes at the National Indoor Champs over last weekend, together with 1 Silver Medal and 3 Bronze medals.  U15 middle distance runner, Craig Wellcoat added to his recent West District title with an outstanding performance in the 800m winning the Gold medal and an excellent PB 2.06.65mins.  U20 athlete Gary Grieve claimed a well deserved Silver medal also in the 800m in a time of 2.00.78mins, and U17 Ross Macdonald added the Bronze medal with a PB time of 2.02.35mins to his recent District title also in the 800m.  Alan Robb ran a superb U17 200m semi-final with an excellent PB 23.83sec, earning his place in the final and a well deserved Bronze medal resulted.
Although representing Glasgow School of Sport on the day, club member Laurie Anne McKenna deservedly merits our congratulations on her excellent performances at the Nationals,  claiming the U17 60m and Long-Jump titles to add to her Scottish Schools Over 16 60m title and Long-Jump Silver Medal. Lewis Nicholson also competing for Glasgow School of Sport claimed the final medal, a Bronze in the U15 Shot Putt, reaching the SF in the 60m and a PB run in the 200m 26.07sec.
Over the weekend competing in the female sprint events with some excellent performances were Ashleigh Anderson reaching the U13 Semi-final of the 60m after an excellent PB run 8.99sec in her heat, not content with 1 PB, Ashleigh then had the leap of her life in the Long-Jump adding a superb 16cm to her previous record with a fantastic jump of 4.16mtrs.  Jenna Sharp made her first appearance at National Level with a good effort in the U13 60m.   The U15 girls were represented  by Chelcie Dalziel who smashed her 200m PB to 27.10sec 2 days earlier at the Scottish Schools, with an exciting run in 200m heat she made the ‘B’ final look easy going over the finishing line in 1st place, Cara Swann made her debut in that event also.  The U17 women made an excellent contribution to the successful weekend with PB performances by all 3 athletes.  In the 60m Lynn Livesey reached the SF with an excellent PB run 8.20sec just narrowly missing the final by 1 place, however in the 200m Lynn proved her determination again, when drawn in lane 5 she stormed her way round the track into 2nd place and her place in the SF secured, were she came 3rd in another PB performance of 27.44sec.  Laura Livesey, having recently returned from Cardiff with an excellent new indoor PB 27.10 in the 200m, where she represented Scottish Schools in the 200m Celtic Nations event, managed to again challenge her time with a fantastic new PB run of 26.99sec earning her SF place, having earlier competed in the 60m event also. The U17 trio was completed by Abby Currie who continued the success in the sprints with a fabulous performance in the 300m and the final PB 44.85sec. and a well deserved place in the Semi-Final.

Back with our male athletes, our U20 men all put in some fine attempts.  Alistair Lannigan reached the 400m SF with a time of 54.15, Stewart Livingston also in 400m 54.17 and Andrew Russell in the 200m, while Ross Allan made his first attempt at the Nationals in the 60m, 200m & Shot-Putt.  In the 800m brothers U17 Bobby and U15 Ross Hill both put in great performances, with a time of 2.06.08mins and a SF place, and 2.18.17 and a place in the ‘B’ final respectively.  Nicola Lindsay having had a good run in the U17 1500m reached the final but unfortunately pulled out near the end of the race.

Reported by Elizabeth McLeod

27/01/2008

Indoor League looking good!

We are in a really strong position to qualify for Finals in many age groups. The third and final match is Sunday 3 February and we need every athlete to put in their best possible performance as every second or cm could affect points and placings. If you are a B team member or a Guest, push the A team athlete. You could get a PB, they could get a PB, you could beat them and get their slot in the team for the Finals. There is everything to play for; As, Bs and Guests!

Celtic Nations International and Inter-District XC Championships, Saturday 12 January

Our three athletes, Ross, Nicola and Craig all had excellent races at Holyrood Park on a very cold, but bright January afternoon. The ground was very firm, the frost barely lifting at all, the course pretty flat and the atmosphere of the 'big occasion' very much in evidence, with TV cameras capturing most of the races. In the U13 Inter-District race, a distance of 2.7K, Ross held his place well in the leading group finishing in 7th place with a time of 10.13. Age rules for international races meant both Nicola and Craig were running up an age group for the Celtic Nations races. Nicola ran first and finished strongly, with a sprint no less, in a very creditable 13th overall and 7th in the international race, with a time of 16.22 for the 4.1K course. Craig, still a relative newcomer to cross-country, continued to impress with an excellent run over the same distance in a time of 14.03. He also placed 13th overall, but managed to grab 5th in the international race.

All three performaces were very encouraging for the next big event in our athletes' cross-country calendar, the Scottish National Championships on the 23 February.

10/01/2008

Inter-District Cross Country Championship, Saturday 12 January

Ross Hill will be joining Nicola and Craig at Holyrood Park this Saturday when he competes for the West District team at the Inter-District XC Championships.

Good luck to all three athletes.

07/01/2008

Scottish team selection for Laura

Another of our young athletes has been selected to represent Scotland. Laura Livesey, reigning Scottish U15 200m champion, will line up for the 200m alongside other top young sprinters from Wales and Ireland at a Home International match in Cardiff on 3 Feb.

04/01/2008

02/01/2008

Scottish Indoor League, Kelvin Hall, Sunday 6 January 2008

Team sheets are available here. If you have any problems with events you have been given please speak to your coach or to Ann Lafferty (boys) or Siobhan Lindsay (girls). Teams have been selected to give as many athletes as possible the chance to compete in their preferred events. Teams for the final match however, will be selected on performance.

Bus pick ups: Carluke Crown 11.15, Wishaw Police Station 11.30, Motherwell Library 11.40

We should be able to leave Kelvin Hall by 5.30pm.

Cost for travelling on bus is £3.

Celtic Nations Cross Country, Saturday 12 January 2008

Congratulations to Nicola Lindsay and Craig Wellcoat who have both been selected for the Scottish U17 teams for the international races at Holyrood Park, Edinburgh. The event includes teams from Scotland, Wales and Ireland and is run alongside the Inter-District and the Great Edinburgh International Cross Country races.