Academy pupils impress at Schools Championships

FOUR pupils from Langholm Academy travelled to the Emirates Arena in Glasgow last week to compete in the Scottish Schools Athletics Championships. S4 pupil Evelyn Bell was competing in her first indoor event in the Under 16 60m. The 14-year-old progressed to the semi-final with a time of 8.71 seconds. In the semi-final she ran a quicker time of 8.70 seconds, which, although not enough to make the final, finished in a very good 20th position from 53 starters. S3 pupil Mollie Phillips, also competing in her first indoor event, ran for the first time on the circular banked running track in the Under 16 300m. With only four heats, only six athletes would progress to the final. Mollie, 14, ran a very good time of 47.28 seconds and, although not progressing to the final, finished in 15th place from 24 starters. Aoiffion McVittie Brangan, aged only 13, was competing in the U16 60m on Wednesday and 200m on Thursday. In the 60m, which included 53 starters, the S2 pupil won her heat with a time of 8.20 to progress to the semi-final. She then went on to win her semi-final in a time of 8.17 seconds. In a very close final, second and third place athletes crossed the finish line together in a time of 8.04 seconds with Aoiffion awarded the bronze medal, missing out on the silver by 1000th of a second in a photo finish. In the Under 16 200m on the Thursday, she won her heat comfortably with a time of 26.40 seconds to qualify as second fastest qualifier. She then won her semi-final in a time of 26.04 seconds to progress into the final six athletes from 40 starters. In a very exciting final that went down to the wire, Aoiffion missed out on the gold medal by 0.08 seconds. However, she set a new personal best time of 25.59 seconds to collect the silver medal. Aoiffion also received a timely boost ahead of the championships when she found out a recent 60m time she ran in Manchester in December moved her up to second place on the all-time ranking list for athletes in her year group in Scotland. Last but not least, Jessica Cuthbert was competing in her first Scottish Schools Track and Field event and only her second indoor event. The 12-year-old, who is in S1, made an early start to compete in the very first event of the day, the Under 14 1200m where she ran a time of 4:25.34. Although this was not fast enough to make the final, she finished in a respectable 23rd place. She then moved on to the Under 14 60m where she qualified from her heat with a new personal best time of 8.77 seconds. In the second of three semi-finals, Jessica ran another personal best time of 8.75 seconds just being edged out of a place in the final, finishing in ninth place from 48 starters.