The secondary 2-4 athletes from Aith Junior High School, Brae High School, Sand­wick Junior High School and Anderson High School endured scorching conditions while com­peting in a range of events including sprints, 1,500 metres, javelin and long jump. The audience, however, were pleased with the glorious sunshine, especi-ally as most events were outside.

The sports started well for Sandwick with Josh James leading the whole way and coming in first in the 75m hurdles. Connor Wise-man, also from Sandwick, came in second, while Haldane Fraser (Aith) came in third.

The girls’ exciting race came just after with a very close finish. Jenny Anderson (Aith) scraped first, closely followed by Aylesha Meades, also from Aith, and Natalie Moffat (AHS). The tense atmos­phere increased as the participants and crowd waited to find out who had won this very tight race.

Anderson High achieved top results in both the boys and girls 1,500m with Lauren Odie coming first for the girls with a good time of 5.46 minutes followed by Sarah Kaey from Sandwick and Joy Ramsay from Brae.

Lorne McNiven won the boys’ final with a great time of 4.52 minutes. Another AHS pupil, Alex Nunn-Thomson, closely followed him and Jamie Murphy (Brae) finished third. This was a very strong race with five seconds between first and third place. Everybody was on their feet cheering on the three runners as they careered around the track.

Next up were the boys with the shot putt, while the girls participated in the javelin. The Aith boys competed well in the shot with Theo Mouat coming first with a distance of 10.86m and Callum Williamson coming third, while Ben Morris got second for Sand-wick.

In the javelin Stephanie Adamson from Sandwick performed very well, out-throwing the other com-petitors by just under five metres with a distance of 20.26 metres. Lauren Odie and Rozanne George-son both from Anderson came in second and third respec-tively.

Sandwick continued the winning streak as their boys achieved first and second in the javelin with Rory Goodlad throwing his javelin 27.49m. Brydon Work just managed to scrape second, beating Lewis Fraser from Aith by 15cm.

The girls had a very close fight in the shot with a distance of 7cm breaking up the top three. Aylesha Meades (Aith) managed to scrape first with a distance of 7.43m with Sandwick’s Stephanie Adamson second and Rozanne Georgeson achieving third.

The 100m races were both very exciting and tense races with the winners crossing the line with less than one second between first and third. Everyone from Sandwick was on their feet as Connor Wiseman crossed the line first with Jake Constable (AHS) and Joe Bishop (Brae) on his heels. It was a good atmosphere as athletes from different schools congratulated the three.

Aylesha Meades from Aith achieved another first place in the 100m, closely followed by Sally Adamson and Jessica Anderson, both from Sandwick.

As the boys moved over to the sand pit for the long jump, the girls ventured inside to take part in the high jump and the competition between the schools tightened.

Patrik Szabo of AHS won the long jump by passing the five-metre mark easily with a distance of 5.19 metres. Ryan Ratter and Joe Bishop both from Brae achieved second and third with distances just under five metres.

As everyone piled into the hall to watch the girls’ high jump the mood was tense, as only three athletes were left competing. Rozanne Georgeson and Anne Leask (both AHS) and Jenny Anderson (Aith) gave it their best to take first place, but in the end Rozanne won, jumping a great 1.37m.

Jenny Anderson from Aith was one of many athletes who seemed to do well in all the categories that she entered, including the girls’ long jump which took place later in the day. Sporty Jenny achieved second in this event with only Stephanie Adamson from Sandwick beating her.

“I have only done a few events,” Jenny told us, “and I managed to get a gold for the hurdles which was not too bad.” Modest Jenny agreed that the wonderful weather had made a big difference to the day.

The athletes then only had a short while to grab something to eat before they were back on the track for the 200m finals.

The boys’ race was the closest of the day with Connor Wiseman from Sandwick coming in just 0.05 seconds after the winner Jake Constable (AHS). Josh James (Sandwick) followed Connor achieving third place. Kirsty Laurenson took home the gold for Sandwick in the girls’ event, continuing their good run.

The boys’ 800m followed and, unfortunately, an injured knee took Thomas Grant of AHS out of the race, disappointing his fellow pupils.

The remaining hope for AHS was Lorne McNiven who was impossible to catch during the race. Lorne went on to win with a fantastic time of two minutes 26 seconds. He was followed by Jamie Murphy (Brae), whose performance put Sam Seatter in third place, getting another medal for Brae.

In the girls’ race Lauren Odie boosted AHS again with an early lead and won the race with a time of two minutes 38.19 seconds, fol-lowed by Rozanne Georgeson (AHS) and Sandwick’s Sarah Keay.

The 4×100m relays were the highlight of the day, with two golds for AHS as they won both the boys’ and girls’ relays.

Sandwick claimed both the silver medals and Aith came in third for both events. All athletes not taking part in the relays gave their team much support by cheering them on as they crossed the finish line.

Kayleigh Leask from Sandwick, who participated in the javelin event, summed up the mood of the day: “I am enjoying my day, and I have worked as hard as I can.” All in all it was a very successful day with the pupils showing good sportsmanship throughout the tense atmosphere of the events. The day was made complete by the beautiful weather and the happy pupils doing their best while having a fun day.

By Danny Garrick, Megan Keppie and Tom Tulloch (Secondary four, Anderson High School)

* * * * * * * *

Results Boys – 100 metres: 1 Connor Wiseman (Sandwick) 12.40; 2 Jake Constable (AHS); 3 J

Katie Bristow and Jordan Morrison with their medals. Photo: Dave Donaldson Click on image to enlarge.

Jordan Morrison and Katie Bristow scooped silver medals in the javelin and 3000m respectively, earning themselves Scotland vests in the process.

Both athletes will represent their country in the Schools International against athletes from England, Ireland and Wales on the 18th of July in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

Both Jordan’s throw of 46.44m and Katie’s time of 10 minutes 32 seconds were huge personal bests and place them both at number two in their event rankings.

Medal glory also came to Eilidh Peterson who took bronze in the long jump competition, jumping 4.67m, just short of her personal best.

Katie also produced a good performance in the 1500m, finishing comfortably in under five minutes in her heat. Unfortunately the breeze in the stadium stepped up for the final, but despite this Katie ran strongly to again finish in under five minutes.

Megan Smith produced a very good performance in her 100m heat to make it through to a very tough semi-final. Megan also went on to run a huge personal best in the 300m, narrowly missing out on a final place.

Athletes perform well at the Scottish Schools Athletics Championships

Emma Leask ran in a different heat to Megan in the 300m, also narrowly missing out on the final.

Sean Maver produced a personal best jump of 12.48m in the triple jump competition despite an existing injury.

On the second day of competition, Karen Bannister cleared a solid height of 1.40m but was unable to progress from 1.45m.

Eilidh jumped well in the triple jump, recording 10.05m and finishing just short of the bronze medal position.

Emma’s 800m final brought the competition to a close for the Shetland athletes. Emma’s new personal best performance of 2 minutes 21 seconds in her heat qualified her safely for the final and a solid run saw her finish 6th overall.

All athletes represented the Anderson High School and would like to thank Niall for arranging this trip.

Karen Bannister leaps over the bar during the high jump. Photo:Kevin Jones

Shetlands athletes are beginning to show the benefits of a hard winter’s training with a number of perform­ances that place high in the 2009 Scottish rankings.

The weather wasn’t ideal for the second HIPPO (Highlands and Islands Performance Participation Opportunity) athletic competition at the Clickimin on Sunday. A strong cross wind and occasional showers made conditions difficult in all events. Despite this there were some fantastic achievements on both a personal and national level.

The participation of a number of athletes from Orkney brought a more competitive feel to some of the events and it was great to see a 10,000 metres race alongside the more usual HIPPO fare. Karl Simpson won this in a creditable time of 36:27 minutes, given the severity of the headwind in the final bend. Russell Gair and Bill Adams worked together for most of the race, Gair taking second place in the sprint for the line.

Shetland’s javelin throwers con­tinue to impress. Jordan Morrison threw a personal best of 44.03m in the under-17 event, putting him at the top of the 2009 Scottish list, Rory Goodlad’s PB of 32.13m moved him to third in this years under-15 Scottish rankings while in the under-17 women’s event Inga Woods increased her PB to 28.21m to move into this year’s Scottish top 10. In the under-13 girls’ event Claire Johnston was not able to improve on her PB but is still ranked third in Scotland.

The other throwers made light of the conditions, Sophie Kelman’s 28.80m in the hammer was not a PB but places her sixth on the Scottish list, a position matched by Maurice Williamson in the men’s under-20 category with a 11.49m shot putt. Maurice also threw 44.70m in the hammer to cement his Scottish third position, while Jack Howarth also threw a PB of 28.34m in the under-20 men’s hammer.

In the under-17 women’s high jump Sophie May Leyland cleared a PB of 1.48m in a closely fought contest with Karen Bannister.

The triple jumpers were the only group that suffered a really heavy shower and after some very strong jumping in the first three rounds, particularly from Sean Maver and Maurice Williamson, all the per­form­ances slipped back as the rain was driven in on the cold northerly wind.

The rain cleared before the long jumpers made their appearance where Allie Elphinstone reached a new PB of 4.62m. Cara Steven, Tahnae MacLennan and Sophie Black jumped well in the under- 11 girls’ group, finishing first, second and third respectively, Holly King and James Bell were the clear winners in the under- 13 girls and under-11 boys’ categories while Scott Riise nar­rowly beat Neil Johnson in the under-13 boys.

All the middle distance races were severely impacted by the wind. Even the more mature athletes struggled to get near their best in the poor conditions, Joshua Morrison finishing over six seconds outside his best time on the 800m.

The various sprint events were not much affected by the wind, with seven competitors in the men’s 100m and five in the 200m making for very exciting racing. Lee Williamson won both events despite false starting in each one. Haydn Thomason and Scott Lawson could not be separated by the clock in the 100m, Scott being given second place after much discussion by the timekeepers. Thomas Newton came from behind to pip Scott Lawson for second place in a closely-fought 200m.

Personal bests were achieved in the 100m by: Lee Williamson (under-23 men) 11.2; Haydn Thomason (under-17 men) 11.6; Tom Jamieson (under-15 boys) 12.6; Caitlin Watt (under-17 women) 13.5; and Megan Smith (under-17 women) 13.1. Haydn’s time putting him into third place on the Scottish rankings while Megan’s time scraped her into the Scottish top 20.

In the 200m Tom and Megan both achieved PBs with 27.7 and 27.5 respectively. The final bend of the 400m was straight into the wind yet despite this Haydn Thomason achieved another PB in 54.2, as did Alan Williamson with a time of 55.5.

A spokesman said the club would like to thank the volunteers who helped on the day, particularly the unsung heroes who managed the registration and co-ordinated the events.

A complete list of results can be found at www.shetlandaac.co.uk

Age: 31
Birthplace: Aberdeen
Medal tally: None yet

A successful island games in Åland would be. . .

At least one 40 metre plus throw in the hammer and I’ll be happy.

I mainly got into athletics because . . .

I could run quite fast when I was younger and I was encouraged to go to training by a number of people. We got to try the hammer during a coaching course a few years later and I’ve been addicted ever since.

My best achievements so far have been . . .

An agonising fourth in the hammer in Rhodes (least said the better).

A way of improving athletics in Shetland would be . . .

Access to an indoor athletics facility (or a dome over the track at Clickimin).

Currently I most admire . . .

Honesty, determination and perseverance.

My main ambition for the future is . . .

Personally I’d like not to finish fourth in Åland (I’m sure everyone who has ever been fourth understands me there). On the coaching side I’d love to see all our athletes achieve their full potential this season.

In my spare time away from athletics I like to . . .

Wonder what it was that I forgot to do that gave me spare time.

Musically I like to listen to . . .

A variety really (although I am assured by the younger athletes at the club that my taste is rubbish).

I like to read . . .

Anything with a good plot line. I love finding a book that I can’t put down.

And watch . . .

Grey’s Anatomy, CSI and House.

The best films I’ve seen are . . .

I’ll watch anything with a clever plotline or that keeps me laughing.

My favourite actors/actresses are . . .

Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Patrick Dempsey.

My pet hates include . . .

Rudeness and people on television with bad grammar.

My favourite food and drink is . . .

Mushroom risotto, Orkney fudge cheesecake and Gallo White Grenache with ice.

The best country I have visited so far is . . .

Gotland, where we were for the games in 1999. The island had great scenery and the people were really friendly.

I would most like to meet . . .

Usain Bolt (I think raw sporting talent like that deserves to be witnessed first hand) or Dara O’Briain (purely because he’s hilarious).

If I won millions on the lottery I would . . .

Get my house built, make sure my family have everything they need and then start looking at locations for that indoor facility.

In my wildest dreams, the ideal way of spending a day/night would be . . .

An athletics competition in the morning in which all the Shetland athletes would medal, Mamma Mia in London’s West End for the afternoon and a barbecue with my friends and family at night (possibly with a few drams).

Anything to add . . .

Just a shameless plug for the athletics competition we’re holding at the Clickimin track on Sunday.

The competition is open to everyone over the age of nine and athlete registration is at 10.30am. Entry is free and everyone is welcome.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

John Magnus Laurenson

Age: 49
Birthplace: Lerwick
Medal tally: three bronze and two silver.

A successful island games in Åland would be . . .

To shoot as well as I can, and hope for a medal.

I mainly got into clay pigeon shooting because . . .

I had to give up football due to knee injuries.

My best achievements so far have been . . .

Five medals in the island games, and the highest qualifying score in Scotland for the international shooting team last year.

A way of improving clay pigeon shooting would be . . .

To put a roof over the shooting stands at the range, to keep the Shetland weather out.

Currently I most admire . . .

Our lady shooters, Lou Jackson and Jo Dunlop, for their determination and their medals in Rhodes, and also the Whalsay bowling team.

My main ambition for the future is . . .

To get a gold medal in the island games before it’s too late.

In my spare time away from clay pigeon shooting I like to . . .

Go fishing in my boat.

Musically I like to listen to . . .

Most kinds of music except heavy metal and opera.

I like to read . . .

Non fiction: tales of old sailing and fishing voyages.

And watch . . .

Sport and documentaries.

The best films I’ve seen are . . .

The Shawshank Redemption and Mr Bean.

My favourite actors/actresses are . . .

Rowan Atkinson.

My pet hates include . . .

Giving speeches, karaoke and Jane Moncrieff’s interviews at the island games . . . oh, and whisky.

My favourite food and drink is . . .

Salt herring or whitings and new Ness tatties, followed by John Peter Blance’s sticky toffee pudding and custard. Drinks would be lager tops and Baileys.

The best country I have visited so far is . . .

America.

I would most like to meet . . .

No-one in particular.

If I won millions on the lottery, I would . . .

Phone Alan Walterson to check the ticket, and then phone Andrew Inkster and tell him that Shift One had retired.

In my wildest dreams, the ideal way of spending a day/night would be . . .

To tow Shetland to the Canaries for a better climate, but that would probably take more than a day and a night.

Anything to add . . .

I would like to thank Jim Work for all his unseen ground work at the shooting range, and wish good luck to all the Shetland competitors in Åland.

Shetland’s nine gold medals performances came from Lauren Odie in the under-15 girls’ 800 metres, Faye Richardson in the under-20 women’s 100m, Jenny Richardson in the under-20 women’s 200m, Eilidh Peterson in both the under-20 women’s triple jump and long jump, Rory Goodlad in the under-15 boys’ javelin, Tom Jamieson in the under-15 boys’ triple jump, Sean Maver in the under-17 men’s triple jump and Karl Robertson in the senior men’s hammer.

The eight silver medal performances came from Claire Johnston in the under-13 girls’ javelin, Faye Richardson in the 200m, Elaine Park in the senior women’s hammer, Sam Maver in the under-15 boys’ javelin, Rory Goodlad in the under-15 boys’ long jump, Scott Jeromson in the under-20 men’s javelin and Lee Williamson in both the senior men’s 100m and 200m.

The eight bronze medal per­formances came from Jessica Anderson in the under-15 girls’ shot, Eilidh Peterson in the 100m, Tom Jamieson in the 100m, Jason Riise in the under-15 boys’ javelin, Sam Maver in the long jump, Gareth Robertson in both the under-20 men’s 100m and 200m and Karl Robertson in the 100m.

Other notable performances came from Claire Johnson in the 100m and the shot, Holly King in the 100m and long jump, Kirsty Laurenson in the 100m and long jump, Jessica Anderson in the 100m, Jenny Richardson in the 200m, Sam Maver in the 100m, Jason Riise in the long jump, Sean Maver in the long jump, Scott Lawson in the 100m and 200m and Karl Robertson in the shot.

A spokeswoman for Shetland Amateur Athletics Club said: “This was an excellent day of performances with many of the younger athletes making their competitive debut on the main­land.

Saturday’s event was the second of the competitions on the Shetland calendar, with the next being the HIPPO competition at Clickimin on 7th June. That competition will be open to all current and would-be athletes over the age of nine and details will be publicised in the coming week.

The spokeswoman thanked the SIC community development dep­artment and Northlink Ferries for the financial assistance, without which the trip would not have been possible.

For the latest news relating to Shetland Athletics go to www.shetlandaac.co.uk

With only six weeks left until the action gets under way, Shetland’s 93-strong squad of athletes and officials for this year’s island games competition in Åland has been named.

One of the most striking details about the squad is that there is no place for runner Claire Wilson, one of the outstanding performers in recent games having won a host of medals in the Isle of Man in 2001, Guernsey in 2003, here in 2005 and Rhodes two years ago.

Athletics team coach Karen Craigie said Wilson had recently moved to Birmingham but has been unable to get into a settled programme of training over the past year and so she has decided to sit the games out, but the club hopes she will be able to return to action for the 2011 competition in the Isle of Wight.

The provisional 26-man football squad – to be whittled down to 20 later this month – is boosted by the presence of Duncan Bray, scorer of the clinching second goal against Guernsey in the 2005 games final in Shetland.

Manager John Jamieson is hopeful that Bray – who is now based in France but had a rare outing for Ness United against Whitedale on Monday during a fleeting visit to his home shores – will be able to make the games, which would inject a bit of much-needed spark to the team in the attacking third.

The footballers face a tricky draw in the group stages, coming up against host island Åland, Greenland and Menorca, but should have a much stronger squad to choose from than they did for the recent defeat against
the Western Isles. Along with the possible addition of Bray, students Ross Moncrieff and Joe Leask should feature, along with key midfield man Alan Duncan.

Shetland will be participating in nine of the 14 sports being contested in Åland from 26th June until 4th July, including a 23-strong athletics squad, 10 archers, eight swimmers, a trio of table tennis players and seven shooters. Four sailors, four windsurfers and solitary golfer Jordan Leask, along with various team managers, coaches and physios, make up the 93 taking part.

Accounting for the presence of a football team this time around, the squad size is roughly in line with the pool of 64 which travelled to Rhodes. The squad could have been substantially larger but squash, bowls, triathlon and cycling have all been left out of the games at the discretion of the host island, while Shetland is not sending badminton, volley­ball, gymnastics or women’s football teams.

General team manager Bob Kerr said there was a “good mix of youth and experience” in the squad. “You never know what surprises might come in the form of medals – the combination of the event,  the preparation, the climate, all combine to bring up medals  where we may or may not have expected them. It’s hard to predict, and that’s the excitement of the games.

“As in previous games, there’s a mix of younger members for who it will be the first games and it will be a fantastic experience . . . [which] is helpful for the next time – that in itself is a good reason to be taking part.

“If we can try and get a good mix in the team, that’s as much as we can do. We’ve always kept well ahead of the Western Isles and Orkney [so] it’ll be interesting to see how we do [in comparison] with them.”

Kerr said organisationally things have been progressing very smoothly, with a lot more com­munication from Åland than had been the case in the weeks and months leading up to Rhodes two years ago.

“We’re getting a lot of good information from the committee, which gives you some confidence that they are ready for the games and very organised. We didn’t get much information from Rhodes before we left.”

He also paid tribute to the “fantastic” fund-raising efforts taking place, most recently a variety concert which took place in the Town Hall on Monday night and raised over £1,000 for the sailing team. Fiddler Maggie Adamson, who is part of the sailing team, helped organise the event which featured a range of local bands and fiddle groups, young musician of the year Erin Sandison and – curiously – the Whalsay Spice Girls. The personal contribution – once council money has been factored in – required for each competitor travelling to Åland comes to £850 and recent weeks have seen “a huge amount of effort”, with the football team out washing cars at Clickimin and the swimming and athletics teams packing bags at local supermarkets, while a raft of sponsorship deals with local businesses have also helped.

The team’s tracksuits are again being sponsored by Hay & Co. Buildbase, continuing a relationship which began back in 2001, and raffle tickets are in circulation for a draw taking place on 17th June.

Provisional football squad: Craig Dinwoodie, Paul Grant, Erik Peterson, Matthew Saunders; Richard Arthur, Leighton Flaws, Gary Jamieson, Merv Jamieson, Lewis Kay, Ross Moncrieff, Peter Peterson; Duncan Anderson, Alan Duncan, James Johnston, Josie Kay, Scott Morrison, Tomas Smith, Erik Thomson, Karl Williamson; Duncan Bray, Gary Burns, Craig Gerty, Fraser Hall, Joe Leask, Ross MacDougal, Dominic Mann.

The competitors were split between senior (15 and over) and junior (nine to 14-year-olds). The seniors consisted principally of island games athletes and the junior inter-county squad and they concentrated on competing in their specialist events. The juniors competed in three races – 100m, 200m and 800m; and four field events – high jump, long jump, javelin and shot putt.

The juniors will all receive certificates from Shetland Amateur Athletics Club this week, which will detail their performances on the day.

Their results will also be submitted as part of Shetland’s entry in this year’s HIPPO (Highland and Islands Performance Participation Opportunity) competition. Shetland are the defending champions from last year’s inaugural event in the under-17, senior and overall categories. Results are submitted by email from Shetland, Orkney, Western Isles and the Highland region. There are two local HIPPO competitions and a grand final held in Inverness.

This will boost Shetland’s results in the under-11, under-13 and under-15 categories, as well as attract new juniors to the sport. The next HIPPO event is on 7th June and the club looks forward to even more children taking part as the word spreads.

To boost the event three free buses were laid on to transport anyone interested in taking part. They aimed to cover all the Shetland Recreational Trust leisure centres: one started at the Toft ferry, picked up in Brae and then the Whalsay ferry; the second started in Aith, picked up in Whiteness and then Scalloway; and the third started at Boddam Hall and picked up in Sandwick, Cunningsburgh, Quarff and Gulberwick.

A spokesman thanked all the volunteers who helped on the day and the recreational trust staff for the organisation of facilities and equipment.

My first taste of action was at . . .
The Gilbert Bain Hospital, Lerwick, on 20th February, 1990.

I mainly got into athletics because . . .
I always enjoyed sports as a youngster and after breaking a school sprint record in the second year my older sister Kristan, who went to athletics at the time, and my mam encouraged me to go along to one of the sessions.

A big influence was . . .
Martin Leyland, our sprints coach at athletics. He encouraged me right from the start to stick in and was very good at passing his knowledge and experience on. Also the rest of the coaches are brilliant and give up so much of their time to train all of us.

As a youngster my sporting heroes were . . .
I didn’t pay too much attention to famous sporting people when I was younger. I would prefer to try the sport as opposed to watching it on television. But Ally McCoist springs to mind – the first person to have on the back of my Rangers strip!

Currently I most admire . . .
There are a bunch of talented athletes at our club with a few having been chosen to represent Scotland, for example Faye Richardson and Claire Wilson. I suppose Martin could get his name in here for sticking in over the years motivating all of us, helping everyone to be the best they can. He’s still nippy for an older guy, keeping up with us at training.

At a higher level there’s the like of athletes Asafa Powell and Kelly Holmes, footballers Barry Ferguson and Kolo Toure, and football managers Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, to name but a few.

My best achievements have been . . .
I think being chosen to represent Shetland in the island games in 2005 is quite high up.

Being joint captain with Victoria Duthie for the junior inter-county athletics team which won last week with almost maximum points was brilliant. Along with winning both the sprints after my knee operation last year it was an amazing feeling. We’re still waiting to hear if our team achieved a record score.

The best thing about athletics is . . .
There’s a lot! All the people and coaches who turn up for a start. We have a good laugh as well as the training side of things. The trips south are always brilliant fun and an amazing experience competing against the best in the country (which isn’t such fun sometimes).

When the weather is fine in the summer and everyone is out on the track or in the field.
The team events such as the 4×100 metres relay are amazing. There is a lot of teamwork involved and it’s brilliant when it all comes together.

We have quite a competitive sprint group with Lee Williamson, Stuart Donald, Scott Lawson and Shaun Manson which is really good as we all push each other in training and try not to come last.

And the worst thing is . . .
Outdoor training in the winter when it’s a howling gale and there are monsoon type rains, which isn’t too rare for Shetland. When we have to do long-distance training, which in my opinion is anything over 200 metres.

Abiding memories were . . .
My first ever competition south, in Grangemouth, is one that sticks in the mind. I was all set and ready for my first run. I was extremely nervous standing with the other athletes looking into the stands where all the spectators were seated. I remember a few people telling me to dip at the finish line to improve my time. All the excitement and adrenaline didn’t help when I took their advice but over dipped and ended up falling flat on my face in front of everyone at the line.

Another thing I will never forget is when our men’s relay team at the island games in 2005 were disqualified. It was a shame as we’d made third place in the final.

A way of improving athletics would be . . .
In Shetland I reckon an indoor track wouldn’t go a miss.

More funding for trips down south, and for national coaches to be able to come up here.

My ambitions are to . . .
Keep up my athletics wherever I go in the hope of representing Shetland in the island games and if I’m lucky come away with a medal. I would like do a bit of travelling, buy a house and own a Ferrari.

My hobbies apart from athletics are . . .
I do other sports such as football and badminton but I’ve not done them for a while due to an ankle break followed by a ruptured cruciate. I play the guitar and enjoy driving about in the car. The odd fishing trip and walk with the air rifle are good as well.

Musically I like to listen to . . .
There’s too much to mention as I have a very mixed taste I’ll listen to most genres from country to heavy metal.

I like to read . . .
I’ve only really read a few books but a look through the odd gun or car magazine and The Shetland Times on a Friday.

And watch . . .
There’s quite a lot – Eastenders being the favourite (ha ha). Top Gear, Bear Grylls, South Park, Family Guy, The Simpsons, Lost, Father Ted.

The best films I’ve seen are . . .
It has to be the Rocky films. Number four is my favourite.

My favourite actors/actresses . . .
Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rowan Atkinson and Tom Hanks.

My favourite food and drink is . . .
Anything as long as it’s not spicy. My favourites are fish, lasagne and the odd Chinese takeaway.

The best places I have visited are . . .
Australia, Spain and Portugal. Norway was nice but I can’t remember too much about it as I was only five.

If I could live anywhere in the world other than Shetland it would be . . .
Australia, New Zealand or maybe somewhere in the Scottish countryside.

My pet hates are . . .
Wind; rain; being rushed; being late; losing things; early mornings.

The living person(s) I most admire are . . .
My “auld” folk.

Because . . .
They encourage and support me in various sports. They have had to run around after me, running me here and there, etc.

The five people I would invite to my dream dinner party are . . .
The list is too long to choose from.

Anything to add . . .
When I made the speech after the junior-county athletics the nerves must have got the better of me and I forgot to thank the Shetland team. So thank you and well done to everyone who was involved. And well done to everyone else for helping to bring the Stuart Cup back.

Sophie May Leyland followed her Scottish Schools high jump performance with a first time clear­ance at 1.40m to equal her newly-set personal best to finish first.

Megan Smith took second place in the 100m and all five athletes competing in the 150m recorded new personal bests. Inga Woods and Emma Leask fought out their race with Emma narrowly winning on the line, Caitlin Watt fourth and Allie Elphinstone seventh. Connor Wiseman took third in his age group over the same distance.

Gareth Robertson took a comfortable first place in the 150m and Michael Heubeck took third place. Megan went on to finish second in her 200m.

Katie Bristow completed her winning performance in the 1,500m to a cheer as she crossed the line in four minutes 59.77 seconds, a new personal best and inside the qualification standard for the NatWest Island Games.

Sophie Kelman threw a new personal best in the discus with a distance of 19.49m, finishing second. Bobby Bristow also finished in first place in his 1,500m with a time of four minutes 37.84 seconds.

Sean Maver and Jordan Morrison had a hugely successful triple jump, both jumping new personal best distances of 11.74m and 11.10m respectively, taking first and third.

In the women’s event Eilidh Peterson and Victoria Duthie took first and second places respectively with distances of 9.69m and 9.51m.

Michael took second place in his triple jump competition while in the girls’ 300m Emma took first place, Inga second, Caitlin fourth and Allie fifth in one exciting race. Connor and Gareth competed over the same distance, setting new personal best performances, Connor diving for the line to take second place and Gareth taking a comfortable first place.

The day finished with a four by 200m relay race with Shetland entering times teams. First was the team of Connor, Eilidh, Sophie and Gareth, second was the team of Inga, Allie, Caitlin and Emma and fourth was the team of Megan, Victoria, Sophie May and Katie.

Meanwhile, as their team mates competed in Inverness, three Shetlanders lined up against the top athletes in the under-20 and under-23 age groups for the National Age Group Athletics Championships.

Lee Williamson, competing in the under-23 group, ran well in the 100m and the 200m, taking the bronze medal in the 200m.

Scott Lawson, competing in the under-20 group, mirrored the events that Lee competed in, running solid times just outside his personal bests.

Joshua Morrison took on both the 1,500m and the 5,000m, recording a new personal best of 16 minutes 27 seconds for the latter distance.